Squirrels

Well, you can only try...Go on, experiment! Good luck. Let us know if it works. P.S. Seriously, I hope that they don't try burying them in your garden to hoard for the winter...I was forever finding oak saplings amongst my Busy Lizzies back in Kent!

Hi spritz. Like you used to, we usually dig out hundreds of oak saplings, in fact last year we had about 15 barrowfuls of acorns fall off one oak tree but this year there aren't any acorns at all. I suppose that's why the squirrels have pinched our bulbs. Assuming these bulbs have been buried by the squirrels, we'll probably see a wonderful spring display in the wood or in our neighbours' gardens!

its a good idea in theory and it could work, but it may go the other way too, you might end up attracting more than you already have if they know there is a plentiful food suply when they need it most.

If they are grey squirrels, why not trap and destroy them they are vermin and do much damage to our woodlands.

Agreed, majeekahead and Wyeboy, both these points occurred to us. We shall be laying 10 traps in the next day or so - the only trouble is although we're aware that they're vermin, we're too soft to destroy them ourselves so we have to get someone else in to do it. When we tried trapping them last year we put a Mars bar in the trap and caught one almost straight away. Dek kept going outside to look at it and in the end he felt so sorry for it he let it go!

Hi both - sorry to tell you that there's legislation about trapping grey squirrels. If you do it, it's illegal to let them go, you have to dispatch them humanely. I found a useful site which tells you what to do. http://www.martleyelectronics.co.uk/squirrels.htm I don't know why an electronics firm is involved but there you are - helpful if gory advice!

Tulip bulbs, no problem. I take it that you plant your bulbs in clusters, then why don't you lay some 3/4in hole chicken wire over them after planting them. They will grow through the wire without any effort and the squirrels will not get to the bulbs, unless of corse you want to have some fun and kill. Shame on you!

Hi spritz, yes I knew it was illegal to relocate grey squirrels but these traps "dispatch" them quickly. The traps arrived this evening and four have been set so far. Will let you know how we get on.

Hi Reg, good advice but the only trouble is we'd need rather a lot of chicken wire to cover 20,000 tulips!

I know how you feel from bitter experience. After planting 40,000 iris corms in greenhouses and having them eaten by mice in three days and another time we planted 50,000 iris again, This time in a field when to our suprise the lot were dug out and scattered by the neighbour's chickens. In both cases we had drilled in bonemeal when we planted the corms, whether it was the fertilizer that was the attraction or just our bad luck. I wish you well. Thank goodness we only have red squirrels in Jersey.

i'm a big softy too, would'nt be able to kill anything myself, but if you are not allowed to set them free away from were you live, what options do you have? i tried the putting down food option with a little robbin red breast that loves munching on my worms - not that he is really a problem worms are plentiful in my garden and he is a dear little thing he sits on the end of my folk as i am digging, waits for an opportunaty and then grabs the worms as i dig them up! the woman next door said he does the same when ever she is in her garden - can't get over how brave and friendly he is. so anyway i went to B & Q and bought a lovely bird house as the colder weather is now approaching and put loads of bird seed all over it, and now he bings about 5 of his mates with him, and they have a bit of a party up there throwing all the seed in my flower beds, no doubt i'll have loads of sunflowers coming up every where in the summer next year! but robins are not really a problem, i can spare them a few worms, but i doubt you'd want your squirrels to bring there mates over for a rave up!

It's all free range chickens that I want culled, especially when the eat bedding plants that I plant from time to time. Ever had chickens pull out all your onion sets and watch the mice eating them (the onions I mean).
At the moment I have a family on four squirrels in the garden playing around from tree to tree and on the ground. Although they are normally very shy, the ones in the garden are quite an attraction when we have visitors to the garden.

i bet they are reg, how about adding my foxes, hedgehog, moles frogs, bat and robin to your collection!

It would be wonderful to see 4 Red Squirrels we haven't seen 1 for many many years (in the wild) .

majeekahead, we do not have foxes of frogs except a small frog called an agile frog. We do have the rest.

i can alway send you mine if you want them reg! lol

Would you like my badgers as well? You could start a menagerie a la Gerald Durrell!!! lol

Already got some spritz, thank you. At least we think that's what's living in the huge dug out in the wood. Perhaps I should touch wood when I say this but they haven't done any damage as yet. We keep them out of the garden because they love eating tulips bulbs!

Does this mean you need names for badger setts as well? ; )

Might be a good idea to name the badger setts maple, if you have any names in mind.

'Don't badger me, just sett where you are!' Sorry. couldn't resist it.

Ha ha spritz, nice one!

how about 'Baldies' hairdressers? lol

A really great one, thanks majeekahead - though I don't think they would get many customers, do you?

Bruin's Tea Shop (think about it!)

Thanks Andrew, once again - brilliant.

To keep your squirrels off your garden try mixing hot chilli peppers birds will eat this but squirrels do not.Short term mix, the chilli peppers in water and pour this around anything you do not want the squirrels to damage.

Thanks stanjune, haven't heard of this one before, will have to try it.