Squirrel bench

[flowerandbulb]

i have squirrels that show up nearly every morning to hang out at their squirrel picnic table and eat nuts mostly.

 

[Tetters]

They are devils if they get into your house, and can cause all kinds of trouble. I had a brother in law who spent all his time entertaining these creatures. He put his armchairs next to a big french doorway looking over the garden, and watched the squirrels go to the feeding boxes he made on a large climbing frame. Each of the feed boxes had a different mechanism that he had invented as a puzzle the squirrels had to solve before they could reach the food inside. Every time they solved a puzzle and got the food, he devised a new one. I think in the end the squirrels won the game - there was no puzzle they couldn't solve. He gave up, and just watched them play.

 

[MiTmite9]

Our squirrels just chopped down one of the most beautiful (and only1/2 grown) Hollyhock plants I've ever seen. The plant was well on its way to becoming a truly magnificent specimen. Huge.
Then the squirrels went after our lone sunflower. The flower petals had just unfolded and the seeds were nowhere near formed. One morning I looked out back and ---- the flowerhead was no more.
I don't hate squirrels, but I certainly wish they'd never found our garden. (We've given up planting sunflowers in our back yard. The one they destroyed last week was a volunteer, and about 6' tall.)

 

[flowerandbulb]

were the squirrels hanging from it and trying to eat the seeds? i've been trying to negotiate with them and give them nuts so that they dont go after my sunflower

 

[Mr_Yan]

The stinkin' rodents take one bite out of a tomato the day before you think it's ready for harvest and then drop it to the ground. The only way to keep them out is a fence that looks like a max-security prison.

 

[Tetters]

Brother in law made sure his squirrels were fed and entertained. The food was secreted in boxes that had a variety of locking devices which kept the animals happy. They left everything else alone. His house and garden were unaffected. Maybe it's better to learn to live with the animals ??

 

[flowerandbulb]

i agree with @Tetters . finding the middle ground and distracting them with things or wooing them away from flowers that are important to you with trap crops or other food related devices would be my best bet.

 

[Tetters]

We inherited these animals from you in America actually. I understand that some dopey ''Lord of the Manor'' brought some back from there, and allowed them to multiply. They killed off the majority of our beautiful red squirrels.

 

[flowerandbulb]

i heard that the black squirrel which is less aggressive here stateside was also taken over. please post a photo of the red squirrel! here is our black squirrel.