Squirrels, perceived as harmless, bushy-tailed acrobats, are significant garden pests whose foraging habits lead to widespread frustration and property damage for gardeners. As opportunistic omnivores, squirrels are highly motivated by accessible food sources, and a cultivated garden represents a tempting buffet. Understanding their specific targets and destructive behaviors is the first step in protecting your plants.
Specific Plants and Produce They Target
Squirrels are driven by seasonal changes and consume a wide variety of garden components, from underground stores to ripening fruit. They frequently target newly planted seeds, especially larger ones like sunflower, corn, and squash, which they excavate quickly after sowing. This behavior is a search for high-energy food in disturbed soil.
Once the garden matures, they turn their attention to soft, water-rich produce, often leaving behind partially eaten remnants of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and berries. Squirrels also cause damage below the surface, digging up and consuming certain flower bulbs, with tulips and crocus being favored targets. Conversely, they avoid bulbs that contain toxic compounds, such as daffodils and alliums.
Damage Beyond Consumption
While eating garden produce is a primary complaint, much of the destruction squirrels cause is not related to feeding. A common sign of their presence is the appearance of numerous small holes scattered across planting beds and containers. These shallow excavations are the result of their caching behavior, where they bury and later retrieve nuts and seeds, often uprooting young seedlings or disturbing established roots.
Squirrels also gnaw on various materials, a behavior driven by the biological necessity of wearing down their continuously growing incisor teeth. This gnawing can damage wooden deck railings, siding, or even plastic irrigation lines and garden hoses. Chewing on hoses and fruits like tomatoes is sometimes linked to a search for water during dry periods.
Active Deterrents and Repellents
Managing squirrel activity requires methods that actively discourage them through unpleasant sensory experiences. Repellents based on capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their heat, are effective because squirrels find the taste and irritation repulsive. These hot pepper sprays or powders must be applied directly to the plants or soil and require regular reapplication after rain or irrigation.
Some commercially available products use the scents of natural predators, such as fox or coyote urine, which signal danger to the rodents. These predator scent granules or liquids are placed around the perimeter of the garden space. Household items like peppermint oil, coffee grounds, and cayenne pepper can also be used as taste or smell deterrents by sprinkling them around susceptible plants. Rotating the types of repellents used is beneficial because squirrels are intelligent and can quickly become accustomed to a single deterrent. Motion-activated sprinklers provide another active deterrent, surprising the animals with a sudden burst of water and sound.
Long-Term Exclusion and Habitat Control
For sustainable protection, physical barriers and environmental modifications offer passive, long-term solutions. Protecting vulnerable bulbs can be accomplished by planting them within wire mesh cages or covering the planting area with a layer of hardware cloth. The mesh allows plant shoots to grow through but prevents squirrels from digging down to the bulb.
Protecting above-ground crops, like ripening berries or tomatoes, involves covering them completely with bird netting or creating cages from wire mesh. For larger garden areas, a perimeter fence must be constructed with the bottom edge buried at least six inches into the ground to prevent squirrels from burrowing underneath. Modifying the surrounding habitat is also important, which includes trimming tree branches that overhang the garden, as squirrels commonly use these as access points. Removing highly attractive food sources, such as fallen nuts and fruit, and securing birdseed in specialized feeders reduces the temptation for them to linger.