EFFing Ground Squirrels!

[BonzaiDuck]

My home here -- my Moms' house until she passed away last October -- is a "townhome condominium", an end unit in a building containing four. Several of these buildings comprise our development, for about 60+ units.

I have an inner patio garden, and for years -- at least 20 years -- I've grown tomatoes here. The problem arises that this property -- built on solid rock (a good thing) -- is on a hillside, with undeveloped land on at least one side. We have coyotes, skunks, owls, rattlesnakes, possums -- and -- ground squirrels.

Sometimes they build a nest under the cement slab comprising a walkway from the street to the front door. They can come over the fence.

This year, after planting one tomato vine, I decided it was too late in the summer for my "serious" garden. No pasta-sauce making and canning this year! So I'm trying to upgrade everything -- right now -- the soaker hoses and the hose-bibs. I've installed a digital timer, turning the soaker hoses on at 6AM every day for one hour at a time. Another ;hose bib -- for my canopy misters and a regular garden hose -- is leaking so the plumber is coming on Wednesday to fix that. Once I get the watering devices on both sides of the house with timers, I can leave home for ten days at a time and my garden will continue getting irrigated.

I had been using WILCO bait stations to control the squirrels. The WILCO poison takes the form of little light green pellets made of almonds and (I think . . ) diphacinone -- an anti-coagulant. Whatever it is that makes the squirrels hemorrhage internally. It seemed that these used to work. I've set out two bait traps, but I'll purchase some more tomorrow, and set some outside the property area next to the house.

I keep noticing these two, large, very healthy-looking squirrels coming onto my porch in the afternoon. I don't know what they're looking for -- there are no more green tomatoes. There's nothing that remains as squirrel food. Maybe it's the water from my mister system, which I run on hot days.

I can't start my 2024-2025 garden until these suckers are gone. They have memory and they are social. If you kill the ones who gain knowledge of your garden, they won't communicate with any others.

Besides the WILCO bait stations, I don't know what else to do. Any ideas are welcome.

 

[lxskllr]

Poison is never a good idea. The effects can spread far beyond the (dubious)target. Wire fencing can keep larger rodents out.

 

[Shmee]

Could get dogs, cats, or rifles. Just don't tell @Red Squirrel

 

[mindless1]

My neighbors had 3 cats at one point, and they liked me more, or at least I was outside for them to give attention to, so they were often around my garden but cats roam by nature, and they didn't really deter the squirrels from coming around when the cats weren't in that area. The squirrels had trees and wooden fences, among other good escape routes nearby, and the cats could only catch the infant squirrels once in a rare while.

So I gather that you have animals including squirrels, and want a larger garden, but you did not mention them eating anything.

I have squirrels, but they only eat the acorns and black walnuts, not tomatoes or several other things I've grown over the years. I have to think that they prefer the nuts, but it could also be a combination of the close proximity to the house, them seeing me out there daily, certain things I grow, or that i have some buckets of compost nearby that I chuck things into year-round.

Squirrels don't like most strong scents, whether it be marigolds, geraniums, vinegar, urine, mint, peppermint oil, cinnamon, soap/deodorant/dryer-sheets, coffee grounds, or I happen to grow hot peppers and also discard the placentas, seeds, random breakage/etc pieces among other kitchen scraps, cut up into the compost which they can surely smell too... but then they might also smell the rot of the compost, though I can't very much because it's carried downwind.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My neighbors had 3 cats at one point, and they liked me more, or at least I was outside for them to give attention to, so they were often around my garden but cats roam by nature, and they didn't really deter the squirrels from coming around when the cats weren't in that area. The squirrels had trees and wooden fences, among other good escape routes nearby, and the cats could only catch the infant squirrels once in a rare while.

So I gather that you have animals including squirrels, and want a larger garden, but you did not mention them eating anything.

I have squirrels, but they only eat the acorns and black walnuts, not tomatoes or several other things I've grown over the years. I have to think that they prefer the nuts, but it could also be a combination of the close proximity to the house, them seeing me out there daily, certain things I grow, or that i have some buckets of compost nearby that I chuck things into year-round.

Squirrels don't like most strong scents, whether it be marigolds, geraniums, vinegar, urine, mint, peppermint oil, cinnamon, soap/deodorant/dryer-sheets, coffee grounds, or I happen to grow hot peppers and also discard the placentas, seeds, random breakage/etc pieces among other kitchen scraps, cut up into the compost which they can surely smell too... but then they might also smell the rot of the compost, though I can't very much because it's carried downwind.

They have ravaged my tomatoes during more than one season. AT one time -- 2021 -- I had 12 tomato vines, pruned the Italian way -- growing vertically in 6-foot-high cages. We were able to keep the ground squirrels out that year, but you'd always have a situation where one got into the garden and left you a half tomato still hanging on the vine.

Here in Riverside, CA, you can use the WILCO poison bait stations within 50 feet of your dwelling. Previously, I'd only deployed them within the patio garden area. I DID put up chicken wire to block holes in the fencing, but they can just climb up and over the fence.

The have to be eradicated around the house, and then likely others farther away won't find the garden, or if they do, they'll poison themselves and never make it back to "the others".

The biggest risk with the WILCO poison arises with the corpses of the dead squirrels getting picked up by dogs or other pets. They'll ingest the same poison that killed the ground squirrels.

 

[nOOky]

I had a ground squirrel problem this year. I noticed a few, and set traps etc. but those didn't work. Poison is not an option, so I ended up shooting them all. Not really a solution for everyone. But I used a Gamo .22 magnum air rifle when I needed to be quiet, and a Savage 17hmr when I could make noise or they were past 50 yards away. I got about 18 total, the last day I got 3 within 10 minutes, after that I have not seen any. It was my fault that I let them go too long in my yard, but when they started digging under my young river birch tree I decided to end the problem.

The day I got 3 was like a shooting gallery. I lay prone on a small rise at the top of the property, and waited. They stick their bodies up and look around to make sure it is safe, and that was their undoing. One was a female and her belly looked full so I'm glad I got her then.

It is kind of sad because they are very cute, but also very destructive.

 

[jmagg]

This year I had a problem with chipmunks, trapped over 50, next were the squirrel which looked like the population was growing. One evening about a 2 weeks ago, we saw a fox in the back. Squirrel problem has vanished. Love it when that happens.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If they really are a problem then yeah shooting is probably the most humane way to get rid of anything that's causing issues. I would never do poison as it can affect other things too. Also, it makes them really thirsty, they will chew up everything in desperation for water before they die, that means they can end up far inside a wall or even chew on water lines if they manage to get inside.

 

[WelshBloke]

I had a ground squirrel problem this year. I noticed a few, and set traps etc. but those didn't work. Poison is not an option, so I ended up shooting them all. Not really a solution for everyone. But I used a Gamo .22 magnum air rifle when I needed to be quiet, and a Savage 17hmr when I could make noise or they were past 50 yards away. I got about 18 total, the last day I got 3 within 10 minutes, after that I have not seen any. It was my fault that I let them go too long in my yard, but when they started digging under my young river birch tree I decided to end the problem.

The day I got 3 was like a shooting gallery. I lay prone on a small rise at the top of the property, and waited. They stick their bodies up and look around to make sure it is safe, and that was their undoing. One was a female and her belly looked full so I'm glad I got her then.

It is kind of sad because they are very cute, but also very destructive.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Something is "going on" in California. I went down to ACE Hardware to get some more bait-poison and bait-stations. They'd stopped selling them, but they'd kept them in stock for 20 years.

Then I started looking online for the WILCO products I just mentioned. No Cigar! Messages say "We can't ship this item to your location" -- in regards to the poison pellets.

I finally found a different brand which has the same ingredient -- diphacinone. I ordered the poison from Florida, and needed to order the bait stations from Oregon.

I made sure to order 12 lbs of the poison, just to stock up. So far, setting out two of four bait stations, the squirrels have disappeared, or -- I don't find them galloping away when I go out on my inner patio.

I'll start my tomatoes this fall. Next year -- there will be sauce. They may be cute; they may seem like intelligent creatures; they are a social animal. I prefer my pasta sauce.

 

[Shmee]

Yeah my mom likes to grow tomatoes, but the squirrels like them, so we built a cage around the tomatoes to keep the squirrels out.

 

[mindless1]

Something is "going on" in California. I went down to ACE Hardware to get some more bait-poison and bait-stations. They'd stopped selling them, but they'd kept them in stock for 20 years.

Then I started looking online for the WILCO products I just mentioned. No Cigar! Messages say "We can't ship this item to your location" -- in regards to the poison pellets.

I finally found a different brand which has the same ingredient -- diphacinone. I ordered the poison from Florida, and needed to order the bait stations from Oregon.

Petition your local state rep to ban the squirrels instead of the poison.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Petition your local state rep to ban the squirrels instead of the poison.

Truth is, I'll see my state senator on the 7th if I follow my schedule. CA has extra-strong environmental restrictions, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do: Poison the squirrels and grow the tomatoes.

 

[Steltek]

No ground squirrels here, but the red squirrels are just absolutely rampant this year where I live.

And, when it gets really, really scalding hot outside (like now) the bushy tailed red rats just love to give everyone the finger by intentionally climbing up the power lines to commit suicide-by-electrical transformer. I swear that it has happened a dozen times in the 5 weeks.

Sounds like a small bomb going off every time one succeeds, and we end up sweltering since it takes hours for Entergy to get around to sending someone out to replace the blown transformer fuses.

Wouldn't bother me one bit if someone managed to figure out a way to kill off the entire species.