Gardening advice required

[secret santa]

1 - We've been in the same house for almost 20 years and never previously had trouble with squirrels digging up the lawn. They've always been around, leaping through the trees but this winter they've decimated my lawn and they're still at it, nearly every day.

2 - I've had a pond for almost 20 years and never had a problem with duckweed but this spring it's appeared for the first time and doubles in number every day. I fish a lot out with a sieve every few days but it comes back even denser.

Help !

[jelida]

There’s been a population explosion of Grey Squirrels because of a sequence of mild winters and warm springs, we have problems too. Amongst other things, they love the taste of crocuses. We have had cables severed and our strawberries decimated.

I am going to get one of these.  
https://goodnaturetraps.co.uk/shop/a18-grey-squirrel-trap/

Looks effective, from the you-tube videos, and very much an instant demise. I can tolerate rats, tree rats less so 😡.

Jerry

[secret santa]

I fear that my wife will not support the installation of this device because squirrels are so fluffy and entertaining.

[copper123]

Many badgers also have take a likeing to dafs in many parts of the country .

Badgers can shift a serious amount of lawn if they take a likeing to the dafs in it . A lawn can be totally ruined in a night .

Theres no a thing you can do about it apart from starting to breed cows on your lawn then claim to be a farmer and legally shoot them

[copper123]

Tree rats can be legally shot as they are not a native species

[1949threepence]

I've had squirrels in my garden too. The cat's given up chasing them as they move at such lightning speed. She hasn't a hope of catching one.

[1949threepence]

1 hour ago, secret santa said:

I fear that my wife will not support the installation of this device because squirrels are so fluffy and entertaining.

Although using this device, death is instantaneous, so it is a humane means of despatch. 

[copper123]

19 minutes ago, 1949threepence said:

I've had squirrels in my garden too. The cat's given up chasing them as they move at such lightning speed. She hasn't a hope of catching one.

Mine's to fat and old as well , always has a go though

[jelida]

1 hour ago, secret santa said:

I fear that my wife will not support the installation of this device because squirrels are so fluffy and entertaining.

They do remain fluffy after processing ! And your little dance of joy might entertain her! Food for thought.

Jerry

[Sword]

I might try a combination of repellent sprays and ultrasonic repellents. The type which uses solar power in addition to batteries is probably best. I have used them with some degree of success for cats but don't know how effective they are for squirrels. (You can adjust the frequency for different type of pests).

Apparently they also work for teenage kids as they can hear higher frequencies than us. I read that some councils have been using them to discourage kids from gathering at certain spots.

[blakeyboy]

I had squirrels breaking into my peanut bird feeders, until I doused the nuts in tabasco.

The pilfering stopped _immediately_ .  

 

A squirrel sitting on the fence freaked out, frantically wiping it's face on the fence,

trying to stop the burning was hilarious. They never came back.

 

[copper123]

3 minutes ago, blakeyboy said:

I had squirrels breaking into my peanut bird feeders, until I doused the nuts in tabasco.

The pilfering stopped _immediately_ .  

 

A squirrel sitting on the fence freaked out, frantically wiping it's face on the fence,

trying to stop the burning was hilarious. They never came back.

 

Not a permanant as  death  as well - they obviously dont like the skovel scale

Edited June 23, 2021 by copper123

[Diaconis]

Three squirrels were sitting on animal hides...

The first squirrel was sitting on a rabbit hide and weighed one pound. The second squirrel was sitting on a wolf hide and weighed two pounds. And the third squirrel was sitting on a hippopotamus hide and weighed three pounds. This proves that the squirrel on the hippopotamus is equal to the sum of the squirrels on the other two hides.

[Sword]

15 hours ago, secret santa said:

I fear that my wife will not support the installation of this device because squirrels are so fluffy and entertaining.

This remains me of a dialogue from the film Inglorious Basterds:

Perrier LaPadite: Rats spread diseases. They bite people.

Col. Hans Landa: Rats were the cause of the bubonic plague, but that's some time ago. I propose to you, any disease a rat could spread, a squirrel could equally carry. Would you agree?

Perrier LaPadite: Oui.

Col. Hans Landa: Yet I assume you don't share the same animosity with squirrels that you do with rats, do you?

Perrier LaPadite: No.

Col. Hans Landa: But they're both rodents, are they not? And except for the tail, they even rather look alike, don't they?

[blakeyboy]

Just done me 1000  Forum reputation points.

I'm now retiring to the Bahamas.

 

If only....

 

[Paddy]

I still think this is the best way to deal with them:

 

 

 

[copper123]

None lethal at least they can be a bit of a pest at times but they do make the garden a better place as far as I am concerned.

P.s. They are quite cleaver as well and I cannot see that catapult working more than a couple of times on them - they do learn.

[1949threepence]

4 minutes ago, copper123 said:

None lethal at least they can be a bit of a pest at times but they do make the garden a better place as far as I am concerned.

P.s. They are quite cleaver as well and I cannot see that catapult working more than a couple of times on them - they do learn.

Yes, they have excellent memories and the same squirrel would almost certainly avoid that device in future. Also, in an suburban area where gardens all border each other, it might be a bit disconcerting if you suddenly saw a squirrel come flying over the fence at speed.   

They're a pest if they ever get into the house, typically the loft space, as they have extraordinary jaw power for such a small creature, and because their teeth never stop growing, they need to constantly gnaw to keep them down to size. Hence they can cause a lot of damage, and often bite through wires, damage wood etc. 

I must admit I would prefer to let them live, and only kill if the problem got so persistent and annoying that I felt I had no choice.   

[copper123]

On 6/23/2021 at 8:29 PM, 1949threepence said:

Although using this device, death is instantaneous, so it is a humane means of despatch. 

U mean on the wife ? LOL

[secret santa]

When I saw there'd been another response, I thought that maybe I'd got a sensible reply...........................Silly me !!!!

[bagerap]

"They're a pest if they ever get into the house, typically the loft space, as they have extraordinary jaw power for such a small creature, and because their teeth never stop growing, they need to constantly gnaw to keep them down to size. Hence they can cause a lot of damage, and often bite through wires, damage wood etc"

If you live in and around Hertfordshire, squirrels are the least of your worries. The Edible Dormouse (glis glis) was introduced by the Romans as a food resource and is a protected species. Your loft however is not a protected space and you will have to shell out a lot of moolah to get the little creatures legally removed.

[1949threepence]

6 hours ago, bagerap said:

"They're a pest if they ever get into the house, typically the loft space, as they have extraordinary jaw power for such a small creature, and because their teeth never stop growing, they need to constantly gnaw to keep them down to size. Hence they can cause a lot of damage, and often bite through wires, damage wood etc"

If you live in and around Hertfordshire, squirrels are the least of your worries. The Edible Dormouse (glis glis) was introduced by the Romans as a food resource and is a protected species. Your loft however is not a protected space and you will have to shell out a lot of moolah to get the little creatures legally removed.

That rings a bell. I don't recall us ever having such an issue in Chelmsford, but someone I knew lived in Bishops Stortford (which is smack on the Herts/Essex border) and I'm sure she mentioned something about not being able to get rid of a protected species causing problems. I remember thinking it was odd that mice were protected but didn't continue the conversation. She might well have been referring to the edible dormouse.

[Diaconis]

We were out for a few drinks with the project  team and the company COO was there, paying of course. We’d had a few jars and he started complaining about the glis glis in his rafters. After an interesting and lengthy explanation about them and the high cost of getting rid, I concluded that they are basically just posh rats, but cute ones.

[copper123]

16 hours ago, bagerap said:

"They're a pest if they ever get into the house, typically the loft space, as they have extraordinary jaw power for such a small creature, and because their teeth never stop growing, they need to constantly gnaw to keep them down to size. Hence they can cause a lot of damage, and often bite through wires, damage wood etc"

If you live in and around Hertfordshire, squirrels are the least of your worries. The Edible Dormouse (glis glis) was introduced by the Romans as a food resource and is a protected species. Your loft however is not a protected space and you will have to shell out a lot of moolah to get the little creatures legally removed.

Or kill them illegally

[copper123]

they are nice in aspic I here