I had a very bad squirrel problem in the garden a few years back and tried everything with no results until I really went to work thinning them out. They had no problem repopulating in just a couple of years but they have left my garden alone except for their incessant digging in the beds burying pecans and then trying to find them. Although aggravating I can live with that most of the time.

However that didn't completely stop the problem as birds will peck both tomatoes and bell peppers when they want to and especially really bright red ones. Alas they are not the only thing with a taste for a good ripening tomato or bell pepper there is also the occasional pair of rats or mice. I had a really destructive pair of rats this year and they really went to town on some of my bells along with a few of the tomatoes so I did what has worked in the past. I set out my rat bait station which I keep in my shed and stocked it with fresh bait and placed it in between a couple of the peppers that had nice big ripening peppers on them. A few days later two dead rats and almost no damage since.

Dawg I had to spend two years going after the squirrels before they stopped feeding in my garden. I had gone 25 years with no problem before they found [B]Bill's All You Can Eat Buffet[/B] and went hog wild on my garden. I think it was a drought that started it but ending of the drought didn't slow them down once they found such easy pickings. I swear I think they talk to each other about the good eating at Bill's or there is a Yelp for squirrels.

Bill

nibbler payback
 

Never had a problem with rabbits.
One less in the yard now.