broccoli and squirrels
 

The squirrels have found my broccoli plants again this year and have eaten the tender center out of about half of them along with multiple leaves. It really is frustrating. I have two traps sitting among my broccoli plants baited with peanuts and peanut butter. The squirrels really seem to prefer the fresh greens after a winter of mostly nuts. I looked out the other morning and saw a squirrel sitting on top of one of the traps while leaning over eating the nearest broccoli. I am still trying to kill them but it is much more difficult now that there are leaves on the trees. They have become very paranoid about my presence. Every time I step outside, every squirrel in the neighborhood immediately runs and hides. They don't like me very much but keep returning to my wonderful salad bar.

Squirrels have only gone after sunflower seeds in our garden, which is why I don't grow them anymore. They climb fences, chew through netting, so I'm thinking chicken wire cages or tunnels? I also heard that cayenne sprinkled in seed will deter them from stealing bird seed, but it can be nasty if it gets into an animal's eyes, so some would have a problem with that. On the other hand, some would have a problem with killing them. It may be too late, as they seem to have acquired a taste for your greens, but sprinkling them with wood ash may make them unpalatable, and hopefully could be rinsed off completely enough that they would still be appealing to you! Hope someone else has a better idea. :)

I use a Havahart trap with shelled peanuts wired and suspended from the top mesh in the back. Wiring the peanuts guarantees a squirrel will trigger the trap when they have to work at getting the bait. I found that some of them could take loose peanuts without triggering the trap. I use sunflower seeds to catch both squirrels and chipmunks. Use broccoli for bait or maybe shoot 'em with a pellet rifle.

Brocolli
 

Bill,
Try a 24/7 armed guard--A Jack Russell Terrorist--:))

Dustdevil-curious as to what you do with 'em once they're in your trap? My husband used to trap squirrels and chipmunks and "give 'em a ride" in his truck, but I guess never far enough because we didn't see any change in numbers even though he moved dozens!:evil:

Kath,I've had problems with squirrels for quite some time. We put mesh over the flower bulbs, so they can't dig 'em up anymore. They chewed a hole in my porch roof and my garage roof at two different houses...you have to keep the squirrel highways (trees and bushes) trimmed back. They raid my veggie garden. When they destroyed 150 12" tall oak seedlings growing in 1 gallon pots to get to the acorn on the bottom, that was the straw that broke the camels back. I no longer take 'em to the park nearby. I take the trap and drop it in a garbage can full of water...Davy Jone's Locker for them :-( When I can get a clean shot, they die of lead poisoning...one shot, one kill.PS: I was working on my van a couple years ago. I left the engine cover off, since I was going to continue working on it the next day. One of the little buggers left a rock hard piece of strawberry angelfood cake inside on the van floor...talk about adding insult to injury!

Yikes...we have tall trees that I think are getting dangerously close to our rear porch roof, so I'll be sure to share your stories with dh for sure. Heard they were clever, but I guess they can't communicate to 'the others' that you mean business!:shock:

They seem to be able to communicate to each other very well. Before I reached my last straw with them (finding almost every seedling of everything in my greenhouse eaten or destroyed and holes chewed in the eave of my house to get in the attic) they would ignore me when I walked outside. After the annihilating over 50 of them, as soon as I make an appearance outside every squirrel within sight runs and hides.
I still have about half of my broccoli that they didn't eat the centers out of and it is starting to make good. If I hadn't thinned them out last fall and winter I have no doubt that I would have little if anything growing in my garden this spring.
Don't make the mistake I did thinking live and let live with the little buggers. They are just furry tailed rats and like rats if you allow them to multiply they will cause massive damage. It's kinder to keep their numbers in check so there is a nice balance. I don't mind the occasional lose to squirrels but they can bring on wholesale destruction if they become too plentiful.