((chuckling))... not at your plight...but at remembering Christine going through the list of "remedies" to this issue over the years. Same...exact...problem!
In N. Virginia, not only did she attempt to eradicate all squirrels from our neighborhood...but we also had a deer problem. One morning I watched with great amusement as she began hurling potatoes at the deer in the back yard. They were not moved at all, physically or any other way, and just stood and watched her attempts at learning the dynamics of throwing overhand....most of her attempts falling well short of far to the left or right. The deer were in no danger...and they knew it. I'm a hunter so shooting a deer (in season and in the proper place) doesn't really bother me but clearly I wasn't going to be able to go full-rifle in our backyard. So, I resorted to a very low-powered daisy BB gun. Just enough oomph to sting them a bit but not even break their skin and with a little left over to put my eye out if I wasn't careful. But even with that, they persisted. I thought for a while that this was my chance to once again, have a dog in our lives who's loyalty to us and our plantings would be its motivation to chase the deer into the next county (or least the next yard). We'd been without for about 15 years at that point, but that was shot down. So we learned to co-exist as best we could but it meant Christine was significantly moderated in her planting...and she wasn't happy about it.
The squirrels were also a consistent issue. One very cold morning in S. Maryland, I watched her take a bucket of water and attempt to throw it on the squirrel in her front-porch bulb pot (same as yours). She missed. The squirrel scampered but returned w/in minute. The second water attempt resulted in Christine slipping on the previous water which had since frozen on the porch creating an impromptu skating rink. She went down hard and jammed her ankle between the porch and the rail. Squirrels again won that round and she hobbled around for a week until the swelling went down.
She's had limited luck with shaving Irish Spring soap into the tops of the pots. At one point, she had set and put out enough mouse traps to cover the entire soil area on the top of the pot. Next morning, a few traps were sprung... a few laying on the porch in the spilled out potting soil where they had dug, but no squirrels. At our house in Hampton, VA, we had limited success with live-trapping the squirrels and relocating them to other areas. Two issues: 1) I found out later that that was actually not legal to do, and 2) I read that they must be re-homed over 5 miles from their origin or they will just find their way back. So... not advised.
So, we moved to Colorado. We solved the squirrel problem somehow. We had them there but they didn't get into the pots - no idea why. The rabbits, however, did. Yep, we were overtaken by cute little fluffy cotton-tails that ravaged her flowers and vegetables. I may or may not have "re-homed" a few of them as well. I didn't take them 5 miles away because I figured it would take them longer to hop the distance. It was a futile effort. They tend to breed like... well... like rabbits.
So... we moved to Idaho. Since its a new community, there are very few trees in the neighborhood... but they're being planted. And like the famous quote from Field of Dreams.. if we plant them, they will come. So no squirrels here. No rabbits here (too many natural predators). But what we do have are gophers and voles. So now the fight is back on against those pests. Our neighbor has a cat that spends more time in Christine's garden than at his own home. Our neighbor swears up and down that their cat is an "excellent" mouser and killer of gophers and voles. But apparently he treats our side of the fence like his personal Cancun vacation spot and he's off the clock. Christine regularly finds him spread out on his stomach embracing the coolness of morning garden soil and at times, with his head propped up very serenely on a freshly dug gopher mound.
The struggle is real. The fight continues. You have our sympathies!
I had to laugh as I’m sitting with my mother in England and she was just talking about the despicable tree rats (a Texan term…). Same issue, different country. Funny how we have so much in common…
Her solution was to emplaced pruned rose stalks over the planted bulbs. But as with most solutions, the squirrels figured out how to get around the thorns.
Best solution I know of and one that was routinely performed by a friend’s mother; BB gun target practice.
I wish you luck Cynthia… this may well be a Sisyphean effort. I applaud your determination!
This is so funny. Thank you
Report forthcoming
that would be good news.
((chuckling))... not at your plight...but at remembering Christine going through the list of "remedies" to this issue over the years. Same...exact...problem!
In N. Virginia, not only did she attempt to eradicate all squirrels from our neighborhood...but we also had a deer problem. One morning I watched with great amusement as she began hurling potatoes at the deer in the back yard. They were not moved at all, physically or any other way, and just stood and watched her attempts at learning the dynamics of throwing overhand....most of her attempts falling well short of far to the left or right. The deer were in no danger...and they knew it. I'm a hunter so shooting a deer (in season and in the proper place) doesn't really bother me but clearly I wasn't going to be able to go full-rifle in our backyard. So, I resorted to a very low-powered daisy BB gun. Just enough oomph to sting them a bit but not even break their skin and with a little left over to put my eye out if I wasn't careful. But even with that, they persisted. I thought for a while that this was my chance to once again, have a dog in our lives who's loyalty to us and our plantings would be its motivation to chase the deer into the next county (or least the next yard). We'd been without for about 15 years at that point, but that was shot down. So we learned to co-exist as best we could but it meant Christine was significantly moderated in her planting...and she wasn't happy about it.
The squirrels were also a consistent issue. One very cold morning in S. Maryland, I watched her take a bucket of water and attempt to throw it on the squirrel in her front-porch bulb pot (same as yours). She missed. The squirrel scampered but returned w/in minute. The second water attempt resulted in Christine slipping on the previous water which had since frozen on the porch creating an impromptu skating rink. She went down hard and jammed her ankle between the porch and the rail. Squirrels again won that round and she hobbled around for a week until the swelling went down.
She's had limited luck with shaving Irish Spring soap into the tops of the pots. At one point, she had set and put out enough mouse traps to cover the entire soil area on the top of the pot. Next morning, a few traps were sprung... a few laying on the porch in the spilled out potting soil where they had dug, but no squirrels. At our house in Hampton, VA, we had limited success with live-trapping the squirrels and relocating them to other areas. Two issues: 1) I found out later that that was actually not legal to do, and 2) I read that they must be re-homed over 5 miles from their origin or they will just find their way back. So... not advised.
So, we moved to Colorado. We solved the squirrel problem somehow. We had them there but they didn't get into the pots - no idea why. The rabbits, however, did. Yep, we were overtaken by cute little fluffy cotton-tails that ravaged her flowers and vegetables. I may or may not have "re-homed" a few of them as well. I didn't take them 5 miles away because I figured it would take them longer to hop the distance. It was a futile effort. They tend to breed like... well... like rabbits.
So... we moved to Idaho. Since its a new community, there are very few trees in the neighborhood... but they're being planted. And like the famous quote from Field of Dreams.. if we plant them, they will come. So no squirrels here. No rabbits here (too many natural predators). But what we do have are gophers and voles. So now the fight is back on against those pests. Our neighbor has a cat that spends more time in Christine's garden than at his own home. Our neighbor swears up and down that their cat is an "excellent" mouser and killer of gophers and voles. But apparently he treats our side of the fence like his personal Cancun vacation spot and he's off the clock. Christine regularly finds him spread out on his stomach embracing the coolness of morning garden soil and at times, with his head propped up very serenely on a freshly dug gopher mound.
The struggle is real. The fight continues. You have our sympathies!
I had to laugh as I’m sitting with my mother in England and she was just talking about the despicable tree rats (a Texan term…). Same issue, different country. Funny how we have so much in common…
Her solution was to emplaced pruned rose stalks over the planted bulbs. But as with most solutions, the squirrels figured out how to get around the thorns.
Best solution I know of and one that was routinely performed by a friend’s mother; BB gun target practice.
I wish you luck Cynthia… this may well be a Sisyphean effort. I applaud your determination!
yes, from what I understand- wire around the bulbs is the answer.