Hi,
I have planted flowers in pots in my balcony. Any time new shoots or leaves spring up in the plants, squirrels eat them up, as a result I am unable to plant new seeds also. Can any one tell me how to scare these squirrels, at least till plants grow up.
Thanks
Haresh
Try with small poly tunnel. You ca use bycycle spokes bent like “U” and use transparent polythene plastic covers.
or use a polythene cover and use rubber band to titgheten it to stem. see link for pictures
howtograft.com/BagGraft.html
Hang on! this solution is only for balcony pots or backyard gardens not for a big farm.
Thanks a lot sir, in the past I tried green cloth on periphery of pot, but that was of no use. My logic was that without support squirrels might find it difficult to climb, but eventually they did!
I would now do as suggested and keep you posted.
Thanks once again
awww… squirrels are so tiny and sweet…awww… 
why would u call them beast ? 
tee hee…
what just happened ?
am i reading things again? 
CHANDRA !!!
Hi vks,
I said scarring away, not killing them. Squirrels are indeed adorable creatures and i would not kill them. But problem is they eat away any new shoots that come up in my little balcony garden, and all my hard work goes waste.
I have now grown cheery tomotoes and i certainly donot want to share them with tiny squirrels
Regards
Haresh
Yes, tiny sweet pests.
At the moment they are uprooting the sweet corn seedlings I have sown in a line or two - waiting to lay my hands on them!
They are tiny animals indeed, but they are also monsterous eaters. They eat 5-7 times of their body weight.
You may have PH and not tasted the bitterness of squirrils.
Saw it in a movie, squirrel belongs to rodent family, same as rats. What do you do to rats, no mercy, but just because squirrel looks cute, we show mercy, is it fair? Damage done is same.
Nikhil
Sir,
As far as my knowledge goes, we hate rats because they roam underground in sewers and spread diseases. Since squirrels are overground creatures they cannot spread diseases.
Pl correct me if I am wrong.
Haresh
Hi all,
Apropos my query on scaring away squirrels, i received lots of valuable suggestion. Thanks to all for replying enthusiastically. The purpose of writing this is to share my experience for benefit of other farm enthusiastic and get some other useful ideas as well.
The use of poly tunnel was useful in restricting squirrels, but it blocked air flow, (even though i had made holes in it). After a while the leaves turned yellow, perhaps due to lack of air.
It is well said necessity is mother of invention. I then bought wiremesh from hardware store and tied it around the pot. Wow! there is no problem of squirrels now and the plant is also growing happily.
Here i have attached a photo.
Regards
Haresh
Even i am facing the same problem, majority of the corn Sprouts are being chewed away by squirrels. Have no clue how to tackle this issue, is there no method where we can give them an alternative so that they spare our crops. Something like how we use marigold.
Dear mr. Subramanium,
I found wire mesh to be best alternative. It allows air and keeps squirrels away. In any case they eat only tender leaves. Once the plant is grown fully, they do not touch it.
What about marigold can you pleas expand on it
Regards
Hares
your case is different. You can have trap crops they use cereals to lure squirrils not to touch your main crops.
Second you can have cats(I dont know if this possible, you need a house/shed for this)
Sir,
One of my friend fixed used knives in his pots to scare away squirrels. It worked according to him. This would be okay for small pots but may not be possible for large farms.(How to procure so many knives!) By extending the logic of having some thing sharp on periphery, I think growing thorny plants on perimeter should solve the problem.
Regards
Haresh