topic Re: Caught in the act! in Among Friends

Caught in the act!

MoJoV — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:38:12 GMT

eating my porch pumpkin. Stinker!

Re: Caught in the act!

Bird mama — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:39:14 GMT

@MoJoV And here I thought the squirrel was posing with the gift you left him/her.

Re: Caught in the act!

Nightowlz — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:47:24 GMT

They tore up one of our new law chairs. They ripped the padding out of it to use in their nest.

They also get in my hanging flower basket with Purslane in it. It's a weed which has pretty flowers on it that open during the day & close at night. Some use it in salads. The squirrel would sit in the basket eating his own salad.

I have to put plants the cover the soil or something over the soil in all my flower pots to keep them from digging & planting their nuts.

I also see them sitting on the fence eating the neighbors Pears.

Re: Caught in the act!

meallen616 — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:47:18 GMT

They are talented!

Re: Caught in the act!

NicksmomESQ — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:48:51 GMT

Cute!! I no longer put real pumpkins 🎃 out in front of my house. The animals always seem to get to them leaving me a mess to clean up.

Re: Caught in the act!

ValuSkr — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:55:09 GMT

I no longer put pumpkins in front of the house either. They just end up being eaten by squirrels and making a mess in the process. They also dig in flower pots this time of year. If a pot's not filled to the brim with plants, and they can see a speck of soil, they'll dig away. I fill those pots with pine cones; it deters them but is not foolproof. This afternoon there's potting soil (and pine cones) all over a corner of the front patio, where a squirrel made a mess.

Re: Caught in the act!

Krimpette — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:57:03 GMT

I have my pumpkin up on a little wrought iron stand. So far, so good! Hope it stays that way!!!!!!!!

Re: Caught in the act!

dex — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:59:08 GMT

Squirrels are really cute rascals.I try not to plant or put out anything they enjoy because they have caused a lot of damage to friends homes over the years.

Re: Caught in the act!

2blonde — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 19:02:18 GMT

Geez, all this time I thought the little guys were so cute. Maybe not so much for some people. Where I live we have lots of Buckeye and acorn trees, so the squirrels seem to be kept busy with those.

Re: Caught in the act!

chrystaltree — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 19:05:18 GMT

In our old house, we couldn't put real pumpkins out. They were just a treat for the squirrels and racoons.

Re: Caught in the act!

kitcat51 — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 19:09:24 GMT

Squirrels are cute & destructive! We have gray-white, brown-orange, solid black & for the first time solid white in my neighborhood... the white squirrels use to be in only one area by a lake in a nearby town. The neighborhood is overrun withx squirrels so can't put out pumpkins, wish I could.

Re: Caught in the act!

Witchy Woman — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 19:34:20 GMT

@MoJoV

Our yard is wooded and full of nut trees. The squirrels sit high up in the trees eating those nuts with the hulls flying everywhere.

Between that and the acorns falling it is like an obstacle course outside. So much noise and falling debris! Even my cat is afraid to sit out on our stone patio for the nut hulls flying

My "pumpkins" are made of cement, so if they try to eat those, their teeth are in trouble. Haven't put out a real pumpkin in years.

Re: Caught in the act!

haddon9 — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 19:39:31 GMT

I just put three pumpkins out on our front steps. I never had any problems with squirrels (fingers crossed) before though there are plenty around!

Re: Caught in the act!

Scorpio1971 — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 20:36:11 GMT

They are worse than stinkers! Several got into my attic this time last year...found out they ate through fascia boards just enough to get in & out & were having a party! Had to call in a wildlife specialist to trap and "discard" them. Had to get carpenters to remove 2 year old seamless gutters, rip off existing fascia & replace with all new non-wood fascia, and then reattach gutters. Wildlife specialists cost $500 for a week of trapping & removing them, and then another $1,500 for carpentry! There were others even trying to get into attic while carpenters were putting on new fascia. Had to have 2 guys on ladders with brooms trying to chase them away while other guys were working on attaching fascia boards! They were relentless! One even broke out of the trap in the picture & got away! Uggh

Re: Caught in the act!

jlkz — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 21:08:05 GMT

@Krimpette wrote:
I have my pumpkin up on a little wrought iron stand. So far, so good! Hope it stays that way!!!!!!!!

@Krimpette

They can climb up or down anything. We had them climbing down a metal line to get to birdseed. They jump and land where they want.

Re: Caught in the act!

jlkz — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 21:10:47 GMT

I have never had them eat hostas, but today one of several hostas has had its leaves chewed off.

One of the squirrels must have had a feast on the flowers in my begonia container.

The squirrels really seem to be fatter than usual....a sign of a very bad winter ???

Re: Caught in the act!

pupwhipped — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 21:20:51 GMT

@Scorpio1971 wrote:
They are worse than stinkers! Several got into my attic this time last year...found out they ate through fascia boards just enough to get in & out & were having a party! Had to call in a wildlife specialist to trap and "discard" them. Had to get carpenters to remove 2 year old seamless gutters, rip off existing fascia & replace with all new non-wood fascia, and then reattach gutters. Wildlife specialists cost $500 for a week of trapping & removing them, and then another $1,500 for carpentry! There were others even trying to get into attic while carpenters were putting on new fascia. Had to have 2 guys on ladders with brooms trying to chase them away while other guys were working on attaching fascia boards! They were relentless! One even broke out of the trap in the picture & got away! Uggh

Similar problems for us. Squirrels are no longer our friends...more like our enemies! I hate it but something had to give. My husband was not happy as he is the one who has to deal with all the problems.

Re: Caught in the act!

OKPrincess — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 21:29:31 GMT

We used to see an albino squirrel in our backyard almost daily but haven’t for the past two years.

Also DH and I witness thieving squirrels. A lady who lives behind us two houses down had a beautiful vegetable garden. More than once we’d see a squirrel run along the electrical high wire, run down the electric pole, grab a tomato 🍅, back up the pole and with tomato in mouth, across the wire in my backyard and disappear into the trees.

Re: Caught in the act!

Krimpette — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 21:33:42 GMT

@jlkz. For sure! But what I've noticed in prior years is that my issue is mostly with chipmunks! Caught one in the act! But so far, no critter has touched my pumpkin and it's been out for about 2 weeks! Fingers crossed!!!!

Re: Caught in the act!

IllinoisJann — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 22:07:13 GMT

Spray your pumpkins with Repells, may be called Repells-All. It is available at hardware stores. It does not smell great, but keeps the squirrels from eating the pumpkins. You may need to repeat with a second application after a heavy rain.