Squirrels

Squirrels

Both ground squirrels and tree squirrels can be troublesome in gardens. They will eat nuts, berries, green leaves, and other plants in gardens and surrounding areas. Ground squirrels live under ground and come up to eat. Tree squirrels live in trees, on branches or may end up in your attic or roof crawl space. The best way to tell the difference is when they flee look to see if they run up a tree or go underground. Even though they have different living habits they are similar in diet. The biggest difference is that tree squirrels are active all year while ground squirrels hibernate.

Target:

Fruits, seeds, nuts, grains, bark. Ground squirrels eat tender greens in spring.

Damage:

Plant parts are eaten into; bark is gnawed, crops are damaged, houses maybe invaded. They also may spread diseases to pets because most pets love hunting them.

Control:

Repellents, prompt harvesting, barriers, pruning and gasses.

Notes:

Cover the soil around planting beds with sheets of 1 to 2-inch-diameter wire mesh; squirrels don’t like to walk on it. Prune trees so the lowest branches are at least 6 feet above ground. Place 2-foot-wide metal bands around tree trunk, positioning them so the bottom of each band is at least 2 feet off the ground.

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