Can I use hot sauce to protect a peach tree from squirrels?
By victor pfaus from Long Island, NY
I use hot pepper sauce around our fruit trees and garden to keep critters away, good luck. (04/24/2010)
They sell a plastic owl with moving heads and these scare the squirrels. Also, they sell motion activated sprinklers too! Here's several options and there are many more too:
Here's a Wonderful Sugar Free Option: $50
critter-repellent.com
It's a motion-activated burst of ultrasonic sound that humans can't hear, it sound startles animals and teaches them to stay away
Scare-crow Sprinkler: $75
A motion-activated sprinkler teaches them to avoid the area in future.
You'll have to Google to find the bobble-head owl.
* I'd stay away from the hot pepper or hot-sauce because it's can be very cruel. This is because when animals and neighborhood pets get it in their eyes, the pain can cause them to dig their eyes out! I used to use it and recommend it until many ThriftyFun people wrote and warned me! Plus, the hot sauce has to be re-applied each time it rains. (04/24/2010)
By Cyinda
I saw an infomercial on TV yesterday. They said use peppermint oil, that rodents are allergic to it. Be sure it is oil from a health food store and not extract from the grocery store which is mostly alcohol. (04/25/2010)
By Dave
We had issues with squirrels eating our strawberries, "all" our strawberries. I read somewhere that they do not like the scent of coffee grounds. We tried it and it worked wonderfully! Plus unlike cayenne pepper, it seems to still be effective after regular waterings or rain showers. I scatter coffee grounds about every 2-3 weeks and have not had any issues since. Plus it's a non-chemical solution that is safe for our family and our puppy, too. I definitely recommend to give it a try. (06/09/2010)
By HunnyBunny
Finally, after 4 years of trying oils, owls, moth balls, coffee grounds, rubber snakes, sonic noise makers, etc. I finally have not had one squirrel in my apple trees. I may get my first crop on my 7 year old trees. I put 40 inch wide, rather thin gauge sheet metal around the trunks of my trees. The squirrels try to jump up over the tin, but can not jump that high. This solution was so simple, I should have thought of it sooner. Haven't harmed a single squirrel and they are still in my neighborhood.
Russ (06/24/2010)
By Russell
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