I need a recipe for squirrel repellent that does not keep the birds away too. I found one made with cayenne powder, but that will hurt the birds, won't it? These rodents eat a small fortune in birdseed!
Hardiness Zone: 6a
By Leigh from Litchfeild County, CT
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This isn't a repellent, but try putting an ear of corn out for the squirrels. They will work at that instead of eating the birdfeed. Works pretty good for us.
My husband put a wire cable between two trees and hung the bird feeder on the wire. There is about 20 feet between the trees with no low hanging branches. While the squirrels may sit at each end where the bolt goes into the trees, they cannot walk on this wire.
I've been dealing with squirrels and moles in my garden and bird feeders forever, the methods that employ the use of dry herbs such as cayenne pepper are useless, save the cayenne for homemade chili. The solar "pounders" are also a wast of money.
The best formula that i have found for squirrels and moles is this: add 1 tablespoon of castor oil to 2 tablespoons of ordinary dish soap, then add 6 tablespoons of water and mix until it has a whipped cream consistency. Spray the area down with a garden hose soak it nicely, then connect your garden sprayer to the hose with the "solution" added to sprayer.
This works for 2 weeks to a month. It may seem like a hassle but the thing is, it works!
Optional ingredients include: 1 tablespoon of powdered alum and human urine, yes urine! First it is a natural fear factor for the animals, second, it also breaks down into ammonia, which is of course repellent, and good for plant growth.
Hot pepper spray does not hurt birds. I know several gardeners that spray the seeds and mix it around before putting them in the feeders. The birds eat it up and the squirrels and chipmunks leave it alone. I've also been successfully using home-made hot pepper spray under the hood and in the trunk of my car to deter squirrels and chipmunks from leaving seeds near the spare tire and chewing wiring or the hoodliner. I pulled out the filter from the filter box under the hood and sprayed both sides generously, misted inside the hoodliner, the outside of the hoodliner, and all under the hood around the engine and all rubber hosing. So far its been WEEKS and not one re-occurrence. I live in NH and as it gets colder and has started snowing already that's when these critters like to get under the car the most. So far so good! Every couplefew weeks I give it another fine misting but I haven't seen any evidence of re-occurrence.
HOT PEPPER SPRAY RECIPE: (Wear gloves!)
Take several fresh jalepeno peppers and discard the stems. Cut them up roughly and add them to the food processor (seeds and all!) with 2 cups of water. Blend well. Let sit for 2 minutes. Strain through a coffee filter into a 32 oz spray bottle. Repeat until the bottle is full. DO NOT use any kind of hot pepper pre-packaged or bulk spice mix as most of them contain salt which is very corrosive if you're spraying it on anything with metal or aluminum parts (ie the car). It's best to use only fresh peppers from the produce section of the store to make this recipe.
Please don't put pepper of any sort outside. It's a very painful irritant if it gets in the eyes and you can't guarantee it won't. Your friend can't possibly know it for sure that nothing is hurt by it.
Marg from England.
I use Carolina Reaper and it has NO effect on the squirrels.. They are still hanging around.. So basically HOT Peppers (at least for me) don't work..
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