Squirrels - Enough Already!

Squirrels - Enough Already!

I realize that I have written about squirrels several times before but they keep presenting new things to address. This time it’s cars. Yes, cars. A squirrel has been squatting in our car engines, munching on the wires and causing quite a bit of damage. Both our cars, my husband’s and mine, have been victims over the last couple of years. There is nothing like rushing out in the morning, getting into the car, going to start the engine and nothing happens. No lights are on showing an electrical problem. Flip the hood and there is the evidence – disconnected wires, tooth gouges on the brake fluid reservoir cap and even dried grass and branches formed into a cozy nest.

Our cars have been towed to the service station. They were repaired and returned in good working order. But squirrels are persistent. One car was damaged, fixed, and a day later was back in the shop! When we tell others about our squirrel problems, more often than not we hear of other stories about the damage these critters have done.

So now we are on a squirrel discouragement program, asking around for natural squirrel repelling options. We were told that bird feeders are great attractions for squirrels. As we have several in our backyard, we are experimenting with not feeding the birds, at least for a while, to see if that keeps the squirrels away. We heard – and read – that cayenne pepper is a deterrent but when we sprinkled it under the feeders to test out the theory, the squirrels just ignored it and continued eating the seeds that had dropped to the ground. Maybe they like a spicy meal.

We placed net containers with mothballs under the cars and under the hoods. That smell should drive anything away though we aren’t certain it bothers you-know-who. We bought Squirrel Stopper, a spray meant to keep squirrels away from plants. It contains mint oil, rosemary oil, rotten whole egg solids, and vinegar among other natural ingredients, which was sprayed in the engine compartment to repel them. Does it? There is some evidence that the area has again been entered and perhaps some bite marks evident though not damaging. It almost sounds edible.

And now we’re bringing in the heavy-duty stuff, applying fox urine powder. If I were a squirrel and caught a whiff of this I would definitely keep away. Foxes are not squirrels’ friends.

I appreciate all the help we’ve been getting. I just hope one of the suggestions works. I don’t want to hurt the squirrels; I am a believer in every being having the right to exist. But come on, what about Live and Let live? Hear that, squirrels? Keep your distance and we can all be happy.

Some suggestions:

https://blog.allstate.com/protect-your-car-squirrels-chewing-on-car-wires/

More suggestions and some cautions:

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/groundhogs