List of tree species damaged by squirrels

[Mike Corazzi]

At the old place they DUG!!! Had to put mechanic's cloth over the soil. A hole for the tree.

 

[penumbra]

Hot pepper flakes

These work great I have a huge bag from Amazon.

Yeah I suppose trying to list and categorize a wild animals behavior is a little silly. I just fall into this loop of despair every autumn.

I get it. Been there too.

 

[RJG2]

My neighbor feeds squirrels (and stray cats grrr) corn and peanuts which the just plant in my grow beds and larger pots. The cats just plant poop... another grrr

My thought would be that they shouldn't NEED to eat my trees, they are just being azzholes.

Large Dogwood and Ninebark from last year.

I have a neighbor like this. Leaves whole peanuts with shells out. They are about a block and a half away, but I find peanuts everywhere. Gutters, pots, kids toys, everywhere. The house that does it has a flock of pigeons constantly perched on their roof.

I have another neighbor (across the street), that catches squirrels, spray paints their tails, and relocates them (52 this year). Guess who's winning...

 

[GreatLakesBrad]

The digging into pots and destroying roots is probably my biggest pet peeve. I’ve plunked a few with the pellet gun, but it’s a flood of squirrels and I’m not going to win that battle. Hardware cloth over my most treasured trees and backfill the rest. Always right before winter, too! Argh.

 

[M. Frary]

You saw how that one dudes Burning Bush got stripped?

I reckon that's for nests, especially since it's fall.

You could probably provide better nesting material to keep them safe.

Sorce

Really?
Kill all V.C.!

 

[HankDio]

My neighbor feeds squirrels (and stray cats grrr) corn and peanuts which the just plant in my grow beds and larger pots. The cats just plant poop... another grrr

My thought would be that they shouldn't NEED to eat my trees, they are just being azzholes.

Large Dogwood and Ninebark from last year.

I have a huge feral cat colony in my neighborhood, but nobody feeds them. I suspect that they have really put the local rodent (and reptile) population in check, because it’s been years simce I’ve seen so much as a mouse on my block. I suppose results may vary.

 

[flor1]

Keep a 22 by the back door average 2 or 3 a week coyotes gotta eat have the occasional cat cross the rainbow bridge too as a treat

 

[PA_Penjing]

The stray cats near me all get fed. That doesn’t stop them from killing rabbits for sport but that doesn’t help me since rabbits can’t get into my yard anyway.

 

[Cruiser]

Lost an oak to rodents last year.
I think a major factor is the age and/or bark thickness on the tree. Younger trees have thinner bark which means easy access to the tasty interior.
Stem damage is a recognized problem in replanted forestry plantations, mountain beavers and deer wreak havoc. Sometimes many acres need to get replanted. As the trees get bigger and harder to gnaw on, bears become the primary driver of stem damage.

 

[just.wing.it]

I had a Yew branch removed by a rabbit once....
Guess I've been lucky.

I did have a chipmunk digging in pots 2 years ago.
I nailed him with a co2 powered fully automatic MP40 replica BB gun, 60 round magazine of 17 caliber steel hell unloads in about 3.5 seconds.

Got eeem.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Had little trouble when I had an outside dog. He had a decent doghouse for bad weather. Once the dog got old, I let it move into the house, then damage would pick up. Digging in autumn by squirrels was my main problem. But either an "outside dog" or an "outside cat or two" would be the best option. Terriers enjoy the sport of chasing squirrels. Actually, squirrels are usually only active in daylight, so a dog that is outside most of the day, every day, will probably keep squirrels at bay.

But not everyone can keep a dog, or cats for that matter.

One could set mechanical rat traps. They are big enough to kill a squirrel. Watch your fingers. Traps don't have the issues that poisoning the squirrels would have. Rat poison does work on squirrels, but then birds of prey, crows stray cats and other creatures eat the dead or near dead carcasses of the poisoned squirrels and end up getting poisoned themselves. Not good. So poison is out.

Rat traps or even live traps.

Or one can build a hardware cloth cage for the trees. This is a good option for small collection of small size trees. I had a cage I used for orchids I would put out in summer. This also helped with storms, the pots might get blown around in a storm, but being in the cage you can still find them after the storm.

So a cage or fenced in area is one of the better mechanical solutions to the problem.

If you are wintering the trees on the ground, do not mulch them in until AFTER the ground freezes. If you mulch too early in autumn, mice, voles and small creatures will move into the shelter of the mulch, and just chew the trees up over the winter in the comfort of the mulch pile. If you wait with the mulch until after the ground freezes, the mice and other creatures will have set up their winter quarters, hopefully away from where your trees are being wintered.

 

[nutshell]

There is another way..

 

[penumbra]

Laughed so hard I could barely type.
That's classic................^^^

 

[PA_Penjing]

@Leo in N E Illinois fortunately I have a very fast dog but she does not live outside. Her presence makes squirrels leery even when she's not around, but not enough to avoid the yard completely. I'm considering cutting my collection in half and building a "winter cage" for the handful that I keep.

@nutshell seeing that in person would make my day

 

[GreatLakesBrad]

I’ve built plenty of hardware cloth solutions to protect my most treasured trees, and sowed seeds, but it still isn’t near enough space.

 

[Miguelito's Blade]

They will knock small trees off my bench so I try to anchor them between larger ones. I haven't noticed chewing, but they dig holes in my pots. Very annoying!

One of my Satsukis was laying on the ground after squirrels knocked it out of the pot. How do I know the squirrels did it? There was a peanut in the shell in the spilled Kanuma.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Bald Cypress Knees....I had to build a cage to go around the bottom of my tree to keep the squirrels from chewing the tops of the knees.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Guess I've been lucky. Trident maple is so far the only tree that's been chewed on, though they dig in any pot that isn't pumice or bonsai soil.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

I have set a trap with carrots and only have caught squirrels. My first thought was rabbits were causing the damage. This post makes me wonder…
This season they destroyed, black pines, trident. Elm, grapes, JM and quince. Bark and buds on all. I still see buds on most, but they are now designed by nature Going forward they will be raised in a protected area on the ground or in pots (protected too).

 

[PA_Penjing]

I have set a trap with carrots and only have caught squirrels. My first thought was rabbits were causing the damage. This post makes me wonder…
This season they destroyed, black pines, trident. Elm, grapes, JM and quince. Bark and buds on all. I still see buds on most, but they are now designed by nature Going forward they will be raised in a protected area on the ground or in pots (protected too).

It's weird this is the first year I'm hearing that they go after JBP. I thought conifers were safe but I guess maybe some pine species taste good