What not to do (as well as what works) when you have ground squirrels

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We had a ground squirrel on the loose the other day reminding me that a good baby season for them is not necessarily a good thing for gardeners. Sam was in the backyard when he heard squeaking by the house. He went over to investigate and a young ground squirrel was running along the house and calling. In the meantime, John ran to grab the live trap, I put Luna in the house and grabbed my camera. Once we returned, hilarity ensued.

The squirrel quickly realized its error in judgement. It made a dash for the garden shed with me in tow with the camera. I was surprised at how they can jump! We’re not talking just leaps and bounds horizontally, it was leaping vertically pretty high. The whole thing reminded me of the Ray Stevens’ song, “The Mississippi Squirrel Revival,” and I totally admit I was singing it the rest of the day.

But in all seriousness, ground squirrels, found in many regions throughout the central and western United States, can be a big problem for gardeners, and with the juvenile squirrel coming in right up to the house, it looks like I might have to figure out what to do with them around here.

The place to start is what doesn’t work with ground squirrels.

~ Some folks recommend planting a “trap” crop, so to speak, to distract the ground squirrels from your desired vegetables. Coming from experience, ground squirrels will eat whatever they want, where they want, in your garden. Just because they happen to find a lovely, unguarded row of cabbage doesn’t mean they’ll eat that, and leave the rest of your plants alone. They’ll eat that, then eat your plants.

~ Putting out corn or oats as an alternative is another suggestion I’ve heard, but once again, they will eat whatever you give them, plus your plants.

~ Repellents are usually the first line of defense against ground squirrels. I’ve known gardeners to use everything from cayenne pepper to coyote urine. (I don’t know if I want coyote urine spritzed around my broccoli, but that’s just me.) From what I’ve seen, a strong or alarming smell might cause hesitation. You might have a night or two reprieve. But once the squirrels figure out nothing is going to hurt them, they will quickly ignore the strong smells.

~ I’m not a fan of poison baits. Although, I have to admit the non-toxic methods people suggest don’t sound much better. Two of the more popular ones are chewing gum and chocolate flavored laxatives. Gardeners at the community gardens diligently tried chewing gum years ago without success. I don’t think the squirrels even ate it, which was fine with me since their supposed demise by gumming up their system sounded dreadful. And, as you can guess, the mode of action of the laxative wouldn’t be much better.

~ Live traps don’t do much for the longterm solution, even though it makes people feel better to trap and release them. And many areas do not legally permit you from releasing them beyond your property. This leaves the options for disposal far less appealing.

If you have ground squirrels and don’t want to harm them, you have to be good at building a fence. This includes a section that reaches at least 18 inches deep. Remember, these little guys are champion diggers, and can access your entire garden with one well-honed tunnel. For the fence section above ground, a couple of strands of electric would help discourage them from even attempting to go over it. Just be sure to keep the mesh tight and the whole thing snug to keep them from bullying their way through it.

At the moment, the ground squirrels seem to be staying in the field, or at the perimeter of the property. If they come any closer, though, it looks like I’m going to have to step up my exclusion method. I’ll not only need to keep out our dog and the neighborhood deer from the vegetables, but I will have to go deep to keep the ground squirrels at bay, as well.

Meet Amy Grisak

Amy is a freelance author and photographer in Great Falls, MT who specializes in gardening, foods, and sustainable agriculture. She provides information on every kind…

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