How do I get rid of ground squirrels in my yard?

How do I get rid of ground squirrels in my yard?

Install tall fencing or netting around gardens or bushes you don’t want these animals getting into. Make sure the fencing goes at least a foot underground. Use motion sensor water sprinklers to scare squirrels away with water. Plant mint plants around your home to repel the ground squirrels.

What do ground squirrels hate?

White pepper and cayenne smells frequently discourage squirrels, for example. If you sprinkle your plants with flakes of cayenne pepper, it might keep unwelcome pests out of your garden. Squirrels also dislike garlic and black pepper smells. Raccoons share this aversion to the smell of pepper.

What can I put down ground squirrel holes?

Water – Place a hose in a hole, and flood the gopher or ground squirrel’s home. After the wet vermin skitter over your fence and evacuate into other, drier, areas, fill the holes with mothballs, castor oil or pepper spray, or some other type of deterrent to keep them from coming back.

What poison kills ground squirrels?

Zinc phosphide* is an acute toxicant that can also be use to control ground squirrels. It kills ground squirrels after a single feeding, so it can reduce numbers more quickly than anticoagulants. However, zinc phosphide* has a distinctive odor and taste that many ground squirrels seem to avoid.

What is the best bait for ground squirrels?

Peanut butter is one of the most effective baits, and it is difficult for ground squirrels to remove without springing the trap. Pieces of apple or other fruit, vegetable, or a nutmeat can also be used as bait.

Are ground squirrels bad?

Ground squirrels damage garden plants and fruit and nut trees. They can also cause damage to building foundations, fences, and levee systems. Their burrows create tripping hazards. Ground squirrels can carry diseases harmful to humans.

What is the most effective squirrel repellent?

Natural Squirrel Repellents

• Spread predator urine around your garden.
• Try sprinkling cayenne pepper, ground chili peppers, pepper flakes, and/or garlic pepper on and around your plants when they are ready to bloom.
• Birds can’t taste capsaicin, so add some cayenne pepper to those bird feeders to deter squirrels.

What food is poisonous to squirrels?

Toxic foods are poisonous to squirrels and should be completely avoided….UNHEALTHY FOODS

• High-sugar foods (candy, cookies, granola, sweetened breakfast cereals)
• High-starch foods (pasta, bread, rice, potatoes)
• Salty foods.
• Human junk food.
• Cashews.
• Sunflower seeds.
• Dried corn.
• Pine nuts.

How do I stop squirrels from digging up my lawn?

Squirrels normally ignore them. To prevent them from digging up garden bulbs in your yard, place chicken wire over the area. Bury the fence about an inch underground. The plants will grow through the holes in the fence, but the squirrels cannot get through the netting.

Do rat traps work on ground squirrels?

A few ground squirrels around a home garden or small row crop operation can be easily removed using wooden-based rat-sized snap traps, glue boards, or live traps. Snap traps are lethal traps, and glue boards can kill animals caught in them.

Are ground squirrels destructive?

A: California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) are indeed a formidable garden pest that can be hard to control. They will, as you point out, eat virtually any growing plant, and their burrowing can also be very destructive to trees and hazardous to livestock.