Shooting is always a very good option if it's allowed where you are. I'm in the city where I can't do that, so I bought an electronic rat trap for last year. Has two or three electric plate and will "fry" the little pest when it touches the innermost plate. Haven't needed it yet though. Last year squirrels were strangely absent from the neighborhood. Think it was due to the street trees bearing no acorns the year before. I expect it'll come in use this year since I've seen them roaming about.

I'm planning on attaching some netting to a pvc frame and covering the trees with them. Mine are in pots and still small enough to protect (I hope) this way. This year it looks like the birds are going to be particularly bad. They have already eaten 4 of the 5 that have ripened... 3 of them were green fruits, and the one they attacked this morning was not completely ripe either. So much for birds leaving the green ones alone. I don't think the presence of the neighborhood cats scares them away anymore.

~james

There's really no permanant solutions to get rid of squirrels. specially if you live in suburbs where they seem to thrive, in the absence of predators. They see my fruit trees as a shopping area. No matter how many I catch, or how many I shoot, they quckly get replaced by others.
My neighbor have traped almost 100 squirels 3 years ago. and they quickly got replaced.
I should raise few Falcons, perhaps that will do the trick.

Good Luck.

Bass

I have a yard full of squirrels, but they seem to mostly ignore my fig tree. What I have trouble with is birds and ants going after the figs. I know netting would help stop the birds, but not the ants. I hate to have to use pesticide, but once the ants find them, they demolish them.

I apply Tanglefoot to the base of the trunk (first wrapped in thick paper) to avoid ant problems with my fruit trees. It lasts all season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tanglefoot

Gene, I'd wondered about what might be a decent "base" for the Tanglefoot - what kind of thick paper are you using? (something like what grocery bags are made of?)

Sherry

p.s. how is the orchard coming along? any pictures yet?

Hi Sherry, grocery bag paper should be fine, but might want to have at least two layers as the goo does penetrate the paper to some degree over the season. Out of laziness I use the stuff sold by Tanglefoot. It comes in rolls about the size of a salad plate, the band is 1 1/2" to 2" wide, and is a little crinkled in texture.

On a single-cane rose that was having ant/aphid problems, I used foil instead. On trees I use twine to tie fast the paper to the trunk. With the foil on the small rose cane all I needed to do was to squeeze firmly in order to secure it.

No, no pictures really yet. The weeds are mostly taller than the trees, but I'll see what I can do about a picture. At the other shared orchard site planted in 2003, I'm a bit disappointed that 2/3 of them are still freezing down to the ground over the winter. But the 1/3 or so that don't are starting to look pretty good. After looking at them last weekend I think we'll get a nice crop this season (mostly Hardy Chicago and Celeste).

The only way to get rid of squirrels is by trapping them.
I got great info at:

http://www.unexco.com/trapsquirrels.html

I had this pesky squirrel come to my yard everyday, and eating my strawberries. I got a 1040 trap, placed peanut butter on a piece of apple as suggested and it worked. It was easy, eventhough I never trapped anything in my life before.

Hardy Chicago, No squirrels.

{{gwi:786152}}

7 month cutting. Cheap excuse to show off my friend.