In the past 4 years, I've tried a lot of different ideas. Trapping works best, by far. And I don't drive 20 miles to let the squirrels off. I drop them off about 5 miles away on my way into town, so it only adds 5 minutes (or less) to my drive.

Putting aviary wire cages over/around my plants has been the only other thing that works. I'm growing many vegetables in 5 gallon containers, and I make a 3ft high cylinder around the container, out of the aviary wire (which is 1/2" chicken wire...squirrels can reach through regular 1" chicken wire) and crimp it at the top. It works really well, but can be a pain to reach inside...especially when you have bugs you want to inspect or pick off. You can spray Safer's soap and rubbing alcohol through the mesh, but if you want to do a thorough job of spraying you need to remove the cylinder. I've tried plastic chicken wire, and plastic hardware cloth(less expensive), but the squirrels can chew right through the plastic if they really want what's inside.

For plants in the ground, I've build 36"x36" wood base frames (using 1x1 wood) and made chicken wire domes over them, 2-3ft high at the center. I've also made hardware cloth frames for young seedlings (usually about 12-16" high and 8" wide and as long as I need). For both the domes and the hardware cloth frames, you need to attach end pieces to close them off. With hardware cloth expect to bleed a lot, the wire points are always knicking you in the arm.

I'm just now setting up a 4x8' garden box to plant some corn and I'm going to make a chicken wire cage around it with a chicken wire top that I can open up when needed. This is the best solution, something large enough where you can get inside and move around with ease. Fancy cages that look good are expensive to make (hardware cloth is especially costly), but I'm using 1/2" emt metal tubes/pipes (from Home Depot) for posts, and chicken wire for the top and sides. Not pretty, but effective.

Everything else I tried was a waste of time. It's not fun to see your tomatoes inside a wire cylinder, but at least they are "my" tomatoes and I'm the one who gets to eat them.

On top of all this, I have to deal with gophers (chicken wire floors under the dirt), and the occasional deer. Plus rabbits and a mysterious animal (flying rabbit?) that somehow get's over a 5 foot high deer fence and eats all the young branches from citrus trees without leaving any leftover scraps on the ground.

Hope this helps your situation a bit.

John

I looked into electric fences this year, to protect the peaches on some young peach trees. I was expecting to spend about $50 (on Amazon.com) for a battery operated unit, plus another $15-25 for the wires, posts, and wire standoffs. My idea was to move it from tree to tree as different varieties ripened. I haven't done it yet, but if I had a standard rectangular garden plot I think that would be my first defense. You put a low (24") chicken wire fence around the plot, ground it, and run the hot wire a few inches above the chicken wire. The squirrels are forced to climb the chicken wire and when they put their greedy little paws on the hot wire (while still touching the chicken wire), they get a distasteful zap! There are some funny stories on Amazon.com (in the reviews) about squirrels hitting the hot wire and doing back flips away from it. They seem to get the message very quickly.

Even though you don't think a Havahart is the answer, last year I had two peach trees with their first peaches. The first one ripening lost about 30 peaches in a day or two. I put two Havahart traps under the second tree and in the next two weeks caught 8 squirrels. That led to a squirrel lull and when the peaches ripened every one of them was mine. I also had a 3-4 month squirrel lull this spring, so after four years of this I must be cutting into the local population. If you have hundreds, or even tens of squirrels running about everyday, the Havahart probably wouldn't work. But in my semi rural neighborhood it seems to work if you keep at it.

In many states live trapping and then moving wildlife is illegal without a license from the state. Moving an animal from one habitat to another may well mean that animal gets killed by those that live in that habitat as an intruder, so even if you can legally move them it is still not a good idea. Moving an animal from one habitat to another may well also spread diseases if your area has them and the new place does not.

Thanks John. I will try havaheart and the coyote urine. We have a small yard and I would prefer not to use chicken wire- for aesthetics only. That may change next year. I don't know how you stay sane dealing with squirrels, gophers, deer AND rabbits.

Kimmsr- it is legal to trap and relocate certain pest here. It is, however, illegal to feed them. While my garden seems to be a playground for them, the many neighbors who put out peanuts and seeds for squirrels and birds have only added to our pest problem.

Thanks again,
Leslie

Lesuko...please let us know how the coyote urine works out. I could try it here, there are lots of coyotes in my area, so the local squirrels should be very familiar with their scent. Havahart wise, I think the size to get is the smallish trap (I have the 0745 model), it's easy to carry in your car and very easy to open to let the occupant out. Amazon has them for about $23 and they qualify for free shipping if your order is more than $25.

Kimmsr...I don't know that there's a more humane alternative to relocation. Since squirrels don't share, if you want to grow anything edible you have to find a way to deal with them. Perhaps you know of a sure fire guaranteed method that doesn't involve killing them. You'll let us know, won't you...