It is hard to set up electrical protection for each tree as the tree acts as a ground so charged wire can't touch it. I once used boxes for individual trees that were 4X4 and about 3' high with a chicken wire fence and about 3 wires. I used a continuous charger designed for dogs because squirrels will sometimes go over a pulsating unit without getting zapped. Anyway the system worked. I had tried spiraling the trunks before that. You need to have the uncharged metal well grounded to deliver shock- I drove a copper stake into the ground about 5' deep as it needs to contact moist soil at all times. I plugged in my charger from a house outlet and ran the charge line a couple hundred feet just setting it on the ground and letting the grass hide it. Used the heavy grey stuff used in the walls of homes. Probably illegal, but I don't think it's dangerous as the charge is not strong enough to kill a human large enough to be walking around. I'm not recommending it unless you can verify that. Stay away from Millers for trees and consider Adams County Nursery as well as Cummins. Millers is unreliable as far as tree ID and they sell tooth picks that take an extra season at least to bring to bearing. M7 or 111 will work and for vigorous trees even M26. From Cummins you can get Cornell rootstocks in that range.

Today my future DIL reported that she saw a squirrel running along the top of the fence with a red rose in its mouth. The only red one I could think of was Polonaise, and sure enough the new bloom I saw this morning was gone. As we walked further in the garden past Louis Philippe, DIL said "maybe it was this one." I said no, his canes won't support a squirrel and there are no flowers near the fence. Then she went to the spot where she saw him drop it. Turned out to be LP. As I walked back to Polonaise, I noticed several bare pedunkles!! I guess it's time for the hardware cloth. I don't like squirrels! Sherry

Ingenuous way to make a trap and kind also. I hope a mile is far enough away. Maybe you could put a little spot of spray paint on it through the cat carrier window if you trap another one so you'd know if the same one found it's way back.

Our squirrels squash stuff too, esp. the Osterich fern and the solomon's seals/false solomon's seals. Also, cats like to do a number of those kinds of plants too so it might not be the squirrels if it's happening at night. Outdoor cats will get in the garden and find a nice spot to roll around flattening everything. When they are in heat and a male is around, it's even WORSE. We're also getting browse lines on all our new shrubs from the bunnies. We have a fence but they still seem to find ways in and then they graze like cattle on all my stuff. I like bunnies but I'm growing to have a grudge against them when they anhialated my new redbud bush leaving barely a leaf on it. The bark is intact but it's severely stressed. I have moved it to a location closer to the house so I can see it and will be putting construction cloth around it tonight after work. I also have to put construction cloth around my burning bushes and my witch hazel which the bunnies have stripped bare up to the top of the browse line. :o/ Barb Ontario, CANADA