keeping squirrels out of the yard

[Adam Fikso]

Re squirrels and chipmunks.  I don't even try to keep them out of the yard.
just discourage them from doing their own plantings of black walnuts, and
digging up my stuff.  I have used 1/2" wire mesh hardware cloth (not good
for arisaemas  that are 1" at the base " and will be experimenting with
crushed rotten granite (sharp corners) pressed into the ground in a 6-7"
patch  over the area where the tuber is.  Will be using this with cyclamens
also, pressing it in firmly to form a sort of barrier that will let water
through, but discourage the little monsters.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bonaventure W Magrys" <magrysbo at SHU.EDU>
To: <ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL>
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 4:18 PM
Subject: keeping squirrels out of the yard


> Last night, in the middle of this particularly busy acorn-burying season,
I
> greased the top of the fence rail around my yard with petroleum jelly as
> well as a 2 foot wide width around the trunks of trees around my yard,
over
> aluminum guards and further as high as I could reach. So far I haven't had
> the satisfaction of watching the little demons lose their grip and slide
> off, but it would only partially make up for the heartless way they dig up
> and toss tubers and rhizomes about. Without an easy escape route, as in
> this spring when I had the aluminum guards by themselves around the tree
> trunks, the squirrels are reluctant to enter the yard. The guards worked
> for a month before they learned to navigate them.
>
> Bonaventure Magrys
> Cliffwood Beach, NJ USA
>