Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful tomatoes?
It doesn't seem to matter to them if they are ripe or green. The plants can
be full of fruit when I leave for work in the morning and quite sparse when
I come home in the afternoon.
Please Help!
Thanks in advance,

^Mile^^High^

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Put up a squirrel feeder and give them something they like better than
tomatoes (sunflower seeds mixed with corn, and or other grain).

Dwayne

"Mile High" wrote in message
...
Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful tomatoes?
It doesn't seem to matter to them if they are ripe or green. The plants
can
be full of fruit when I leave for work in the morning and quite sparse
when
I come home in the afternoon.
Please Help!
Thanks in advance,

^Mile^^High^

reply to newsgroup only
e-mail address is invalid

In article ,
"Mile High" wrote:

Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful tomatoes?
It doesn't seem to matter to them if they are ripe or green. The plants can
be full of fruit when I leave for work in the morning and quite sparse when
I come home in the afternoon.
Please Help!
Thanks in advance,

^Mile^^High^

reply to newsgroup only
e-mail address is invalid



Shoot them before you go to work (unless you are prohibited of course).

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

In article ,
"Mile High" wrote:

Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful tomatoes?

Shoot them before you go to work (unless you are prohibited of course).

If you use a BB/pellet gun, most everywhere in the US allows this as a removal
of a nuisance creature. Check with your local law enforcement, to be sure, but
emphasize that the animals are destroying property and that you plan to shoot
them with an air gun. The main problem you may have is that many people hunt
squirrels for food, and so their is an established hunting season for the
creatures.

If you do decide to shoot them [and I've been doing it on an off for years],
get a BB gun that can shoot at a high velocity, use flat-head pellets, and
practice before you go out to shoot them. Squirrels are tough creatures, and
it isn't easy to kill them with a single shot from a BB gun. If you hit them
anywhere behind the front legs, they'll likely run away and suffer. Hitting
them in the head or in front of the legs with a BB also won't ensure a quick
kill. A flat-head pellet to the chest or head will knock them down, and you
can finish them with another shot if necessary. I'm a pretty dead shot with my
BB gun, and can knock a squirrel down anywhere out to about 50 yards. But I
always use the pellets, and won't shoot if I can't hit the head.



Andrew

If you do decide to shoot them [and I've been doing it on an off for
years],
get a BB gun that can shoot at a high velocity, use flat-head pellets, and
practice before you go out to shoot them. Squirrels are tough creatures,
and
it isn't easy to kill them with a single shot from a BB gun. If you hit
them
anywhere behind the front legs, they'll likely run away and suffer.
Hitting
them in the head or in front of the legs with a BB also won't ensure a
quick
kill. A flat-head pellet to the chest or head will knock them down, and
you
can finish them with another shot if necessary. I'm a pretty dead shot
with my
BB gun, and can knock a squirrel down anywhere out to about 50 yards. But
I
always use the pellets, and won't shoot if I can't hit the head.

I find that after you kill them pinning them up on a cross next to your
tomatoes as a warning to other squirrels to stay away works really well

"Lattés" wrote:

I find that after you kill them [squirrels] pinning them up on a cross next to your
tomatoes as a warning to other squirrels to stay away works really well


Well, they aren't stupid animals. After a few days of "training" I find that I
can shoot a BB into the ground and scare the squirrels off for the day.



Andrew

"Mile High" wrote in message ...
Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful tomatoes?
It doesn't seem to matter to them if they are ripe or green. The plants can
be full of fruit when I leave for work in the morning and quite sparse when
I come home in the afternoon.
Please Help!
Thanks in advance,

^Mile^^High^

reply to newsgroup only
e-mail address is invalid

I had problems with *something* (likely birds) putting holes in my
tomatoes. The theory was whatever was doing it was thirsty, so I put
out some pots with water in them, and the problems stopped (I garden
in California, where there's no rain to speak of during the summer
months). Not sure if it'll apply in your case, but might be worth a
shot.

Scott

In article ,
Andrew McMichael wrote:

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

In article ,
"Mile High" wrote:

Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful tomatoes?

Shoot them before you go to work (unless you are prohibited of course).

If you do decide to shoot them [and I've been doing it on an off for years],
get a BB gun that can shoot at a high velocity, use flat-head pellets, and
practice before you go out to shoot them.

I recommend a .22 pump air rifle (if one has to use a "pellet" gun), as
opposed to a pistol, for accuracy and I find .22 superpoints quite
effective. However, I prefer a .22 rimshot rifle using long or short CB
rounds (though I use both depending where the squirrel is). These are
actually more quiet than the air rifle and better at killing them
instantaneously. For small game like squirrels, you can't really get
much more accurate than a Ruger 10/22 or a Marlin 39A. I prefer the
latter because you cannot use CB rounds with the Ruger (well not with
complete safety that is) and it uses a clip. The 39A is a nifty
lever-action that will hold around 15 short rounds. Both of these
weapons shoot ammo that go a VERY long way so it is best to restrict
oneself to ground shots even in rural areas like where we live.


Squirrels are tough creatures, and it isn't easy to kill them with a
single shot from a BB gun. If you hit them anywhere behind the front
legs, they'll likely run away and suffer. Hitting them in the head or
in front of the legs with a BB also won't ensure a quick kill. A
flat-head pellet to the chest or head will knock them down, and you
can finish them with another shot if necessary. I'm a pretty dead
shot with my BB gun, and can knock a squirrel down anywhere out to
about 50 yards. But I always use the pellets, and won't shoot if I
can't hit the head.

I won't shoot, either, unless I have a clear head shot. I got one the
other day just peeping his head over the top of the retaining wall to my
herb garden. And before I could bury him, his "brothers" were walking
right over him to get to some seed. So much for scaring the others away
lol.

..

I find that after you kill them pinning them up on a cross next to your
tomatoes as a warning to other squirrels to stay away works really well

Realllllly? More details please.

F.J.

Lead (.22 cal) or a rat trap baited with sunflower seeds sprinkled over
the trigger. (Put the baited rat trap inside a plastic bucket so birds will
not be attracted) The little *******s seem to eat just enough of a tomato to
destroy it and then move on to the next. Encourage weasels and large snakes
or anything that dines on squirrels. Apparently they are good to eat.

Farmer John
(Death to the Rats!!!)

"Andrew McMichael" wrote in message
...
Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:

In article ,
"Mile High" wrote:

Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful
tomatoes?

Shoot them before you go to work (unless you are prohibited of course).

If you use a BB/pellet gun, most everywhere in the US allows this as a
removal
of a nuisance creature. Check with your local law enforcement, to be sure,
but
emphasize that the animals are destroying property and that you plan to
shoot
them with an air gun. The main problem you may have is that many people
hunt
squirrels for food, and so their is an established hunting season for the
creatures.

If you do decide to shoot them [and I've been doing it on an off for
years],
get a BB gun that can shoot at a high velocity, use flat-head pellets, and
practice before you go out to shoot them. Squirrels are tough creatures,
and
it isn't easy to kill them with a single shot from a BB gun. If you hit
them
anywhere behind the front legs, they'll likely run away and suffer.
Hitting
them in the head or in front of the legs with a BB also won't ensure a
quick
kill. A flat-head pellet to the chest or head will knock them down, and
you
can finish them with another shot if necessary. I'm a pretty dead shot
with my
BB gun, and can knock a squirrel down anywhere out to about 50 yards. But
I
always use the pellets, and won't shoot if I can't hit the head.



Andrew

Mile High wrote:
Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful tomatoes?
It doesn't seem to matter to them if they are ripe or green. The plants can
be full of fruit when I leave for work in the morning and quite sparse when
I come home in the afternoon.
Please Help!
Thanks in advance,

^Mile^^High^

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e-mail address is invalid



Wow, I wonder why... Our area is LOADED with squirrels and they've never
touched my tomatoes. If they did though, I'd be thinking BBQ or spagetti
sauce...

--
Steve

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote:


I recommend a .22 pump air rifle (if one has to use a "pellet" gun), as
opposed to a pistol, for accuracy and I find .22 superpoints quite
effective.


Those are good, but more expensive.

However, I prefer a .22 rimshot rifle using long or short CB
rounds (though I use both depending where the squirrel is). These are
actually more quiet than the air rifle and better at killing them
instantaneously.


For us city folk, that's not an option. Also, my next-door neighbor uses a .22
[against the law] loaded with hollow-point shorts. It is much louder than my
air gun. More effective, for sure. But deinfitely louder. We can all tell when
she's shooting.




Andrew

"Mile High" wrote in message
...
Any suggestions for deterring squirrels from eating my beautiful tomatoes?
It doesn't seem to matter to them if they are ripe or green. The plants
can
be full of fruit when I leave for work in the morning and quite sparse
when
I come home in the afternoon.
Please Help!
Thanks in advance,

^Mile^^High^

reply to newsgroup only
e-mail address is invalid



I had the same problem with Squirrels. I tried fake owls, fake rattle
snakes, Poison (they got fat and happy but not dead) and fencing. Nothing
worked until I decided to trap them. I called a company called Havahart and
ordered 2 squirrel sized varmint traps. I couldn't believe how well these
things worked. Caught about 24 squirrels in little over a week (use tomatoes
or squirrel grub as bait). The only bad thing was I had to drive them about
5 miles away otherwise I was told they would find their way back. I probably
could have a had a whole summers worth of squirrel jerky if I caught the
urge.

I have not had problem with squirrels since

Comcast News wrote:

I had the same problem with Squirrels. I tried ... and fencing.


I tried that, too. But those little buggers are masters of the epee.



Andrew

tee hee

Andrew McMichael wrote:

Comcast News wrote:

I had the same problem with Squirrels. I tried ... and fencing.

I tried that, too. But those little buggers are masters of the epee.

Andrew