Natural Ways to Repel Squirrels From the Garden Using Spices
Natural Ways to Repel Squirrels From the Garden Using Spices
Written by Victoria Bailey; December 15, 2018
Before you started gardening, you thought squirrels were adorable little clowns with fluffy tails. Now you know better. Squirrels are clever garden thieves, quick to pick your crops at the peak of ripeness and able to get around virtually any trick a homeowner can set up. You don't want to harm them, but the carnage to your garden plot is getting out of hand. What's a gardener to do? The trick is to make your edibles less enticing to squirrels while leaving the area safe for children, birds and other inhabitants. When it comes to making squirrels leave your garden alone, spices are your friend.
Hot Capsaicin
The trick to keeping squirrels out of your garden is to make the food unpalatable to them. The easiest way to do this is to treat your crops with a mixture that includes hot peppers. The pepper (capsicum anuum) plant produces fruits that contain the chemical capsaicin. This is the naturally pungent ingredient that causes the iconic burning feeling when you eat hot peppers. Studies have shown that squirrels won't eat food when it's been treated with capsaicin, even if it's the only food available at the time. Once the clever squirrels get a good taste of your extra-spicy vegetables, they'll move on to someone else's backyard.
Ways to Treat Your Garden
The simplest way to use capsaicin to keep squirrels from your food is by spreading red pepper flakes liberally around the garden. Squirrels will pick up the scent and avoid the area, in most cases. The hot pepper flakes will also deter squirrels from digging up bulbs or freshly planted seedlings.
Cover your crops more thoroughly by using a pepper spray on the food itself. This homemade spray is easily washed off the produce to make it safe for human consumption, but it will keep away the squirrels as your tomatoes and other vegetables ripen. Puree two or three large cayenne peppers in a blender or food processor. Strain the resulting mash through cheesecloth to remove any solid matter, and then mix it with 1 gallon of water. When you're ready to spray your garden, add 1/4 cup of this mixture to a gallon of water; drop in about 1/4 tablespoon (around o1 teaspoon, more or less) of plain dish soap, and pour it into a spray bottle.
Wear gloves when making and using all pepper sprays to keep the active ingredient off your hands. When spraying your plants, use eye protection to prevent the spray from blowing into your eyes. Even if you use protection, wash your hands thoroughly after use to remove any trace of the chemical.