Squirrel Repellant

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mshaffer
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Squirrel Repellant

Post by mshaffer »

My local garden center sells something called "imustgarden Squirrel Repellent". Do you think this would be safe to spray/dump (it comes in both a granular or spray) around my moso shoots? The squirrels dug under my plastic fencing and right up to a 4" moso shoot. For some reason they didn't bite into the shoot, fortunately.
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dependable
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by dependable »

I'm going to have try some of that. I never had any problem with the squirrels until a couple years ago they discovered vivax shoots were good. Now they seek them out and wreck a lot of them. They have not touched shoots from any other variety so far.

I tried deer/rabbit repellent that I use for work. The squirrels seem to mind the smell less than I do.
mshaffer
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by mshaffer »

I guess I'll spray a bunch of it on a smaller shoot and see what happens.
fredgpops
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by fredgpops »

What do they list as the ingredience? Rgds
mshaffer
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by mshaffer »

Active Ingredients
Garlic 1.25%
Castor Oil .94%
Lemongrass Oil .47%
White Pepper .31%
Clove Oil .23%
Cedarwood Oil .23%

Inert Ingredients 96.57%
Water, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Xanthan Gum
fredgpops
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by fredgpops »

Should be able to replicate this easily and cheaply. Abt. 3% active is a bit concerning. My squirrel damage has picked up. I just tried mixing my deer repellent with other stuff to ward them off. I'll experiment for a while then try I've been using homemade deer repellent for several years. Just checked the stuff sold and replicated it. I'll try the squirrel stuff if I fail. Thx for the info.
fredgpops
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by fredgpops »

Experiment thru 2 weeks - I have sprayed my new shoots with the following cocktail with good results. Too early to shout mission complete. I use a hand sprayer with pump. Crack open 6 eggs (older the better) and add 6 cups of water and about 2 tablespoons of liquid detergent. Beat eggs etc then strain a couple of times and add to sprayer. Add 3 to 5 tablespoons of ammonia and about a tablespoon of hot sauce. Shake all in sprayer. This is a combo of stuff I use for deer and skunk repellant.
Spray new shoots asap then spray once a week. If the straining of the egg combo is not sufficient the sprayer may clog after awhile. Cleaning of sprayer bottom cap strainer may have to be cleaned. I'll update results.
fredgpops
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by fredgpops »

Bad news. Two new shoots destroyed. I saw a interesting program on W. Virginia. They still enjoy squirrel stew. May be time to unpack my .410, and as they say , kill two "squirrels" with one stone. Or, I can buy marijuana now legal in CA. It may be interesting to see how stoned rodents react. Will I hear disco music at night? Yours defeated.
mshaffer
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by mshaffer »

Sorry to hear about your shoots. Yea, I've thought a lot about how to get rid of my squirrels. I relocated 5 of them using a live trap, but I stopped doing that because it was too much trouble. Driving in rush hour traffic with a squirrel in the back feels kind of stupid.. I guess I'll just let the fox take care of them for now..
fredgpops
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by fredgpops »

A glutton for punishment: Went on line to check out home remedies for squirrel repellants. One remedy is placing rags soaked in ammonia around plants. I had ammonia in my previous remedy but was a small amount. Instead of rags, I'm spraying the area around plants (with 100% ammonia) that are shooting. I used ammonia as a skunk repellant and it worked. Let's see how it does vs squirrels. By the way ammonia is cheap. Rgds
fredgpops
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by fredgpops »

Be carful handling the ammonia. The ammonia that I had been dealing with was pretty old. When I purchased a new bottle and opened it, the smell was pretty overwhelming. Handle with care.
fredgpops
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by fredgpops »

Sprayed ammonia around new shoots and around trees that allow the rodents to travel. I used respiratory gear. I focused on about 1/2 acre where most of my bamboo is planted. As opposed to others, I have not seen squirrels concentrate on specific species. California rodents may be more liberal. I have altered the approach suggested on the web. They put ammonia soaked rags around infested areas. My infested area is big, and neighbors would not like a dump like environment. Lastly, the grey squirrels who most covet my bamboo appear to be illegal immigrants.
Tarzanus
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by Tarzanus »

Introduce squirrel predating animals around your bamboos like owls or hawks. I guess it could be done by training a hawk or building nesting places to attract owls.

I hope the smelly deterrent works!
Alan_L
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by Alan_L »

Tarzanus wrote:... by training a hawk...
Best suggestion yet! :lol:
fredgpops
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Re: Squirrel Repellant

Post by fredgpops »

I looked into the owl nest option a couple of years ago. There is a disease that is transmitted to humans in the nesting area. If you are talking about acres of land it seems ok. In smaller areas like mine - pass. I'll take the pellet gun route as a last resort.
Found two more home made repellents on the internet as backups.
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