Thursday, May 18, 2006

Heartbroken

If any of Pretty Lady's horticulturally inclined friends have any advice about how to keep renegade, fire-escape-climbing squirrels from eating (sniff) every single blossom upon the rosebush, now is the time to speak. Pretty Lady's cats are spoiled malingerers, she fears.

She does not own a gun; otherwise you would find her perched by the window with the safety off, even as we speak.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dogs hate squirrles..

-rlh

Pretty Lady said...

Unfortunately, Pretty Lady is indifferent toward dogs. And her Alpha Cat hates them...

Terry_Jim said...

Hot pepper wax spray is availiable at many stores that sell gardening supplies, or try a light dusting of cayenne or crushed red pepper.
This works in bird feeders also, as somehow birds are unphased by the capsacin in the hot peppers.

I haven't heard of the following being done, but a little scented something from the malingerers' litter box in your planter might, scare them off also, squirrels have very sensitive noses. Good luck.

A .22 pistol with a pest load would discourage them also.
Squirrel- The other yellow meat!

Anonymous said...

Please do not use cayenne or hot pepper. I am no fan of squrrels, but pepper can cause them to blind themselves if it gets into their eyes, and this seems an extreme penalty, even for roses.

Blood meal works very well and feeds the plant also. (No, it's not vegan though.) I don't know if in the city this would attract other critters, but you could try. It saves our magnolia every year. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Slingshots are legal, cheap, and available in the sporting-goods section of your local big chain store. They work equally well for squirrels *and* the annoying patrons on the patio of the frat bar located across the alley from your bedroom window. . . oh, wait, that's just me ;)

Dr.Alistair said...

choose to like squirrels, if you can`t beat them, join them......?

Anonymous said...

HOT PEPPER. Doesn't always work, but Paprika or chili powder rarely harms plants but will make critters sneeze themselves sick, if used liberally enough.....Also, some farmer put up OWL puppets to discourage pests (but squirrels are usually so brazen, they'll eventually make friends with and then tear up any owl dolly).