Thursday, October 14, 2010

Pesky pumpkin problems



Perhaps these people don't have squirrels....









because mine looks like this. 



Destroyed by squirrels and then violated by ants.

  I would love to know what their secret is.  Do you have a secret to prevent pumpkin destruction?


images 1.bhg 2 and 5. matha stewart. 3.front porch ideas 4.good housekeeping 6 and 7. southern living 8. flickr

22 comments:

Linda @ A La Carte said...

Oh no! I don't have any pumpkins out on my porch, maybe this is why!!

The Autocrat: Haley said...

I totally know what ya mean! There is no way those pumpkins can stay outside for weeks on end with out being destroyed. I live in Texas where the heat & humidity, really take a toll of things like that . . . I prefer fake.

Devonay said...

Oh No!!! Due to budget constraints, I limit my pumpkin purchasing, but I've never had this problem! I've lived in the country and in town and never had squirrels ruin a pumpkin, so I'm not sure what the answer is.

Lisa said...

This is so funny. I just found your blog and I'm loving it. We have had a pumpkin out since the end of September. The squirrels have been nibbling away at ours too! The worst part is that the little squirrel holes have turned all black. We just put it out of sight for them to enjoy.

Firefly said...

We have three out and no problems yet I always do have one that becomes much and the peanut was given one from her freind garden that was a little over ripe, but she fell in love with it's little cuteness, so i think that one will be the one that go first but i do dry them off after the rain and let the ground dry too. It is no fun to go and pick up andpumpkin and only pick up half and it's smooshie and gross. I would offer the squirills something else lke left over spagetti, they love that and they eat it in a really funny way.

Nita Stacy said...

Oh! No! I didn't know that squirrels would eat pumpkins. I've never had this problem and I have tons of squirrels. I know they will eat my sweet potato vine and pansies or someone does. If I sprinkle blood meal all over them...it keeps them away. You can buy at any garden center or Walmart should have.

It smells bad for the first few days...but then the smell goes away. It also is a black powder...so you might just want to sprinkle around or rub in so that it's not so noticeable. But I'm sure this would work.

Or I wonder if you sprayed your pumpkins with a acrylic varnish if that would keep them from nibbling.

Good luck!

Jennifer Leigh said...

We have squirrels galore but we've never had this problem.....maybe it's because we don't put our pumpkins out until it gets closer to Halloween.

Carolynn said...

Darn squirrels! They have been nibbling my pumpkins too!!! I sprayed mine with Method brand cleaning spray (cucumber scent) thinking the smell as well as soapy taste would keep them away. It has worked so far. Maybe a red pepper and water mixture sprayed on them would work also. It has worked for me and those hungary bunnies that eat my flowers :)!

Christy B said...

LOL...never knew they'd do such thing. I have TOO many cats for it to be a problem here! And those doorways were all so beautiful~~thanks for sharing them. I'll make sure my youngest doesn't see though...he'd bug me to death to cover our steps and porch with pumpkins.

Kerry said...

I have never seen this happen before and our neighbourhood is just FULL of squirrels! hahaha it's funny! (sorry) We've had two little pumpkins out on our porch for almost two weeks now and they haven't been touched!

Wish I knew something that would help!

Kerry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amy said...

Our problem is the deer... once the pumpkin is carved they think that they can nibble on them! Its annoying so I feel your pain!

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

I've never had a problem with squirrels eating my pumpkins. It was teenagers going "pumpkin chunking." It happened once to me as a little kid and the truama has stayed with me forever :(

I have a couple of fake ones on my porch. My husband hates them and didn't save the third one when the wind blew it into the street and it got run over by a car. OH, the chunking trauma continues!

After the Chunking my mom put our carved pumpkins in the window. I have my pumpkins decorating the inside of my house. I'll set them out on Trick or Treat night because our neighbors always sit on our front porches to chat in between groups of kids.

Danielle and Clint said...

O yea! The squirrels are a pain by us! We have a Harvest Stand that is selling mums, cornstalks and pumpkins on our cornor and the squirrels will drag the darn corn on my lawn. Then my dogs think it's a treat.

Sarah said...

I have never seen that happen before. But then again we have tons of cats in the neighborhood so I don't think the squirrels stand a chance. We did have our neighbor's pig escape and eat our pumpkin once.

Thanks for visiting my blog and becoming a follower! Yay for Jews in blogland!

La said...

Are you sure it isn't ghosts and goblins eating your pumpkin?

PS~Erin said...

Okay, I just notices my next door neighbor's pumpkins are very shiny. I'm thinking she sprayed them with something to help preserve them. I'm going to ask her abt it tomorrow. Will report back.

Mandi @ Vintage Revivals said...

Oh dear. Thats no bueno! Good luck, my hubs would prob love it if that happend at our house cause then he would have something to shoot at. Oh crap I sound totally redneck right now! Thanks for your comment on my blog about the "r" word. Seriously you cant please everyone, I loved yours though!

love your guts
mandi

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Oh, no! Look what those little rascals have done! We have lots of squirrels that devour the bird feeder seeds but so far they are not pumpkin eaters!

Thank you for stopping by my place and leaving your comment! So nice to meet you!
Kindly, ldh

Kerry said...

Soooo, I had to come back to tell you that when I got home from work on Friday my boyfriend pointed out that a squirrel had started to eat one of our pumpkins! NO JOKE! I had to laugh and tell him about your post and my response... I guess that's what I get haha

Etcetorize said...

ah! you made me laugh, what a great lead up. I think the people from those other photos have way too much time on their hands. Thanks for visiting me over at Etcetorize~

Erin @ Domestic Adventure said...

I don't have any pumpkin-saving advice, but I love all of these pumpkin inspiration photos!

Thanks for stopping by Domestic Adventure today and checking out my nursery-in-progress!