Those vermin otherwise known as squirrels are done. D.O.N.E. They have dug up their last bulb, they have unearthed their last plant. Let's not forget how they destroyed my pumpkins last fall, either. I have a plan of attack now so i don't return after work to find this upsetting image again.
Poor, poor little pepper plant. Luckily, he was able to be saved and now i have the solution.
Oh yes. That's right. Irish Spring and a cheese grater. Apparently squirrels hate the smell of the soap, so they'll stay out of your garden. Precisely what i'm after.
Not sure if the "hydrobeads" will be quite as effective, and seems a shame to waste them on these vermin instead of my sweet darling's face, so i grabbed the regular bar from the shower. With my weapons drawn, i circled the perimeter of my home, scrambling into the flowerbeds, and grating like a maniac.
So now i have the cleanest smelling garden and perhaps the most sudsiest-for what happens when it rains?
Hopefully i am not poisoning the squirrels-as much as i detest them, i don't want to come home to a lawn littered with dead vermin, either! Has anyone ever heard of this remedy? Anyone ever try it?
I'll let you guys know how it goes!
LOL..we don't have squirrels around here. Well, we do, but not in town. We do have gophers though, and they leave huge mounds EVERWHERE! So annoying. Good luck on your experiment. Also, thank you so much for coming by my newborn blog and showing some love.
ReplyDeleteI had such a laugh at this post! I heard that Irish spring works as well. My dad used to go out there with a bee-bee gun, but he was too much of a softie to actually shoot them. I think he just tried to scare them.
ReplyDeleteI have not tried it... but definitely let us know how it works out (and what happens when it rains haha).
ReplyDeleteSo annoying... and again I laughed when I thought of the squirrels and pumpkins... and how I swore it never happened to us... and it happened two days later. So I will say nothing about squirrels and our garden.
Our problem seems to be the stray cats who roam our neighbourhood and have taken to using our garden as their personl litter box. Needless to say, I shouldn't be going near our gardens at the moment...
Put coffee beans and coffee grounds in the garden, cats hate the smell of coffee, and won't"go" in the garden anymore. We have it in all of our gardens. Bonus is it's good for the soil too
DeleteGreat idea! I hope it works. I've tried planting a veggie garden numerous times but we have squirrels that eat all the blooms. I've never heard of this but it sounds promising!
ReplyDeleteSquirrels can be such a pain! Every year they tear up multiple pots in my yard. Let us know if this works!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea ... and I can't imagine it would be harmful. It probably just repels them. I wonder if it would work on birds? The blue jays keep eating my tomatoes and strawberries.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting me at Dukes and Duchesses.
I want to know if this works! I wonder if the soap would kill the plants, or maybe since it's just a little grated it won't do anything. I think the squirrels have been eating my petunias. :s
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining my Weekend Bloggy Reading party. :) Hope you'll stop by Serenity Now again soon! :)
I'm going to be busy tomorrow with the soap! Thanks for the hint. I've been feeding the furry little #&%*'s for some time now. My thoughts were if I put peanuts on the deck they would leave my pots alone.. NOT
ReplyDeleteMy blueberries are all gone thanks to the birds. But now, I have my yard registered with NWF and it's their home.. so I must be nice... lol
I did something horrible this week.. put snail bait out. Those little guys keep eating my herbs!
Will let you know if the soap works.
Thanks
Sandy
MMMm blogger has not been very happy this week past has it - my posts unposted too and comments disappeared.....
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise squirrels were so destructive I remember watching a tv show in England about them, showing how clever they were breaking into any kind of bird feeding table to get at the seeds - no matter how long, complicated and booby trapped it was! I've been impressed by the cute little things ever since!! Shame they're such pests!
We have a squirrel mafia living on our property too. You'll have to let us know how your solution works out! Curious! :) Good luck!
ReplyDeleteRoeshel
ummm this idea is so intriguing to me! haha let me know it goes! I'm dying to know!
ReplyDeletehope the rain stays away like the squirrels! <3
xoXOxo
Jenn @ Peas & Crayons
Hey thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on my blog! :)
ReplyDeleteSquirrels, deer, rabbits, voles. They are all out to get me. We found some horrible smelling stuff called "Deer & rabbit repellant" the stench is gone for humans once it is dry but the critters are still warded off...the idea is to train the critters to stay away. It works...when I remember to do it :)
ReplyDeleteCitymom
Hello - I love th epic of your house - looks pretty idylllic- good luck for my owl giveaway and be good to those squirrels:) Alison
ReplyDeleteNow you will have to be on the look-out for Leprechauns! Hee Hee! If those hunky Irish men from the commercial show up, let me know, and I will help take them off your property ;-) Keep us posted on how this works!
ReplyDeleteI'm commenting twice on the squirrels...they're so not cute!! If they come up to me, I make noises to they go away. I do have one cute picture of one up on my blog, but that was because I was taking a picture of a deer, and the squirrel was posing. But, in general, they're annoying little creatures!! :-D
ReplyDeleteTerrific post and great blog!
ReplyDeleteGlad to be following you now...
OH! I will be waiting to hear if it works. The things they bother at my house is the potted plants. Dig in them and bury black walnuts which are all over the place. I have had them eat tomatoes in the past, in really dry summers. They do it for the liquid in them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving a sweet comment. I'll be waiting to hear about the soap!
Pat
Go get~um gal !!
ReplyDeleteWatch out little squirrels..lol
Happy Wednesday hugs from Savannah, Cherry
I am so trying this. I have some pesky squirrels who are doing the same thing to my plants. I found you over at Centsational Girl's party. I am your latest follower. I would love for you to come and check out my blog and follow me back at www.diybydesign.blogspot.com. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of soap to keep those varmints away. Hey its worth a try.
ReplyDeleteWe tried this last summer in our vegetable garden. After hanging a few bars around the perimeter, we didn't have another squirrel in the garden and we got to enjoy our tomatoes, not those dreadful creatures!! My husband drilled a hole in each bar and hung it on some hooks he created. Worked like a charm. And at the end of summer, he simply took the bars down,took them in the house and showered with what was left! No waste here!!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to try this. I hope it prevents chipmunk raiders, too. Last year I used dryer sheets and was somewhat successful, but they need to be replaced often and they look tacky. Irish Spring is going on my shopping list. The smell of it might keep me away, too.
ReplyDeleteLol @ann...I'm with you on that I S not my fav! But I am going to try this too! Anyone have any good Deer deterrents ???
ReplyDeleteGood ole ivory soap hung up with a hole drilled in it. My gardening neighbours swear by it. No deer in the black berries.
DeleteI like squirrels. They are cute and they don't bother my stuff. HOWEVER, if there is a way to rid my property of chipmunks, please advise.
ReplyDeleteI have squirrels that like to cut the leaves from my tree hydrangeas and also just bite the long skinny leaves from my air plane plants and just leave them. Tried the BB gub, but by the time I get the door open, they run. Quick little critters! This year I bought a fog type insecticide and sprayed the plants - problem solved. They hate the taste and left them alone. Have to reapply after rain obviously.
ReplyDeleteBut will it
ReplyDeletekeep the bee's away?
Try human hair. Just a little in each planter or each garden might help. It worked for me.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
Thank you for the tip! I haven't seen any new holes in my flower bed so it may be working. I am on a pinterest adventure and did this tip as a post. I did link back to you for credit. I look forward to reading more of your blog. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I recently learned that what exterminators use is fox urine. The fox is a natural predator to squirrels and other rodents. We have a really bad squirrel infestation in Dallas and the buggers were even invading the attic! Picked up a bottle at a sports store (hard to find too. Had to call 8 different stores and one guy even said there must be a really bad squirrel problem because we can't keep it on the shelves.) So I hammered holes in the tops of plastic containers, (the size of vitamin bottles) and shoved cotton balls in them. Sprayed the cotton balls with about 6 drops, closed the up and set them in the attic and the 4 corners of the property and it's working! Wanted to use something that was not toxic to our dogs. In case you're wondering, you can't smell it either, like mothballs would do.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the squirrels digging holes in lawn furniture.. anybody have any luck preventing this?
ReplyDeleteYes, chewing on my all weather chairs at the top. Also chewed through a garden hose hook up. Might try the fox urine if I can get him to pee in a bottle for me. Lol.
DeleteSince Irish Spring soap has the most awful smell on earth, I can understand why squirrels stay away! Combine with Fabergé's Brut 33 perfume and you die.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try the Irish Spring. The squirrels are constantly raiding the bird feeder and they stole all the peaches off my peach tree last year. buried them in the compost and flower beds!!! Sure hoping this works, I would like at least one peach off the tree for myself! Plus the apple trees will bear this year, I'd like to have some of those too!!
ReplyDeleteHv a family of 4 smart squirrels. If they would just leave my bird & hummingbird feeders alone I'd be thrilled. They are smart & funny, but would appreciate if they'd stick to the other side of the yard. I'm going to try hang bars if Irish Spring at each feeder pole. With my luck, they'll jump over it. Wonder if the soap works on moles and/or voles?
DeleteHv a family of 4 smart squirrels. If they would just leave my bird & hummingbird feeders alone I'd be thrilled. They are smart & funny, but would appreciate if they'd stick to the other side of the yard. I'm going to try hang bars if Irish Spring at each feeder pole. With my luck, they'll jump over it. Wonder if the soap works on moles and/or voles?
DeleteOkay, so i read all the posts so far and I like all the comments...except you want bees, and I have tried the hair in the garden, which didn't work. I live in the country and have a small garden. Something keeps eating my jalepenos and tomatoes. There are all kinds of critters out here, especially squirrels. There are crows that I would really like to get rid of. If anybody knows a solution for them, please let me know. I will try the soap because it sounds like it would work, and its cheap. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy friend found a very real-looking phony dead crow and hung it in her yard. Right side up, it keeps ALL birds away, but hung upside-down, it keeps the crows away!
DeleteI'm going to try this. The squirrels have been eating through the chicken wire to get to our garden! We heard cayenne pepper works, so hubby sprinkled it all around the garden. The next morning, he went outside to check and came back with a half-chewed tomato. He said the squirrels left a thank you note for adding the pepper so they could made salsa with the tomato and cilantro :)
ReplyDeleteHow in the world do I get rid of raccoons? They're on my deck, eating birdseed, knocking down the hummingbird feeders, digging up my plants, pooping on the deck, etc. It's a second story deck from the back and they climb the posts. Can't keep them away. Would I S soap work for them too? Driving me up a wall. Please help! barbbass@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteHello! I'm currently writing a blog article on this and I was wondering how successful it was for you?
ReplyDeleteWe live in the country and love watching all the wildlife. However, the squirrels, who come to the bird feeders and birdbaths, have become unwanted pests? Why? They have decimated our berries and vegetable garden, and now are breaking off the tender, and half hardy branches of our lovely hibiscus plant. We moved it into the backyard in hopes that our 3 schnauzers would be a deterrent, and that has helped a bit, but now they're eating our potted rosebushes! Enough! I will try human hair and Irish Spring next time I get to town, but in the meantime, I'm staking out the roses with my pellet gun in hand. There are MANY more squirrels than the two of us, so it's ON!
ReplyDeleteWe have tons of squirrels. I hate them. They eat my entire garden in the summer, my pumpkins in the fall and have eaten the legs off my PLASTIC patio chairs! I really hope this works
ReplyDeleteI have been using irish spring in my yard since a friend of my husband's suggested it to me last summer to keep the deers from eating everything in my yard. We have a herd of 15 to 20 deer that pass through at dawn and dusk everyday...all year long. So far it seems to be working, even with the harsh winter, they haven't been munching on my shrubs like they have at my neighbor's just down the street. I have a bar hanging inside each of the large shrubs, and one from the lowest branch of all my trees. My son calls me the crazy soap lady, but it does the trick!
ReplyDeleteI have been using irish spring in my yard since a friend of my husband's suggested it to me last summer to keep the deers from eating everything in my yard. We have a herd of 15 to 20 deer that pass through at dawn and dusk everyday...all year long. So far it seems to be working, even with the harsh winter, they haven't been munching on my shrubs like they have at my neighbor's just down the street. I have a bar hanging inside each of the large shrubs, and one from the lowest branch of all my trees. My son calls me the crazy soap lady, but it does the trick!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWE LIVE IN THE CITY - HAVE A LOT OF DEER ABD RABITS. A GENTLEMENT TOLD ME ABOUT BAR SOAP IN THE GARDEN , PLACING A BAR OF SOAP AROUND OR AT EVERY CORNER OF THE GARDEN! "IT WORKS!!! IT REALLY WORKS!
I've been using Irish Spring soap for several years and it indeed keeps the cats, dogs, raccoon from toileting in our shrubbery. I just throw a bar into the plants with no negative impact on the plants. But squirrels are rascally - they chew thru our screened pool enclosure finding new places to chew each time despite patching or blocking where they've chewed. I've tried store bought repellents, vinegar solutions to no avail. Surprisingly, a combination of used coffee and tea grounds has worked, but I don't drink nearly enough of these! Trying Oleander cuttings, thorny trimmings from some of our palms and that old standby, Irish Spring, to see if these work.
ReplyDeleteI put soap in some bushes that the deer were eating the day I planted them and they didn't touch the bushes ever again but some kind of rodent kept chewing through the sock and stealing the soap so I tied a dryer sheet in all the bushes and the soap hasn't been touched and the deer don't like the dryer sheets either... I switch out the dryer sheets just in case it loses its effect after a while
ReplyDeleteI've been greasing up my bird feeder & humingbird feeder poles with vaseline and watch the chipmunks sliding down the poles trying to get at the feeders! It's hilarious!!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome. .i am going soap shopping tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI have heard this but never tried it. I do sprinkle coffee grounds in the garden to keep the cats out. I feed feral cats so I don't usually have a squirrel or rabbit problem, although the woodchuck is a different story. I'm going to try a mixture of coffee grounds, soap, orange peels, and Cayanne pepper. I don't mind the squirrels eating the birdseed but I don't want them eating my berries. The feral cats take care of most of the critters I just don't want them using my garden as a litter box.
ReplyDeleteGoing to try this around our yard. Squirel's are eating the wires on our vehicles and making nest on top of yhe engines.
ReplyDeleteI sprayed hot sauce under the hood all over the wires and engine and under yhe whole underside of the vehicles. 1 car in the shop having wires replaced is enough!!
i think i have a chipmunks problem i see him arou d all the time i have a cup with petunias in then and another pot with just random bulds doea the soak work fot the @#$% chipmunks
ReplyDeletethank