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Squirrels

Squirrels

Family Sciuridae

Mammalalso: Tree squirrels, Ground squirrels, Chipmunks

Familiar, agile rodents that raid gardens for fruit, nuts, seeds, bulbs, and ripening vegetables, and dig up beds and containers burying and retrieving food. Tree squirrels, ground squirrels, and their smaller cousins the chipmunks all cause similar headaches, from nibbled tomatoes to uprooted seedlings and tunneled beds.

🔎 How to spot it

Tree squirrels are bushy-tailed and gray or reddish; ground squirrels are browner and den in burrows; chipmunks are small with bold back stripes. Tell-tale signs include shallow digging holes in beds, pots, and lawns, tomatoes and fruit with single bites taken out, missing or unearthed bulbs and newly planted seeds, gnawed bark and stems, and the animals themselves running along fences and into trees or burrows.

🥀 Damage it causes

Squirrels eat and spoil ripening fruit and vegetables, often taking a single bite from many tomatoes rather than finishing one, and they dig up and eat planted bulbs, seeds, and seedlings. Their constant digging disturbs roots and containers, and ground squirrels add burrows that dry out roots and undermine plantings. Chipmunks raid strawberries and newly sown seed.

🛡️ Prevent it

Protect ripening fruit and seedbeds with floating row cover, netting, or hardware-cloth cages, and cover newly planted bulbs and seeds with mesh until established. Remove easy food such as spilled birdseed and fallen fruit that draws them in. Simple digging deterrents like a stone or wire mulch over pots help. Squirrels are persistent climbers, so barriers must fully enclose the plants to work.

🧯 If it is already here

Exclusion with cages and netting is by far the most effective response, since squirrels quickly learn to ignore scare devices and most repellents. For ground squirrels denning in the garden, an integrated approach of trapping combined with habitat cleanup works best, and varying the methods prevents them from adapting. Check local regulations before trapping or relocating any wildlife.

💡 Good to know

Because squirrels are smart, athletic, and quick to habituate, no single trick keeps them out for long; rotating tactics and, above all, physically covering the vulnerable plants is what actually works. They are most destructive as fruit ripens and at fall planting time when they cache food. Tolerating some loss and protecting just the prized plants is often the most realistic plan.

🌱 Plants it attacks

188 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

🍓Albion StrawberryAmbrosia CornAmerican Beauty Dragon FruitAmerican PersimmonAmish Paste TomatoAngelique TulipAnjou PearApeldoorn TulipArbequina OliveArkin CarambolaAroniaAsian PearAsian PersimmonAtemoyaAunt Molly's Ground CherryAvocadoBartlett PearBeach Plum🍅Beefmaster TomatoBengal Tiger CannaBetter Boy Tomato🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBing CherryBitter MelonBlack Cherry TomatoBlack Currant🍉Black Diamond WatermelonBlack Krim TomatoBlack RaspberryBlack SapoteBlack Tartarian CherryBlack WalnutBlood OrangeBluecrop BlueberryBosc Pear🍅Box Car Willie TomatoBoysenberryBraeburn AppleBrandywine TomatoBrewster LycheeBrown Turkey FigCalamondinCantaloupeCasaba MelonCatawba GrapeCelebrity TomatoChampagne LoquatCharleston Gray WatermelonCherokee Purple TomatoChicago Hardy FigConcord GrapeContender PeachCornelian CherryCortland AppleCosmic Crisp AppleCranberryCrenshaw MelonCrimson Sweet WatermelonDamson PlumDelft Blue HyacinthDutch Master DaffodilDwarf Cavendish BananaEarly Girl TomatoElberta PeachElderberryEnglish WalnutEureka LemonEvergreen HuckleberryFantasia NectarineFinger LimeFino de Jete CherimoyaFlower Record CrocusFuji AppleGala AppleGalia MelonGarden Gladiolus🍅German Queen TomatoGlobemaster AlliumGoji BerryGolden Bantam CornGooseberryGranny Smith AppleGrape HyacinthGrapefruitGreen Zebra TomatoHardy KiwiHayward KiwiHeritage RaspberryHoneoye StrawberryHoneyberryHoneycrisp AppleHoneydew MelonIndigo Rose TomatoJackfruitJostaberry🍉Jubilee WatermelonJuliet Grape TomatoJune-Bearing StrawberryKellogg's Breakfast Tomato

For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.