View Full Version : My praying hands
Sailfish
03-28-2009, 06:31 PM
is about to flower.
The squirrels have eaten the last 3 out of 6 leaves as they were being produced (essentially I have like a 8-10' stems with 10% having actual leaf matter)
They hit the flower top already (just before the actual flower pushed out of the heart)
I set up my decoy owl today to help stop them.
Bastards.
Maybe I will light firecrackers off tomorrow morning. I heard that works.
And thanks to Chris for the plant sometime ago.
Lagniappe
03-28-2009, 06:38 PM
I HATE squirells!!!
It's weird that they're eating leaves, times must be hard in the woods too nowadays.
Chironex
03-28-2009, 06:43 PM
Tony, I would try pepper spray on the leaves if the owl decoy doesn't work. Otherwise, a dog seems to keep them at bay if there is no overhead access like other trees or power lines.
Sailfish
03-28-2009, 07:10 PM
They hit the leaf as it starts rolling out; when it is young and tender.
We have two HUGE oaks around us, and fruit trees etc. This last year is when they started doing it.
My new lab is 16 weeks old. She will definetly be taught to chase those buggers!!!!
Lagniappe
03-28-2009, 07:54 PM
My neihbor has a lab mix named "Socks", (white feet) that catches a squirell nearly every day and there are still many around. I may need to get out there and help her :2723: .
I've considered making a pile of sunflower seeds far away from any trees to give her an advantage in catching them.
The little devils eat every fig from my trees as soon as they ripen.
Rmplmnz
03-28-2009, 10:38 PM
is about to flower.
The squirrels have eaten the last 3 out of 6 leaves as they were being produced (essentially I have like a 8-10' stems with 10% having actual leaf matter)
They hit the flower top already (just before the actual flower pushed out of the heart)
I set up my decoy owl today to help stop them.
Bastards.
Maybe I will light firecrackers off tomorrow morning. I heard that works.
And thanks to Chris for the plant sometime ago.
Hey Bo,
Squirrels are very difficult to deal with...they will start nailing the bananas too...they get about half the avocados and mangoes and many bananas...I would try the pepper spray...
Good luck my friend!
Chris
Patty in Wisc
03-28-2009, 10:47 PM
I HATE squirells! They pul my figs off, take a bite & leave them on the ground as with other fruits & veggies. 2 yrs ago they ate every grape! Last yr I borrowed a trap. I trapped 70 since last June. I give them swimming lessons in my pond but they seem to fail every time :). Last summer I got to eat some grapes & figs - finally.
Get a trap!!! They love peanut butter BTW
I put a small dent in their population here.
just j
03-29-2009, 01:22 AM
i shot 87 of them last summer and i got 2 today i would get a small 22 with subsonic bullets it dont make no noise when i shoot them so if your in town no one can here u shooting the gun and the bullets travel at a really low feet per second so if u miss it wont rickashay off things sound kind of like a air bb gun
If you're in a suburban neighborhood like me even a 22 with cb caps is a little too dangerous. If you want to remove a few invest in one of the high end pellet guns. First I would try the pepper spray or even some powderd blood meal will sometimes help. Good luck.
Patty in Wisc
03-29-2009, 11:42 AM
My chow chow used to catch them. Isn't that every dogs dream?!! He died a few years ago so now the squirells are laughing at me - till they get in the trap. I was using a 22 cbr pellet gun but I have a crappy neighbor who would call cops if he heard the pop. Trap is silent & effective. One day I caught 5 of them. Was a lot of work to get rid of them & reset trap right away. I got 2 this week but gotta wait for snow to melt now.
The thing with pepper spray is it washes off in rain. It only keeps them away when the spray is on. I want to get RID of them. I can't think of one reason to keep squirells around...they only cause damage.
J, you get 'em on that end & I'll get 'em here :)
Rmplmnz
03-29-2009, 02:57 PM
They can be amazing resourceful and destructive and have an insatiable appetite...
adrift
03-29-2009, 05:21 PM
I'm having a similar problems with ducks. The local pond (retention pond) dried up (dry season here) and the ducks that hung out there came into people's yards. Of course people feed them. And get their patios pooped on.
My little bananas, just coming up with new leaves after that 3-freeze winter are getting chewed to fibers by ducks. Whether for food or water I am not sure. Once the plants get their leaves above 2 feet or so, they are left alone. :mad:
fishoifc
03-29-2009, 08:02 PM
You could try rubber snake, maybe wrap it around the stem and over a leaf,might work for a couple of days.
Patty in Wisc
03-29-2009, 08:19 PM
My squirells would try to kill it & eat it...& then laugh at me.
Lagniappe
03-29-2009, 08:21 PM
My squirells would try to kill it & eat it...& then laugh at me.
Aye, and pepper spray just makes it "Cajun Style".
Patty in Wisc
03-29-2009, 08:49 PM
:ha::ha::ha::ha:
I was right the first time with spelling squirrel. I changed it to squirell & it didn't look right & now after looking it up it's 2 r's, 1 l...duh
Bob, what does powdered blood meal do?
Bananaman88
03-30-2009, 06:25 AM
You know, KJ, ducks are very tasty!
Patty ,powdered blood meal will keep deer away for a time,until it gets washed away. I think it would do the same for squirrels which are primarily vegetarians. If you look at it as strictly a repellent , then it's also a free source of nitrogen. It actually doesn't smell "bloody" to me at least, kind of like chocolate.
Sailfish
04-15-2009, 03:07 PM
I tried the blood meal.
The squirrels walked thorugh it to get to the plant.
I also bought some spray to spray on the plant that deters animals (it too was made of blood). I literally JUST sprayed the leaves today, around 11 I went outside and lo and behold they walked though the powder jumped on the wetted leaves to try and gnaw at the tender leaves.
However, I have been having success (and fun) throwing loud fire-cracker like objects from my second floor windows at them when I can catch them. It deters them for a day or so.
I imagine eventually I would have to work up to M-80's to illicit any sort of response from them. :nanertank:
Pepper spray makes me leary after spraying the blood stuff (it came back in my face a bunch of times) LOL.
The battle rages........
SteveW17
04-15-2009, 03:56 PM
How about cayenne pepper sprinkled around the ground (so it gets on their little paws). If their paws are moist when they walk through, it will burn. Or, if they try to clean it off with their tongue....ZING! You can get a fairly good size can at your local supermarket - not that expensive either.
Also, I have tried granulated fox or coyote urine (yes they actually sell the stuff). The scent is supposed to immitate a predator that is bigger, who will eat them, ha, ha. I used it to keep cats from crapping in my pine needle mulch. Cat sh**t is more disgusting than all others combined if you asked me!!! Seemed to work pretty well, but you''ll go through a lot during rainy periods. The brand is called "Shake-Away" and you can get it from a number of online vendors - just Google it.
:2723:
Rmplmnz
04-15-2009, 04:04 PM
Buy a trap and release them in another neighborhood....or if the yard is completely enclosed...let some small (Rat, Jack Russel, etc.,) Terriers loose..
I have fought this battle for years....there are so many squirrels in Tampa and they are ravenous...
Sailfish
04-15-2009, 04:11 PM
Buy a trap and release them in another neighborhood....
Oh my that was so nice of you to offer your place up :ha:
Hey I was going to tell you, couple years ago you gave me a couple flowering plants (one was a Gold xxxxx and the other a Red xxxxx) I can't recall what they were, but they bloom but do not produce banana's.
The red one is finally blooming after all this time.
I'll get a pic of it maybe you will remember.
In the mean time, expect a dozen +/- squirrels in a week or so
Rmplmnz
04-15-2009, 09:18 PM
Ouch...I will let the terriers loose...;-)
Patty in Wisc
04-15-2009, 09:34 PM
Buy a trap and release them in another neighborhood....or if the yard is completely enclosed...let some small (Rat, Jack Russel, etc.,) Terriers loose..
I have fought this battle for years....there are so many squirrels in Tampa and they are ravenous...
If you trap & release them, make sure you take them at least 20 miles away or they will come back!
You can let dogs in the yard but squirrels are smart enough to stay away when dogs are there...unless you keep them out all the time.
I started a thread in Tiki Hut about backyard critters doing damage. It gets a little graphic at times but.......
I won't have many problems this summer w/them!
Rmplmnz
04-15-2009, 09:52 PM
If you trap & release them, make sure you take them at least 20 miles away or they will come back!
You can let dogs in the yard but squirrels are smart enough to stay away when dogs are there...unless you keep them out all the time.
I started a thread in Tiki Hut about backyard critters doing damage. It gets a little graphic at times but.......
I won't have many problems this summer w/them!
Squirrel are not that smart...my Rat Terrier has nailed quite a few...these dogs were bred to hunt small rodents...she can dispatch a squirrel with one bite...
Patty in Wisc
04-15-2009, 10:10 PM
Squirrel are not that smart...my Rat Terrier has nailed quite a few...these dogs were bred to hunt small rodents...she can dispatch a squirrel with one bite...
Squirrels really are smart but your rat terrier must be VERY smart LOL. Can I borrow him?
I had a chow chow that killed a few but he would see them thru window & bark & scream like crazy ...chasing them away before he got out. Only way he would get them is if he was laying down in yard & saw one - no time to bark or yelp LOL.
What about early morns? Is your dog out all the time? Or, maybe the squirrels just learned to stay away from him huh?
If we can declare war on squirrels all over the country, maybe we can bring their population down a bit. I see no good reason to have them around. They only eat our fruits & veggies & gnaw their way thru eaves etc.
Chironex
04-15-2009, 10:17 PM
Each area seems to have its growing problems. Here we have heat in the summer, low humidity and cold in the winter - but not may pests, no squirrels, no monkeys and no sigatoka, bunch top, borers, nematodes or other tropical diseases. I suppose if we grew more bananas here, the squirrels would find us though.
Rmplmnz
04-15-2009, 10:34 PM
Squirrels really are smart but your rat terrier must be VERY smart LOL. Can I borrow him?
I had a chow chow that killed a few but he would see them thru window & bark & scream like crazy ...chasing them away before he got out. Only way he would get them is if he was laying down in yard & saw one - no time to bark or yelp LOL.
What about early morns? Is your dog out all the time? Or, maybe the squirrels just learned to stay away from him huh?
If we can declare war on squirrels all over the country, maybe we can bring their population down a bit. I see no good reason to have them around. They only eat our fruits & veggies & gnaw their way thru eaves etc.
No she is a house dog...but loves to go in and out of the house...sorta like reshuffling the deck...I may have misspoke when I said Squirrels are not too smart...you are oh so right they are very smart...but our Rat is a vigilant hunter and will notify me when she has one "treed" and beg for a little assistance...now our Toy Fox Terrier could not catch a squirrel if it were right in front of her...but the Rat does ok...
Smaller dogs have an advantage (particularly in a jungle environment)...and our yard is more jungle than yard...
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=16680&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16680)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=16679&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16679)
Rmplmnz
04-15-2009, 10:37 PM
Each area seems to have its growing problems. Here we have heat in the summer, low humidity and cold in the winter - but not may pests, no squirrels, no monkeys and no sigatoka, bunch top, borers, nematodes or other tropical diseases. I suppose if we grew more bananas here, the squirrels would find us though.
We also occasionally get drought, too much rain, Hurricane force winds and the occasional freeze....I contemplated giving up on Bananas in the mid 90's....then we get 7-8 years of ideal conditions...then 8 hurricanes in two years followed by one night of frost each of the next two years...
Rmplmnz
04-15-2009, 10:43 PM
Each area seems to have its growing problems. Here we have heat in the summer, low humidity and cold in the winter - but not may pests, no squirrels, no monkeys and no sigatoka, bunch top, borers, nematodes or other tropical diseases. I suppose if we grew more bananas here, the squirrels would find us though.
Maybe Bo (sailfish) will drop off some of his trapped squirrels in your neighborhood...
Now Key West is another story...they have no squirrels and they have an excellent climate...
Check out...
Banana Gallery - Key West February 2007 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=569)
Patty in Wisc
04-16-2009, 12:18 PM
Oh God, if someone were to bring a male & female squirrel to Key West, they would be overpopulated in a couple years!
john_ny
04-16-2009, 12:28 PM
Wonder how the squirrels wold get along with the cats in Key West.
Caloosamusa
04-16-2009, 12:44 PM
The cats and squirrels would get along well, that is well for the cats. They would only keep the squirrel population down a little. You need something that can follow them not only into the trees, but into small areas too! A Keys rat snake works nicely. They are a much more efficient ambush predator!:2239:
Sailfish
04-16-2009, 05:09 PM
Oh God, if someone were to bring a male & female squirrel to Key West, they would be overpopulated in a couple years!
Imagine, a male and female breeding in Key West.
Think about that for a minute. :waving:
I'll be here all night folks.
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