Are Grey Squirrels Driving You Nutty?

Most of the time, grey squirrels are seen as harmless, or even cute. Most people are not bothered by the sight of these animals, and they can actually make a welcome addition to any garden. Problem is, this can quickly change. The fact is that squirrels can actually become a major nuisance.

This usually happens around this time of year. The reason why is because this is when squirrels begin collecting food for the winter. But what do you need to know about these grey squirrels, and how you deter them?

Why are gardeners bothered by grey squirrels? 

As winter approaches, squirrels begin to store up a cache of food. They do this in order to survive during the colder months when food is scarce. This primarily includes things like seeds and nuts. Believe it or not, squirrels will also dry out mushrooms and place these in their cache.

Something else that is also interesting is that squirrels will often pretend to bury nuts. They do this when they know other squirrels are watching. This is done in order to put those other squirrels off the scent. After all, they don’t want other squirrels knowing where their winter supplies are and helping themselves.

Cute as this may be, these grey squirrels can be extremely irritating invading rodents. This is because they often bury these caches in your garden. This often happens in places like your lawn or flower beds. When doing this, squirrels are enormously destructive and can also leave behind a mess. The last thing you want is your entire lawn being dug up. Even worse, during winter squirrels will repeatedly return to their cache and dig it up over and over again.

What to do about grey squirrels

Another issue with grey squirrels is when they are actually collecting food for their cache. This food will mostly come from your garden. Squirrels will rampage through your garden and damage bulbs, flowers and fruit trees. Also, if you have a bird feeder, they will empty it completely. This is obviously something you’ll want to avoid.

So how do you get rid of these grey squirrels and stop them doing damage to things like your gutters? There are a number of things you can do. First of all, spraying apple cider vinegar around your outdoor space may help (but not directly on plants or soil). Squirrels hate the smell and this may cause them to leave. Something else that works are motion sensor sprinklers. Squirrels are extremely skittish and run at the first sign of movement. It also helps to keep your garden cleared. Clean up leaves, debris, fruits and any nuts you spot. If squirrels are digging up your bulbs, add mulch to the soil. Squirrels hate this. You can also place heavy stones around your bulbs. Finally, there are also squirrel specific animal repellents which can help to deter these pests.