sparkys_mom

It didn't happen to me, but I read somewhere a few years ago that the tomato "culprit" was a big turtle that had acquired a taste for tomatoes. The guy came out to his garden just in time to see it take a big bite out of a tomato. I thought it was pretty funny. A turtle would be about the last thing you would expect.

mirish2

I sprinkle cayenne pepper all around the base of the plants. It does have to be reapplied after several rainfalls. I just buy the cheap flakes at the dollar store. I am not so kind as to relocate, if we cross paths the squirrel is "morte,"

quiltmama22

I have a little gopher turtle dining on cucumbers. Thank goodness, last years groundhogs have apparently moved elsewhere.

Stitchit123

My Dad pops his squirrels popcorn every morning -apparently they prefer it to his tomato's. Even if he's late getting it out they stay away from his plants and patiently wait for their breakfast. And it only costs him $3 a month And no body gets hurt

oldtnquiltinglady

Or, you could do what we did quite by accident; get yourself a half-feral calico cat. Sophie is our "everything" deterrent; and I really do hate that because we don't have a garden this year to worry about. I love all the little cute chipmunks, squirrels, cardinals, finches, wrens, but not the moles. She doesn't discriminate, though, if they appear on her territory, they are history.

shasta5718

I had squirrels and trapped for 2 years and hauled them about 10 miles away and released them in open fields. Now no more squirrels, but he deer have taken over, I have fenced and tried every spray in creation and it does no good even with pepper they just act like it is salad dressing. They not only bite the tomatoes, but eat the plants down to the ground. I have almost given up planting tomatoes.

Wonnie

We live in the country and have squirrels, ground squirrels, racoons,deer, groundhogs, coyotes, you name it and we had the same problem but here's how we cured it. We got rid of the problem by giving up our bird feeder...sob, sob,sob....in the summer. My son built me a 4 ft. tall and 4 ft wide planter on stilts. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, onions. All going well. Only had two bad tomatoes and they were the first ripe ones and we had a really cold spell come through and I think that was the culprit. All since have been beautiful with not a spot. We did not use any kind of fencing above it other than just wire so the tomatoes had something to climb on. Hope this helps. Next year he's building me more raised planters so we can plant more things.

quilt1950

Our neighbor feeds the wildlife nuts, bread, pancakes, birdseed and who knows what else several times a day. We can count 14-15 squirrels in our backyard at one time. We have squirrel trails in our backyard going from tree to tree. We do have our garden fenced in to keep the deer out, but I know the squirrels can get in. But - so far they are leaving the tomatoes alone. Perhaps they get enough to eat next door. We did finally cut down our peach trees, because the squirrels would eat them a few days before they were ripe enough to pick. One day we would have beautiful peaches, the next the tree would be bare.

We have to watch our house carefully, because the squirrels like to eat the siding. I guess that's how they keep their teeth from getting too long, and if they can get in, they will nest in the attics.

We don't see many squirrels when the children on the other side of us are out playing. I'm tempted to set a radio on a windowsill and blast it outside, hoping the squirrels will think someone is outside.

Sorry to turn your post into my vent! I DO NOT like squirrels.

JanieH

I have also had problems with squirrels eating my flowers. It has gotten some better since a pair of red tail hawks have moved into the neighborhood. They are slowly helping to control the squirrel population!

Krystyna

I had this problem in my old garden and solved it by tossing out a ton of peanuts in the shell. They got distracted and left my tomatoes alone long enough for them to ripen.