18

I have a lot of trees in my yard...and squirrels. I'm not 100% sure the squirrels are the critters doing the damage, but it seems the most likely. My neighbor says he's seen a possum in his yard before...and I'm not ruling out rats or mice.

Anyway, this is the third time this has happened. I hate to start killing squirrels to prevent it; it's kind of fun looking at them scamper up and down my trees. Plus, they might not be the offender anyway.

Here's what the damage looks like:

enter image description here

Shane
  • 3,499
  • 2
  • 26
  • 29
  • 1
    Is it not possible to bury your lines? – Randy Jun 09 '11 at 03:38
  • 1
    @randy - Yes, I had mulch covering them originally, but I haven't had time to put rain gutters up yet and when it rained the gradually got uncovered. Need to bump that up the priority list. Good suggestion. – Shane Jun 09 '11 at 15:29

1 Answers1

12

Weaponize some chili pepper oil by putting it in an atomizer or other spray bottle; proceed to spray the equipment.

mfg
  • 2,302
  • 1
  • 23
  • 25
  • 1
    I like this idea a lot, I'll give it a try. Do you have any personal experience with this that proves that this will work? – Shane Jun 08 '11 at 19:32
  • 1
    You don't typically see critters chewing on pepper plants... [and the NPIC (National Pesticide Information Center)](http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/Capsaicintech.pdf) – mfg Jun 08 '11 at 19:34
  • 1
    +1. This can also work for keeping rabbits and other nibblers out of gardens w/o a fence. – JSBձոգչ Jun 08 '11 at 19:35