Looking for DIY/home remedy squirrel deterrent solutions (1 Viewer)

TheBigTater

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I just dropped off my car at the shop, for some minor scheduled repair work and..... to have a bunch of wiring replaced. Apparently a damn squirrel decided to nest up on the top of my manifold and besides storing his/her hoard of nuts there, decided to chew through a lot of my wiring.

I keep my car parked under a carport and even though I have old large oak trees in my yard and have a ton of squirrels, I never had one decide to try and eat my car. Talking to my auto guy, he said it's not an unusual problem, he has seen it more than a few times. Since i work in IT I've seen my share of mice/rodents eating CAT cables. It is vegetable byproducts that go into the cable coating that attracts them. I'm worried that once the squirrels have figured out it's a safe place to hide/nest up/grab a snack that they will return (costing me more repair dollars).

I've started googling for squirrel deterrent methods but there are a bunch and my auto guy told me that most of them are useless. So I'd like to know of any DIY/home remedy/old wives tale solutions for a "deterrent to keep squirrels from eating my car" anyone knows of (besides camping out with a 22 trying to pick the bugger off).
 
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Really though, posted to subscribe, they keep digging holes in our lawn to bury nuts and my wife won’t let me shoot the cute little buggers.
 
In the trinity mountains when squirrels and rats nest in the cars we spread crushed cayenne peppers Around the crops and cars. There is not one one animal on the planet that is immune to it. We add it to the water for feeding Plants and spread around and under Parked cars. I’ve even heard of people hanging bags up under the hood. We get a gallon zip lock bag full at local suppliers with retail shops called “cash and carry” for $4. Recently they changed the name to “smart foodservice.” I think they are only in California but it’s basically a bulk restaurant supply store. I’m sure u can find it online. Get a water bottle and spray it around The underside of the car and dust around the carport with it. It works.
 
At the start of one of my expat jobs, we had moved to the Caribbean but I had left my beloved 911 at home in the garage. I came back after a couple of months and took her out for a spin to be greeted by some funny engine noises. Took it to the dealer and had the same issue - a rodent had been chewing through the cables. Cost me nearly $1k to replace a few cables.

Get yourself a good pest guy. Mine is a genius. He focuses on the root causes of the problem and looks for a cure rather than messing with treatment. We had a snake issue and he came and laid rodent traps all around the house and dealt with the mice that we didn't know we had (different house this time). The snakes come in search of food so if you remove the food, you remove the snakes.

Realistically you're not going to make a dent in the squirrel population, so the alternate would be to supply a food source that would make them less likely to go after your car. But if you have oak trees, there should be plenty of food for them. Perhaps the answer lies in some kind of predator pheromone or scent that would dissuade them from approaching your car.
 
Squirrels suck!
I had a problem a couple of years ago and couldn't find a way to deter them except with a pellet gun. You need a pretty decent gun in order to kill and I didn't want to start putting holes in my house or fence while attempting to hit the little shits so I just grabbed my pistol. I hit them a few times and it just bounces off them, but they know what's up now. However, the squirrels that got into my house had to be professionally "removed" (not cheap). They kept coming back and coming back.

Hopefully it wasn't an active nest with babies? They will do whatever it takes to find their babies and if they can't find them, they will tear up everything in their paths looking.
 
Squirrels suck!
I had a problem a couple of years ago and couldn't find a way to deter them except with a pellet gun. You need a pretty decent gun in order to kill and I didn't want to start putting holes in my house or fence while attempting to hit the little shits so I just grabbed my pistol. I hit them a few times and it just bounces off them, but they know what's up now. However, the squirrels that got into my house had to be professionally "removed" (not cheap). They kept coming back and coming back.

Hopefully it wasn't an active nest with babies? They will do whatever it takes to find their babies and if they can't find them, they will tear up everything in their paths looking.

I had to have some removed from an old house before when they got in the attic. Nasty little shits can do some damage and it cost a pretty penny to get it done. Learn to squirrel proof the house but the carport is exposed.

An outdoor pet cat might do wonders to help keep the squirrels away. Nature's killing machines.

Just be prepared for the cat to bring home anything it kills and plops it on the front porch as a present for you.

We have a couple of neighborhood cats that routinely hunt all of our yards but the only offerings they have ever left me are birds.
 
In the trinity mountains when squirrels and rats nest in the cars we spread crushed cayenne peppers Around the crops and cars. There is not one one animal on the planet that is immune to it. We add it to the water for feeding Plants and spread around and under Parked cars. I’ve even heard of people hanging bags up under the hood. We get a gallon zip lock bag full at local suppliers with retail shops called “cash and carry” for $4. Recently they changed the name to “smart foodservice.” I think they are only in California but it’s basically a bulk restaurant supply store. I’m sure u can find it online. Get a water bottle and spray it around The underside of the car and dust around the carport with it. It works.

Sounds possibly promising. Will check this out.:)
 
I love squirrels. Got a whole family of them in my backyard that I feed regularly. But they also tear up and otherwise destroy parts of my garden, and it's quite frustrating.

I haven't implemented it yet, but the cayenne pepper solution seems widely used and effective. Lots of animals, squirrels included, just hate hot peppers and will be warded away by the presence of them.
 
My aunt and uncle had a neighbor who would trap squirrels in his yard and drop them in a trash can connected via a hose to his car's exhaust pipe. My dad was pretty sure the guy had moved here from Germany sometime in the 40s...
 
I love squirrels. Got a whole family of them in my backyard that I feed regularly. But they also tear up and otherwise destroy parts of my garden, and it's quite frustrating.

I haven't implemented it yet, but the cayenne pepper solution seems widely used and effective. Lots of animals, squirrels included, just hate hot peppers and will be warded away by the presence of them.

in some cases I have trees worth thousands. It works. Plants love it too. Soak it in the water and drench the root ball. If your a serous Gardner just make compost tea and add the pepper to the recipe.
 
Going to pickup car in a little while. Almost $400 of wiring damage, f$#&ing squirrels. :mad:

After that I'm going to pickup some Cayenne & Chilli pepper to try that solution. Many have recommended it including some of my gardening friends that say it works on keeping squirrels/rabbits out of their plots. I'll let you know if I have any good results or failures (those have proven costly).

Thanks for all the suggestions. :)
 

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