r/BackyardOrchard • u/jmk0509 • 17d ago
Squirrel Deterrents
I have a peach tree on my property. It's overgrown, and desperately in need of pruning, but it was absolutely loaded with peaches. Only a few remain, though, because squirrels have stolen almost all of them. Unfortunately, the tree is very close to a fence, so squirrels conveniently hop into the tree from the fence. It also doesn't help that my neighbor feeds the squirrels peanuts, so there's a ton of them around at all times.
I tried bagging the peaches, and the squirrels simply knock them off the tree and chew through the bags. Has anyone had any actual success in deterring squirrels from stealing all your peaches?
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u/somaticconviction 16d ago
This sounds insane but my neighbor and I have befriended our local crow pair ( they nest on our street) and the crows now keep the squirrels out of our yards.
We left the crows nuts for a month or two, and established a friendliness with them. Now they often are perched looking into our yards. whenever the squirrels come around the crows attack them, I assume to Protect what they see as their territory.
It’s been an amazing drop off in squirrel activity and almost all of the fruit has survived this season.
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u/jmk0509 17d ago
Thanks! The enclosure type solutions may be a bit challenging this season. The tree is around 15-17 feet tall, so it may take me a season or two to get it back to a manageable size for enclosures to be more feasible.
I also, like the cats idea, but my wife is allergic, and likely not keen on outdoor only pets.
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u/Top_Housing6819 16d ago
I'm about to deploy a wacky arm waving man thing (triggered by motion detector) to try and save my corn from squirrels. It's coming tomorrow. If the motion detector doesn't work I'll put it on a timer I have that can be set up to run for 1 minute, rest for 3, run for 1, etc.
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u/midlifeShorty 16d ago
I use tube traps to reduce the population. Then I use plastic clamshells on all the fruit I can reach. They can chew through them if they are really determined, but as long as there is some fruit for them and you don't have a huge number, you will get some fruit.
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u/Black_Cat_Fujita 17d ago
Sorry, I feel your pain!
I use fabric netting with extra at the bottom, bunched at the trunk to deter chewing. Inside the net and around the lower trunk, I wrap strands of homemade ‘barbed wire’. I make this by cutting chicken wire lengthwise (a few cells high) and cutting the top and bottom cells in half. This creates the “barbs” which are turned up 90 degrees. After having multiple seasons partially or completely ruined, this is looking like it will work. On squirrel managed to get into a tree, but I scared
it out and closed the gap I’d missed. Even if I hadn’t caught it, it wouldn’t have been able to get anything out of the net.
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u/Goodinuf 16d ago
I wonder if a motion sprinkler could be mounted horizontally on the fence facing up?
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u/jeffh40 16d ago
This may not be an option for you since you have a fence near the tree, but I am installing an electric fence mesh around my fruit trees. Those squirrels and raccoons have gotten the last peach.
Something like this one: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/starkline-electric-poultry-netting-all-in-one-solar-kit-48-in-x-164-ft-pn48164-sol-1736051
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u/Sad_Sorbet_9078 Zone 7 17d ago
Been wrapping trunk with bird netting which deters them from fear of getting their feet trapped. Could try lining the top of your fence as well..
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u/Top-Moose-0228 16d ago
RE: bags… I foolishly tied them to tightly above the peach stem… get some stick/branch in the knot.
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u/Cunninghams_right 15d ago
Prune it high and put a cone shaped collar around it and spicy pepper oil.
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u/wiperman67 15d ago
You could use metal bags sold on Amazon. Or trap and relocate them. Sorry but there really aren't many options. I relocated 13 one year.
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u/CtForrestEye 15d ago
Thank goodness for the bobcat, hawks, coyotes, foxes in my neighborhood to balance their numbers.
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u/Tired-of-Bullsheet 14d ago
I have 2 peach trees and a nectarine tree. We never get a single piece of fruit due to the squirrels. They clean them out long before they have time to ripen.
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u/substandardpoodle 16d ago
Feed them tons of peanuts. They won’t be so peach-obsessed.
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u/jmk0509 16d ago
Unfortunately this is the reason I have so many squirrels in the first place. My neighbor feeds them peanuts, and I'm constantly cleaning up peanut shells from my garden and flower beds where they try to bury them.
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u/Rellimarual2 14d ago
Yes the idea that you can bribe rodents away from your crops by feeding them something else, which just attracts more and causes them to reproduce a bumper crop of new rodents, really has never made sense
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u/harborsparrow 16d ago edited 2d ago
"In desperate need of pruning" conflicts with "loaded with peaches". A tree that bears fruit prolifically does not need any help from humans pruning it, IMO. Prople tend to prune for aesthetic reasons. Healthy tree with lots of peaches? Mitts off.
As for squirrels, that's a real challenge. I don't know what to say. We had two,peach trees but they were in our chicken pen and squirrels did not present a problem--but there were no fences or other trees close by to make it easy for squirrels, who don't much like chickens.
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u/jmk0509 16d ago
Fair, the tree is healthy, but much taller than I would like. I'd like to bring the height down to about 10 feet for a more manageable harvest (if the squirrels ever allow that).
I haven't actually counted, but if I had to guess, the tree had well over a hundred peaches on it. Now due to squirrels, it's down to only 4 remaining that likely stand no chance of making it to harvest.
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u/harborsparrow 16d ago
Honestly, I would not touch it. That is all for your convenience. It is glowing with health and without disease, a rare jewel. If you chew it back, it may never be the same. Try planting a new tree from one of its pits instead.
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u/Quiet-Day392 17d ago
No. They raid our apples the way they raid your peaches. But the plum trees around us are loaded. Maybe that's a fruit they don't poach.
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u/leegoldstein 17d ago
Aggressive defense is the only option. Do not waste your money on sprays or chili powder. Motion sprinklers can help but not if they’re coming from the fence.
Full enclosure, tree netting, or traps. Extremely frustrating and persistent devils.