Rodent Damage.

[John Candy]

Went into garden this evening and my attention was drawn to an area of splintered timber on the viaduct.
Closer examination shows the polypropylene GRS sleepers to have been gnawed away.
Chief suspect is a squirrel .... I only hope it doesn't make a habit of it or it will have to be shot.

Anyone else suffered similar problems?

John.

[AllWight]

Its that bloomin Scrat from the Ice Age films!!!

[John Candy]

Mark,

Where's your blue phone box .... I'll send the little critter back to the ice age!

John.

[AllWight]

He is hilarious goes nutty for the acorn if you have not watched these films i suggest that you do

[492]

On a large, fairly heavily wooded plot, I have just one squirrel. He has lived here for some years, and is a psychopath. He chases off all other squirrels. Anyway, good luck to him with chewing steel sleepers.

Robert.

[AllWight]

Steel sleepers why not put a small electrical chargeand see the squirels being blasted through next doors fence in a Tom and Jerry style fashion.

If you do this pleaase record it as i love a good laugh especially on a friday

Mark

[Traininvain]

Seems like an argument (the only one I can think of) in favour of going Southern - an electrified 3rd rail!

Ian

[John Candy]

an electrified 3rd rail!

Now, that's a thought!
Needn't be a 3rd rail (not that I have anything against it, having been brought up on the SR) just a trackside bare cable to give a nasty 12V shock to the little critter!

John.

[Geoff Nicholls]

the organic options for dealing with this pest are:

the standard gardeners' squirrel repellent contains chillies (you can spray it on your bird-feeder as birds can't taste chillies) you could probably make your own up with water and soft soap, then use a variation on a weed killing train
Or a hazelnut bush to attract them elsewhere
Or catmint (the real one, not the ornamental) planted nearby to attract cats, who then might chase the squirrels if they can be bothered.
But if you do shoot them, make sure to remove the pellets before cooking them.

[jamiepage]

Cats on catmint seem no more capable of constructive action than I was at Glastonbury in the early seventies.

[Jon Nazareth]

Geoff

Is that really true about birds and Chillies?  My neighbour has a bird table and not only does it attract birds and squirrels but rats too.  Nuts laced with chillies may deter Mr Ratty Rat!

Jon

[Geoff Nicholls]

yes the chillie treatment is true, including the bit about birds not being affected, you can by a spray in garden centres, though there are probably recipes for home-made stuff on line.

[John Candy]

Here is a "home brew" recipe I found yesterday.

Make a pepper spray by mixing 1 tsp. of mild liquid detergent, 1 gal. of water and 1 small bottle of hot pepper sauce. Mix these ingredients in a gallon jug, then transfer to a spray bottle. Spray this mixture on plants, the bird feeder or anything else you want to keep squirrels away from.

John