9 Natural Ways to Get rid of Squirrels [Homemade Repellent Spray]

Although Squirrels are usually not harmful, they can easily become a problem if your garden or farm has something to offer for these little rodents. If you have a lot of squirrels around your area, it’s very likely that they will steal your fruits, or chew on plants, bulbs, and trees.

This can cause massive harm to your produce or garden if left undefended. If you are facing trouble from squirrels, these natural ways to get rid of them will definitely help you. 

9 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Squirrels Naturally

1. Sprinkle Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne Pepper and other strong smells will deter away squirrels from your plants. However, it is difficult to keep them off of your property entirely with this method.

If you only have one or two squirrels, using a spicy mixture will definitely discourage them from chewing on your plants and fruits. 

Required Material:

  • Cayenne Pepper powder
  • Water
  • Spray Bottle

Step by Step Process:

  • Mix the Cayenne Pepper powder with water and transfer it to a spray bottle. 
  • Now spray the mixture onto the plants and fruits that you don’t want squirrels to bite on. 
  • Even if you see squirrels around your garden, if they have tasted the cayenne pepper, they will not dare to bite into your fruits again. 
  • You can easily wash off the pepper from your fruits before eating them. 
  • Repeat this process every month or so. 

Precautions: 

Cayenne Pepper is quite spicy, so keep it away from your eyes and nose as it can cause burning. 

2. Homemade Squirrel Repellent Spray

Apart from Cayenne pepper, there are also a few things that squirrels absolutely hate the smell of. One of those things is apple cider vinegar. They also hate the smell of garlic.

Using either one of these to make a spray is potent enough to deter the squirrels away, but when mixed together, it is sure to drive away any squirrels. 

Required Material:

  • Pure Apple Cider Vinegar 
  • Garlic bulbs
  • Water
  • Spray Bottle

Step by Step Process:

  • Take one or two bulbs of garlic and blend it in a blender. Mix it with equal parts of water. Leave the mixture in the fridge for about a day.
  • Strain the garlic mixture through a sieve to get rid of any chunks. 
  • Take one part of apple cider vinegar and one part of garlic water. Mix well and transfer it to a spray bottle. 
  • Spray this homemade squirrel repellent directly onto your fruits and plants to protect them from squirrels. 
  • You can also spray this mixture around your garden. 

Precautions: 

This mixture works best for keeping squirrels away from fruits and vegetables. It may not work for tree squirrels, as they can easily avoid the smell by climbing onto trees. 

3. Mulch your garden

Mulching is an excellent way to keep out squirrels and other rodents from your garden. It involves covering an area with stones or gravel to prevent rodents from digging.

This method is useful for those that are facing trouble from ground squirrels, that like to dig the soil to find tubers and roots.

Mulching will effectively stop them from digging into your soil, but you will still need additional protection for plants and fruits above the ground.  

Required Material:

  • Gravel 
  • Garden Rocks

Step by Step Process:

  • Identify the areas that are most affected by squirrels. 
  • Lay down an inch thick layer of gravel on the area. You can use it as decoration as well.
  • You can also use this method for your garden beds if you have planted any bulbs or roots. 
  • You can also cover freshly grown bulbs or roots with gravel. 

Precautions:

Gravel will protect the roots and bulbs underneath the ground, but the squirrel may also try to chew on the shoots of your plant, in which case, you will have to use some other method. 

4. Use Live Traps

Live traps are always great because they will catch the animal without hurting them. It’s important to keep in mind that many states do not allow squirrels to be trapped and killed, so we do not recommend killing any squirrels, or using kill traps.

You can purchase a readymade trap or you can even make one out of materials that you have at home.

If you have a squirrel that’s constantly attacking your attic or a specific area in your house, using a live trap is the best way to get rid of them. 

Required Material:

  • Live trap
  • Peanuts or peanut butter

Step by Step Process:

  • Identify the place that is most affected by squirrels. It may be your attic, or your garage, or anywhere else in your house. 
  • Now place some peanuts or peanut butter inside the trap and set it up in the place where there is the most squirrel activity. 
  • You should check back in a few hours, or a maximum of 24 hours. If you find a squirrel, take the trap and release the squirrel away from your house. Preferably in a secluded area. 
  • You can set the trap up again for another squirrel in the same way. 

Precautions:

Squirrels can become quite large in population quite soon. So if you have a lot of squirrels to handle at once, this method may not be very effective.

Also, you should seal off any potential entry sites for the squirrels after you have caught them to prevent them from doing further damage. 

5. Plant things they don’t like

Squirrels don’t like certain types of plants and tubers, so so if you plant them instead of the ones they do like, then you can be assured that they will be driven away.

Daffodils are one of the most common examples of plants that squirrels hate. They also hate hyacinth, geranium, allium, etc. Planting these around your garden will keep squirrels at bay. 

Required Material:

  • Geranium, Daffodil, Allium saplings
  • Gardening equipment

Step by Step Process:

  • Plant Geranium, daffodils, and Allium saplings around your garden.
  • Water them and care for them regularly to make sure the plants are in good shape. 
  • Having these plants in your gardens will repel squirrels, however, you should always take additional protection for your other plants. 

Precautions:

Squirrels are intelligent, so they may get around these plants and still attack your other plants, so always use more protection for any other plants. 

6. Spray the urine of a predator

Predator urine is an effective way to repel squirrels from your garden. Coyote or fox urine is most commonly used for this purpose.

The smell of the predator’s urine will make the squirrels think that a predator is nearby and thus, they will not come near your garden.

This method is quite effective but it only works for ground squirrels. Tree squirrels may still climb onto your trees. 

Required Material:

  • Coyote Urine 
  • Fox Urine 

Step by Step Method:

  • Identify the areas that are most affected by squirrels. It may be a certain plant bed or your whole garden, but it’s always important to understand what is attracting the squirrels. 
  • Spread a small amount of coyote or fox urine around the area that is being affected by squirrels. If your entire garden is being affected, spread the urine around the perimeter of your garden. 
  • Repeat this process every few weeks (3 to 4 weeks). 

Precautions:

Predator urine is quite potent and can drive away any squirrels, but it may not be practical to use for trees, so you may need additional protection for fruiting trees. 

7. Use Safflower seeds in your bird feeder

If you cannot find a proper position for your bird feeder, or for some reason you cannot get the squirrels off of your bird feeder, this method will help you finally manage that problem.

Squirrels do not several types of seeds that birds may like. Safflower seed is an example of that. You can also use nyjer seed, or white proso millet as well.

Required Material:

  • Safflower seeds
  • White proso millet
  • Nyjer seed

Step by Step Process:

  • Replace your regular bird meal with a mixture of nyjer seed, White proso millet, and Safflower seeds. If you don’t have all the materials, you can use any one of these bird feed by itself. 
  • Squirrels may come for one or two days, but they will stop coming when they do not get the seeds or nuts that they like. They are also repulsed by the safflower seeds. 

Precautions:

You may still get a few occasional visits from squirrels, but they will most likely not be interested in the bird food. 

8. Scare them away

A fake owl is a great way to scare away squirrels, however, it is not a permanent solution. Squirrels are afraid of owls as they pray on squirrels.

This is why if you put an owl decoy in your garden, it will make the squirrels think that the owl may attack them. That being said, you would have to move the figurine around quite often to make sure that the squirrels don’t get used to it. 

Required Material: 

  • Owl figurine

Step by Step Process:

  • Put up an owl figurine in your garden. You can put it on your window, or on your trees, or you can even put it on a pole. 
  • Move the figure around every day or two. This will make sure that the squirrels don’t realize it’s fake. 

Precautions:

A fake owl will not keep squirrels away forever. Besides, it’s quite a bit of a hassle to move it around every day, so it’s a good idea to use other preventative methods as well. 

9. Motion-activated Sprinklers

Motion-activated sprinklers are great for driving away rodents of all kinds. They are especially great for squirrels since they are not limited to the ground. These sprinklers will spray water towards the squirrel as soon as it detects any motion.

This system is great for those who like to produce fruits and vegetables right in their own gardens. Installing such a system would mean you don’t have to actively drive away your squirrels every day. 

Required Material:

  • Motion Activated Sprinklers

Step by Step Process:

  • Simply drive the stake of the sprinkler into the garden in an area where there is the most squirrel activity. Connect your water source to it. They are usually battery-operated. 
  • Switch on the sprinkler and make sure to turn it on every time you leave the garden. 
  • You should switch it off when you go to the garden if you don’t want to be sprayed by it as well. 
  • You can install multiple sprinklers around your garden if it’s quite big and you need to cover a lot of space. 

Precautions: 

This is the safest option out in the market, so even if you get sprayed by it by accident, it’s not going to hurt you at all. However, you should try to switch it off when you visit your garden to avoid getting wet. 

7 Natural Ways to Prevent Squirrels

1. Have a Dog

Dogs are truly man’s best friend when it comes to pest management. Dogs drive away a lot of rodents including squirrels.

If you let your dog loose in your yard or garden, you are much less likely to be visited by squirrels. Squirrels can also be deterred by the smell of a dog because they will immediately consider them a danger. 

2. Don’t feed them

Although it may be tempting to feed squirrels, try to refrain from it. Don’t feed squirrels inside your house or property, especially not in an area that they can easily visit every day.

This will lead them to mark your house as a regular source of food, and they will come back regularly for more.

3. Be cautious about growing trees

Trees are a major attraction for squirrels. Not only do many of them live on trees (tree squirrels), they also can climb trees very easily, making it impossible to keep them out.

They can cause harm to the tree itself, and they can also hide in the tree. So, in general, if you have a squirrel problem, it’s not a great idea to have a tree in your garden.

This does not mean you should chop down your trees, but if you don’t already have one, it’s better not to plant one. 

4. Use Covered Trash Cans

If you have a habit of throwing away food into your trash cans, it’s likely that squirrels are attracted to them. If you do not cover the trash cans, squirrels can not only eat from your trash, but they can turn into a regular habit.

In that case, they will frequent your house in hopes of food every day. To avoid this from happening, it’s always a good idea to use covered trash cans. 

5. Clean your garden

If you have a dirty garden, chances are it’s full of nuts, fruits, and other attractions for the squirrels. Cleaning your garden would get rid of these attractions, which in turn will help get rid of the squirrels in your garden.

Always make sure to keep your garden clean, and you won’t find too many squirrels in your garden. This method is also applicable for any other areas that may be affected by squirrels.

If you frequently find a lot of squirrels inside your house, you can try keeping it clean and put away any food items inside a safe cabinet. 

6. Replace or protect your bird-feeder

One of the common places you will find a squirrel is in your bird feeder. They are notorious for stealing bird food. So if you have a bird feeder of any kind, it can easily attract squirrels.

If you want to protect your bird feeder from Squirrels, there are a few methods you can use. You can use a squirrel-proof bird feeder, or you can attach a baffle to your existing bird feeder pole.

Some other things to consider is whether there is a tree near your bird feeder, if there is, you may want to trim the branches. Otherwise, squirrels may jump from the tree to the feeder easily.

If your bird feeder is in an area that can not be protected in any other way, you can use a bird feeder cage that allows small birds to get through but not squirrels.

7. Use Nets

Not all types of nets can deter away squirrels. So it is important to choose the right kind of net for your project. Apart from that, a lot of squirrels are excellent at climbing, so instead of creating a fence, some owners have attained success with a complete net enclosure. I

f you have a lot of tree squirrels, you may consider netting your trees to prevent them from stealing fruits from them.

For any fruiting trees, you can use tree netting to cover the whole tree. Make sure to use the right type of net, otherwise, squirrels will be able to chew through it. 

Top 5 Natural Squirrel Repellents Available Online

If you are looking for readily available natural repellents to get rid of squirrels, check the below-listed options:

Final Words:

Whether you see a couple of squirrels here and there, or you have many of them around your house, one thing is for sure, they can easily become a big problem for your garden. These annoying little creatures can chew on virtually everything and cause massive damage.

They also steal your fruits, roots, and nuts. So if you are planning to create a garden or produce your own vegetables then you should always make sure to squirrel-proof your garden.

You can use any of the above-mentioned ways. You can also combine different methods for maximum protection. We hope this article was helpful to you and happy gardening!