What attracts squirrels?
Squirrels feed on berries, fruits, mushrooms, nuts, eggs, seeds and young birds. They are primarily vegetarians but they will not sky away from eggs they find in nests of trees while they hop from one to other. In this sense, if you are feeding birds, squirrels will quickly become the menace because they will grab all the seeds before birds even arrive to feeder. Additionally, they can also demolish the feeder along the way. If you want to minimize squirrel interest then you should leave seeds they don't like, such as safflower seed. These will definitely move them. On the other hand, if you don't want to change the seed you are putting in a feeder, other way is to protect the feeder. You can put a Vaseline and hot pepper on a pole and this will distract them and discourage from trying to get in the feeder to scour it. There are also certain bird feeders that are already constructed to discourage squirrels from trying to get in to collect the seeds.
Squirrel need fresh water source, which means you can discourage them from visits to your property if you remove all sources of fresh water.
Squirrels are nuts lovers. They love to search and pick up nuts which they don't always eat but actually collect and put aside for winter period when there will be much less food. Squirrels mark nuts before putting them aside into secret shelter, deep underground. Thanks to this scented marking, squirrel will be able to find it at much later moment, even if under feet of deep snow and frozen ground. If you have nut trees/orchard, this is definitely something that would attract squirrels, so you should really think of how to protect your orchard. High fence, with the electricity through it could help, if you are willing to go to such measures to protect nut trees.
If you need help, we service the entire USA! Click here for a wildlife removal specialist in your town!
Go back to the main Squirrel Removal page for more information about What attracts squirrels?.
