So, I've recently invested in a pretty excessive garden & it's going swimmingly. However, I have a neighbour who finds all the joy in the world in feeding our neighbourhood squirrels. Of course this is causing them to set up shop in our area to access the food first. Now at this point it's not having a negative effect on my garden but I was wondering if the fact that she's feeding them regularly bodes well for my garden or should I prepare for squirrels?
I think it's bad because (if they'reLog In) they're "opportunistic eaters"---their diet is pretty-much "whatever's edible." There are variousLog In, but (as the previous link goes on to say) 'if you get rid of one family of squirrels, Nature will supply another family (or families) of squirrels to fill the void. (Still, I don't imagine it could hurt to spray the 'tasty' repellants in your garden every so-often.)
I'm inclined to agree with @mythman - get some humane deterrents put in place now before they have the chance to cause problems. Grey squirrels will indeed eat anything suitable that they come across.
You'll have to be prepared to deal with the squirrels or else they might completely "destroy" your garden. In addition the suggested repellents you could also try a sonic squirrel repellent. It emits an ultra-high sound that will drive them squirrels off your property. You'd only it use when there's no rain though.
Our family has been feeding squirrels in our back yard for decades. It's gotten to the point where they will walk right up to us an eat out of our hands. Sometimes they will even stand at our back door and look into our window if we haven't put any food out for them yet, lol. At one point, back in the early 80's we did have a garden in our back yard, and I recall my folks having animal traps back then to deter the squirrels and other critters, but it was really a lost cause trying to trap them one at a time like that. From what I recall, they were rather fond of our strawberries for some reason. It was kind of comical because their faces would be stained red from the strawberries. When we would trap them in the cages, they obviously weren't happy and would start scowling at us with their red stained mouths, lol. It was like some sort of blood thirsty rabid squirrel. I would leave them be, personally. You're neighbor obviously really enjoys the company of the squirrels, that seems kind of mean to put stuff in your yard to drive them away. If she's keeping them fed well, they may leave your stuff alone.
But I'm thinking it only takes one (or very few) missed-feedings for the squirrels to venture over to the garden where they are usually NOT welcome I don't think the spice-repellents will 'drive the squirrels far away (unless Joan lays it on thick). I think it'll be more like 'one rotten apple in the whole bunch' (BEFORE the mould has a chance to spread to any of the other apples). The squirrels won't have any problem with it, as they probably can't sense it until they're right on top of it. Like a red-hot burner on the oven---it doesn't hurt you if you don't touch it!
