Before I left for Florida in June I had been nurturing my tomatoe plants and they were quite healthy and beautiful. When I returned 5 weeks later, there had already been a good supply of the red globes for my husband and I was looking forward to taking advantage of the crop. Little did I suspect that the squirrel population had other ideas. A few days after Iarrived home I noticed small holes in the nice red ones. Actually they weren't holes they were little round bite marks, the size of a dime or so. The next day I noticed a whole tomato on the ground half eaten and then discarded for other more exciting treats I guess. I had my eye on a beauty which was almost ripe, it just needed another day. The next morning, ----- it was gone! No where to be found,--- the breakfast of an earlier riser than myself. Slowly, the crop which I had been anticipating was disappearing, either by being consumed on the vine, or by being carried away in little tiny paws to a lair where perhaps some young whippersnapper squirrels waited. I began to get peeved. Actually, I started screaming at the little bastards. They just scampered away cheerily.
They cause mischief all over the yard. The more I water my potted plants, the more they dig in the dirt. I don't know if they are checking the pot out for some forgotten nut, or whether they just want to annoy me. In any case, they get the potting soil scattered all over the place and make ugly holes in the soil. The plants have told me that they feel that their roots are threatened and I can certainly understand their concern.
I bought some $17.00 squirrel repellent crystals at the nursery, made of garlic oil and other supposedly unfriendly ingredients. What do you think they did? Had a party and while munching on tomato hor d'eovres tittered about the stupid lady who was wasting her money on such ineffectual solutions.
So, what to do? I saw a recipe for a red pepper and detergent cocktail which might make them think twice. I don't appreciate the fact that I need to spend time concocting something to stymie them. Not only do they steal my tomatoes but they force me to use my valuable time working to repel them. But, what the hell, maybe it will work for a day or two, long enough to harvest the few remaining fruit. In the meantime I have ordered the biggest, baddest, meanest machine I could find on the internet which hopefully will blast their little eardrums to kingdom come with it's high frequency wail and cause them to run and keep running until they have reached Santa Monica and maybe beyond. If you see a squirrel with ear plugs and an expression of terror on his face, you will know that he is escaping from my backyard with only the shirt on his back and what nuts he could carry in his knapsack.