Well, after the squirrel v. jack-o-lantern debacle, I decided to use diplomacy. I got another pumpkin and carved it with moments to spare before nightfall. Before setting it out to mark us as a trick-or-treat-friendly household, I put the guts, seeds and other pumpkin waste into a bowl for our squirrel friends. As you can see, it’s much appreciated.
As for the other jack-o-lantern, it survived the night. But today? Grrrrrr……
Pat said on November 1, 2003 at 7:52 pm
Your picture is priceless. A true compromise. Just how long were you hovering overhead to snap that picture? (smile)
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Bob said on November 1, 2003 at 8:24 pm
There seem to be as many ideas for outsmarting/repelling squirrels as there are squirrels. Here’s one that I heard for keeping them out of bird feeders; maybe it will work on pumpkins, too.
Supposedly, only mammals have the sensory mechanism that responds to capsaicin, the stuff that makes peppers taste hot to us. The “expert” said that birds can’t taste capsaicin, and that if you spray or otherwise treat bird food with pepper juice, it won’t bother the birds but the squirrels and raccoons will find it painfully unpleasant.
Maybe you could dose your pumpkins with pepper juice to discourage the arboreal rats.
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