Pepper spray squirrel deterrent

I saw in my local pet shop a spray for bird feeders that allegedly puts of squirrels, while not bothering the birds.

It was a bit pricey at five squids, so I thought I'd ask if anyone knows if this sort of thing works?

And birds really ARE attracted by it. (Please don't snigger while I'm posting)

And if it does, to get back OT, is there a cheapo DIY version?

mike

Reply to
mike
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Don't think so. they don't care one way or the other.

Supposedly, mixing red pepper into the birdseed works, the hotter the better.

(Then again, maybe it doesn't, the web says both...)

Thomas Prufer

Reply to
Thomas Prufer

Thomas Prufer wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I necer thought of googling, (I can never think of good keywords till I've got the answer). Anyhow posting here is more fun.

But here's one recipe I found:

You need: One chopped yellow onion One chopped Jalapeno pepper One tablespoon of Cayenne Pepper

Boil ingredients for 20 minutes in two quarts of water. Then let it cool and strain the mixture through cheesecloth. You can apply this with a pesticide sprayer or a spray bottle. This will deter just about any animal from an area where it is applied. The only draw back is that it only lasts for three to five days.

Other sources said simply dusting cayenne pepper, chilli powder, or using tabasco (it didn't say how, perhaps leaving out one of my lip-numbing Bloody Marys) would do the job

mike

Reply to
mike

I'd coat the seed in a thin layer of oil (shake it in a tin with a splash of oil?) and then dust it with fine red pepper.

Why? I got lucky in googling:

which should answer your question "does it work?"

(The "executive summary" is yes.)

Thomas Prufer

Reply to
Thomas Prufer

Thomas Prufer wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

A fine article - it seems pepper might even deter starlings, which always come mob-handed.

"Don't be so quick, to heave half a brick It's just me, the wife and the kids"

mike

Reply to
mike

A better recipe involves a small piece of lead, and a powerful gust of air (unless the squirrel is reddish in colour, in which case I suggest lobbing hazel nuts at it).

Reply to
Chris Bacon

Trouble is that animals/birds/pests are incredibly stupid. They may be put off once, but they aren't smart enough to remember the bad experience, so they keep coming back.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in news:7t5eg.76884$ snipped-for-privacy@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

Allegedly, this jollop sprayed on the table and feeder lasts a few days, and there's a lot of sprays in the bottle, so it should be effective over a period...... if it works at all

mike

Reply to
mike

Could I introduce you to a recent and very interesting book by a fellow called Charles Darwin? He has this idea about Natural Selection that suggests that you might not be entirely correct... ;-)

Reply to
John Cartmell

That point is made by the sellers of the spray; they say after a time of finding the bird area unacceptable they'll change their feeding habits.

Of course, there's always sprog squirrels, incomers, pikeys, etc, so no treatment can be a once for all.

I guess chatting will do no more - I'll have to get off me bum and try it, after the holiday :-)

mike

Reply to
mike

Rabbits are certainly bright enough to remember that Uncle Ed went in 'that nice garden' and never came back ... The effect lasts several weeks, too.

Reply to
Huge

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