Gorging Squirrels Have Lost Their Charm

Question: Our neighborhood has been overrun by an epidemic of tree squirrels. They eat practically all the noncitrus fruit from the 14-tree orchard adjacent to our home. I love wildlife and welcome raccoons, possums, skunks, ravens and stray cats, but the squirrels destroy the product of my yearlong labor.

I am no longer compassionate about the squirrels and consider them varmints that we have to get rid of. Please tell me a way, lethal or nonlethal, to do so.

--A.D., Pasadena

Answer: Isn’t it amazing how wonderful wild animals are? At least, until they start irritating us? Your letter describes perfectly how selective we can become when it gets down to a matter of them or us.

It’s the same here at my house. We “ooh” and “aah” at the hawks as they soar overhead, delight at “our” black phoebes in the olive tree, and the kids marvel at the cottontail rabbits hopping around the yard in the early-morning hours.

But it’s a different story with the coyotes, since one of their gang mauled our favorite kitty. And we snicker, traps in hand, at the gophers in our yard that pull down whole vegetable plants into their tunnels.

That’s urban wildlife in a nutshell. And as interesting and entertaining as tree squirrels’ antics are, it’s no different with them.

I hear from readers with squirrel troubles every day. The animals rip up shingles to get into the attic, they tear out potted plants, and they’ll eat whole crops of nuts or run amok across roofs and wires.

But the news on the squirrel front isn’t positive. Squirrels are intelligent, persistent and incredibly agile little creatures that absolutely thrive in human-modified habitats like backyards and parks.

Keeping them out of your trees can be tough, even for those frustrated enough to consider lethal techniques.

I talked with John Turman, South District supervisor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, who agreed that “prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to squirrels. You’ve really got to keep them out of the trees to begin with.”

So prune back branches at least 10 feet away from the ground and house. Band the trees with sheet metal cut 3 feet wide. Wrap it around the trunk of the tree between 6 and 8 feet off the ground, securing it with a bungee cord, clips, or a hose clamp and a single nail.

Be sure to loosen it at the end of the year to allow for the tree’s growth. You’ll need to band the trees that the squirrels scurry up as well as neighboring ones.

Some homeowners feed the squirrels diversionary food when it gets close to harvest time. But you should know that this may increase the number of squirrels in your yard, at least temporarily.

Netting can work on smaller trees. The most commonly reported problem with this technique is that the squirrels get under the net, so be sure you have a good fit. Although you can “live” trap squirrels, it’s not biologically sound to translocate them, nor is it legal to move them beyond a quarter of a mile from where they were trapped, unless Fish and Game requires it.

As for lethal techniques, your options are limited in the case of protected native tree squirrels like the western gray, and you’ll need to get a depredating permit from the California Department of Fish and Game.

Nonnatives, like the reddish-colored fox squirrels that have been introduced into communities throughout the West, can be controlled lethally without permits. Even with this red tape removed, you’ll still have a heck of a time reducing the population.

With the original squirrels gone, next fall young squirrels from neighboring trees will migrate in and take advantage of the opened space.

Still, a combination of reducing the local population and taking preventive measures to keep them out of the trees is your best bet.

You may have to relax your expectations while the squirrel population is high, and work toward a long-term goal.

For information on obtaining a depredating permit, call the California Department of Fish and Game at (562) 590-5132. You can purchase netting at garden centers and nurseries.

Living With Wildlife is published every other Thursday in Southern California Living. Got critter conflicts? Send your queries to wildlife biologist Andrea Kitay at P.O. Box 2489, Camarillo, CA 93011, or via e-mail to andrea@livingwithwildlife.com. Please include your name and city. Questions cannot be answered individually.

For a list of Wildlife Bulletins that provide sound advice on homeowner-wildlife conflicts ($4 each), send a SASE to the above address, or visit https://www.livingwithwildlife.com.