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Home > Taste of Home Community > Community Forums > Recipes > ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES

ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES

Last post Jan 22, 2009 11:41 PM by niapet . 20 replies.


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    • Top 500 Contributor
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    Posted: Dec 31, 2006 6:55 PM in Recipes
    Post # 1
    ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    We had Christmas lights around our eaves and the little beggars chewed through the wires so badly that we couldn't use the lights. So now we have about 6 of the 25 bulb cords not any good to use. This can get expensive.

    Marlene
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 7:02 PM in Recipes
    Post # 2
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    I wonder if "Bitter Apple" spray would work on them. We used that in our house on cords that the cat was bent on chewing. Cured her, maybe it will work on squirrels.
    We got it in the pet store.

    Tippytoes
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 7:03 PM in Recipes
    Post # 3
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    Place regular building bricks around your property, about 25' to 30' apart.

    Sprinkle pepper (cayenne is best) on the bricks.

    Hide and make a noise like a nut.

    The squirrels will be curious and attracted to the bricks. When they find the unfamiliar substance (the pepper) they will sniff it, making themselves sneeze - usually so hard that their heads will come down violently - striking the brick and knocking themselves unconscious.

    You can then collect the squirrels and drive them a few miles to the home of someone you don't particularly care for.

    Works every time!

    Ed
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 7:05 PM in Recipes
    Post # 4
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    Squirrels can cause problems by chewing on plants, tree bark and ornamentals as well as plastic items, like electrical wiring insulation or even wood siding on houses and out-buildings. It is often impossible or impractical to eliminate the source of their chewing. Potted plants can often be moved out of reach. PVC pipes and electrical wires can sometimes be covered with a insulation material that is soft and, therefore, less attractive to chew.

    Taste repellents are designed to stop chewing. They seem to work in direct proportion to the animal's desire to chew on the object. In other words, if they want it badly enough, no repellent will stop them. Taste repellents will not work on large areas, are impractical for inaccessible things like tall trees and cannot be used on objects that you intend to eat.

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    In loving memory of Suzy
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 7:09 PM in Recipes
    Post # 5
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    There's a man in our neighborhood that feeds the squirrels and another who eats them.
    The squirrels ate our phone line.
    I wonder why they chew on wires?
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    Put On A Happy Face

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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 7:15 PM in Recipes
    Post # 6
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    Ed, Sound like a nut?
    False

    Put On A Happy Face

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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 7:25 PM in Recipes
    Post # 7
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    Can you spray the cords with something? I don't know WD-40, a pepper spray of some sort?
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 8:17 PM in Recipes
    Post # 8
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    I doubt if spraying something will work. Even though it is winter here I'm sure freezing would block any smell or taste. Ed I like your response even though it sure wouldn't work.

    Marlene
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 8:27 PM in Recipes
    Post # 9
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    And the question of why do squirrels like to chew on wires. The cable guy who changed the cables in our neighbourhood said the squirrels get an electrical jolt, sort of a buzz or high, so they come back again and again to bite the wires.

    Marlene
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 8:33 PM in Recipes
    Post # 10
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    Marlene, Are you sure the cable guy wasn't a little bit buzz? I can't imagine a squirrel chewing on wires to get high. You would think that they're high enough off the ground climbing on those wires.
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 8:57 PM in Recipes
    Post # 11
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    Squirrels don't seem to learn from other's mistakes.

    Squirrels followed a local TV stations power line and tried chewing on the wires. The first one chewed the wire and zapped himself. Several weeks later another chewed the wire and not only fried himself, but knocked the TV station off the air. They were able to get back on the air using a generator, but it took a couple days to repair the damage and put a metal sheeth over the wires.

    Ed - I told my DH about the pepper and the bricks. He said he'd mention at the manager's meeting next time they have squirrels chewing on the transmission lines.

    Good luck Marlene.

    Cherie
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    Reply Posted: Dec 31, 2006 9:12 PM in Recipes
    Post # 12
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    I don't think there's anything you can do except set out a trap for them. That's what one man did. After he caught them, he took them to the park and let them loose.
    Now and then we get a power outage because a squirrel chewed on a power line, then electrocuted.
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    Reply Posted: Jan 01, 2007 1:45 AM in Recipes
    Post # 13
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    I don't know if this will work in your situation, but . . .

    My former neighbor got tired of the squirrels getting to her birdfeeder and getting all the birdseed before the birds could get any. So she took 2 liter coke bottles, cut a hole in the bottom end, and threaded the line the birdfeeder hung from through the bottles. The squirrels couldn't run across the bottles because they would spin. Therefore, they were reduced to only getting what birdseed fell to the ground.

    Amy P
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    Reply Posted: Jan 01, 2007 8:08 AM in Recipes
    Post # 14
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    Several years ago, we had a squirrel that would chew through the wood siding on our summer home in northern Wisconsin. We had to take darastic steps, and unfortunetly for the squirrel, he is no longer a problem for us.

    We put a pan of anti-freeze in the area he was destroying. They love the sweet-syrupy stuff, but it is poison to everything, including humans. So if you ever have to resort to this, be absolutely sure it is unaccessable to kids and pets.
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    Reply Posted: Jan 01, 2007 9:21 AM in Recipes
    Post # 15
    RE: ANYONE KNOW HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM CHEWING WIRES
    Amy P, I use to feed the birds. I bought a gadget that you can put on the pole below the feeder so that the squirrels won't be able to get to the feeder. That worked. Then the squirrels got smart and started to jump from a tree branch and onto the bird feeder that I had on the pole.
    The squirrels around here would do anything to get to the bird seed, even it means taking a flying leap and hurting themselves.
    False

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