Squirrels and potential polyculture victory.

Sorry I have been around for a couple weeks. Planting, harvesting and cussing squirrels have kept me busy. I have had a terrible time with them this year. Through constant vigilance and mosquito netting I won the battle of the peaches. Now they’ve set their sites on my tomatoes. Well, except for one small area. Nothing there has been touched even though it’s loaded with goodies and right next to their hunting grounds. Tomatoes, figs, cucumbers, strawberries and blueberries are all there and unprotected. There’s one plant inter planted and it’s no where else on the property; Shiso. It’s a rampant self seeding annual that has a strong licorice smell. I’ve read that squirrels are turned off by some smells. I have nothing else that has a strong fragrance like it. I plan to chop then drop in my problem area to see if it helps. If it does I’ll let you know. Anyone else grow this? If so do you think it may drive them away?

I'm growing purple shiso, so I'm very interested in this thread. It grows like a weed but looks very pretty in the sunshine. Nice contrast with all the greenery. It really puts out the biomass, too, so I'm going to try chopping & dropping. Question is, other than squirrels, what else might it deter?

Is it in the mint family? Deer seem to leave Lemon Balm alone - Melissa officinalis - but I don't think it would stop them from eating stuff they liked that was around it.

We had a couple of Great Horned Owls with a pair of owlets who seem to have impacted our squirrel density. If only they'd done the same to the robins! Critters seem to ebb and flow depending on the year and the weather.

Hi Diane. That’s an interesting question. Come to think of it birds aren’t eating my fruit either. They were very interested in my elderberries until I put my scarecrow up. Mask, hat, and local craft brew in hand surely let them know I was close, and watching! I have seen birds eating some shiso seeds in winter but not often. I do have deer munching on mimosa saplings a few feet away but haven’t touched anything else.

The scarecrow I meant to upload on my last post.

Fried squirrel is fine eating!  A bit bony, but better than rabbit, IMO...

Scott Stiller wrote:The scarecrow I meant to upload on my last post.

You should add that to the meme thread!

@Jay I wish we had more owls around for sure. We had a couple giant hawks that let nothing pass. They’re gone and now we have a bunch of punk Cooper’s hawks that aren’t too swift.
@Gray I don’t know where my daughter got the scarecrow’s head but it even scares me. It may take my soul or something! 😂

If protecting poultry is NOT an issue, contact your local raptor rehab and see if your site is suitable for the release of rehabbed raptors. At the very least they could let you know WHY raptors are not prevalent...

Great idea. I do have chickens but they’re protected. The hawks we have here now are afraid of everything and not much good.

Scott Stiller wrote:

The scarecrow I meant to upload on my last post.

Oh, please post that to the "Upcycled Scarecrow" thread!

https://permies.com/t/139611/permaculture-upcycling/ungarbage/Scarecrow-case-Scareeagle

I don't know how effective they are against squirrels, but I do recommend it be light enough that you can move it around and have dangly bits that you can add and subtract so it changes its appearance somewhat. I agree that the head is priceless!

Jay Angler wrote:Is it in the mint family?

Yes, Lamiaceae mint family, Perilla frutescens. Soooo many common names.