Learned something new about Squirrels....

They eat garlic. They dug up and at half my garlic crop!

Sorry about your garlic crop. That is rather surprising they'd eat it. But then, squirrels are rather ridiculous beings, so I probably should stop being surprised by what they do. Perhaps they realized garlic's medicinal value and found it good for what ails them?

Mmmmm…preseasoned squirrel!

One of my housemates left the gate open a few years ago and a rabbit got into the yard. I had a large bunch of carrots that I was letting go to seed and behind it were a big bunch of onions also going to seed. The rabbit ate all the onions right down to the ground! Never touched the carrots!

Gray Henon wrote:Mmmmm…preseasoned squirrel!

Now there's a thought!! Maybe they were doing me a favor!  

Heather Sharpe wrote:Sorry about your garlic crop. That is rather surprising they'd eat it. But then, squirrels are rather ridiculous beings, so I probably should stop being surprised by what they do. Perhaps they realized garlic's medicinal value and found it good for what ails them?

I never would have imagined them eating garlic, so perhaps you're right!

Squirrels ate my fava bean seed in the ground, they dug around and found almost all of them.

Paul VandenBosch wrote:Squirrels ate my fava bean seed in the ground, they dug around and found almost all of them.

They certainly know where to get a free meal. It's not recommended, but my sunflowers will be started indoors.

Susan Mené wrote:

Gray Henon wrote:Mmmmm…preseasoned squirrel!

Now there's a thought!! Maybe they were doing me a favor!  

Or were they doing you a flavor?

Paul VandenBosch wrote:Squirrels ate my fava bean seed in the ground, they dug around and found almost all of them.

If you see them with a nice bottle of Chianti, RUN.

Travis Neff wrote:

Paul VandenBosch wrote:Squirrels ate my fava bean seed in the ground, they dug around and found almost all of them.

If you see them with a nice bottle of Chianti, RUN.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Silly squirrels!
Had no idea that they ate garlic. So sorry.
They live in the trees outside my window and climbs onto my window sill. Very smart and know how to beg for peanuts.
I have to wait for sundown ( their bedtime) to plant my vegetable plot.
My next door neighbor planted hers during the day. Big mistake. The squirrels watched her leave, came down the trees and dug her seeds up.

Interesting.  My Squirrel population has increased  .... and my garlic has vanished.

Ah squirrels... Our last house, we had soooooo many gray squirrels. We lived in a large residential neighborhood that was mostly grass and pine trees and I never saw gardens. It was crazy. Needles to say, our garden was a very popular place for the squirrels. It seemed like they liked to dig things up just for the fun of it. We tried be tolerant of them until they started becoming territorial and chasing my small children from the yard. So my husband set up camp by a window with an airsoft rifle and would scare them with a little sting. (We didn't want to kill them, just make them more afraid of us.) They got so conditioned to the sound of a click and then pain, that they just needed to hear a click and they'd run away.

I really enjoy the fact that we rarely see any squirrels in our current location. Not sure why- maybe because there is plenty in the woods for them to eat. My kids said they've seen them but they don't mess with my garden. Instead I get the voles and mice eating my seeds and seedlings, deer stepping on my baby plants, and all the birds that make it so I can't direct sow sunflowers or peas.

Where I live, grey squirrels are considered an invasive species and a pest as they are taking over the range of a smaller red squirrel which is much shyer of humans. I have a friend who calls grey squirrels "tree chickens" and he shoots to kill, and eats them. The gov't site that states they are invasive and that the season is permanently open has a recipe for cooking them, and the local paper did once also. Apparently they do a lot of harm to the songbird population as grey squirrel are omnivores and eat both eggs as chicks.

I try to be live and let live within reason, but I think squirrels are pushing that limit in many areas and could be considered a valuable renewable food source.

Jay Angler wrote:Where I live, grey squirrels are considered an invasive species and a pest as they are taking over the range of a smaller red squirrel which is much shyer of humans. I have a friend who calls grey squirrels "tree chickens" and he shoots to kill, and eats them. The gov't site that states they are invasive and that the season is permanently open has a recipe for cooking them, and the local paper did once also. Apparently they do a lot of harm to the songbird population as grey squirrel are omnivores and eat both eggs as chicks.

I try to be live and let live within reason, but I think squirrels are pushing that limit in many areas and could be considered a valuable renewable food source.

Where I lived when I had the worst issues with the grey squirrels, they were actually a native species and there was a designated limited hunting season for them.

Where I live now, they are invasive, so I'm happy I don't see them often. I see some of the red squirrels and chipmunks but even those I don't see very often either. We have a lot of hawks and eagles and owls so I think that may be another reason they like to stay hidden in the woods, rather than venture out into my open garden.