chilli spray to deter squirrels?

[ChingfordHarry]

Last year pretty much everyone's crop of sweetcorn on our allotments was devastated by squirrels (well, okay they weren't entirely to blame - a bit was eaten by rats...); the only person who managed reasonable crops spread chilli powder around and on his plants, and that seems to have done the trick - but he used buckets of the stuff.

I've read a number of recipes on the web that boil chili flakes or powder in water, and use that (after careful straining, to avoid blocking nozzles) as a spray. I know that capsaicin is much more soluble in oil than in water, so I was wondering if anyone here has experience of making an emulsion of chilli oil in water and using that as a rodent repellent.

[mothhawk]

If squirrels touched the chilli then touched their eyes it would be pretty unpleasant I think.
I saw a post on faceache where someone had success growing cosmos in and around the corn.



I wonder if growing nasturtiums would work the same, camouflage the plants and disguise the scent?

[ChingfordHarry]

The squirrels in this neighbourhood are cunning enough to ignore or work around companion plants in their quest for our sweetcorn. They are even quite happy to climb through the rough and unpleasant foliage of squashes, which is supposed to deter things like raccoons (which we don't get round here!) in Three Sisters beds.They even lift the edges of netting that's been pinned to the ground to reach their target.

At the risk of upsetting people, it's supposed to be unpleasant for the squirrel; anyone who's chopped up chillis and then touched a sensitive body part will appreciate that - but it's also temporary unless you have contact with very concentrated capsaicin (or other capsaicinoids), at the level that you get with contact with the extremely hot peppers like Carolina Reaper or Jhut Bolokia, when you can get chemical burns, in the same way that you can safely put vinegar on your chips or in salad dressing but if you drink glacial (i.e. pure) acetic acid it can cause a real burn.

For most chillis or chilli extracts there is not even an inflammatory response (for the technically minded, the capsaicinoids activate the mammalian TRPV1 receptor, which is the one used to recognise heat); birds (inter alia) are completely unaffected by these chemicals. In that sense (and certainly at the concentrations that I'm contemplating, which would be in the 100s of Scovilles rather than 100,000s...) it's perfectly safe - just unpleasant enough to indicate to the rodents that they might prefer another meal.

[Andraste]

I had a little Google on this as I also had a concern regarding how humane this would be considered. It is non-lethal (therefore kinder than alternatives such as traps/poisons), is supported/advised on the RSPB site as being safe for birds and does appear to have a temporary effect, but the squirrel is likely to have discomfort to their mouth, nose and potentially eyes. which could cause distress. The aim of course is that once experienced, the squirrel avoids returning to the treated area so does not have ongoing discomfort/distress.

I wouldn't personally want to try this - but the effects/risks/rewards are for others to make their choice.

Not having tried it myself (fortunately squirrels aren't an issue for us), I can't comment as to the effectiveness. The comments I've seen online suggest mixed results (where some report success, others report no effect at all). Wind/rain means a need for repeated applications and it is suggested that squirrels eventually become tolerant and learn to ignore it.

I hope that helps.

[ChingfordHarry]

Andraste - that's pretty much exactly it. I can't imagine that the distress is worse than when they occasionally get caught by our resident foxes, which is something that's outside my control, and also does permanent damage to the varmints.

I'm not actually proposing doing anything to the squirrels that I don't do on a regular basis to myself - does that make me a masochist?

It's quite useless for controlling the molluscs that ravage my seedlings - they lack the appropriate receptor. I do sprinkle extra-hot chilli powder over my pea and bean drills, and haven't had a problem with mice etc eating the seeds before they come up, but I've had to resort to slug pellets once they appear (I see this as a failure!)...

But really, my question was about applying a chili extract - making chilli oil (because capsaicin is very soluble in edible oils) rather than an aqueous solution (capsaicin is barely soluble in water, just enough to be readily detected by mouth - that's why full-fat milk or whole yogurt rather than the skimmed milk alternatives are recommended to treat the consequences of a too-hot curry), then making an emulsion of this for application onto plants.

[Mark Rand]

Ice cream's much nicer than the other remedies.

[Jungle Jane]

But really, my question was about applying a chili extract - making chilli oil (because capsaicin is very soluble in edible oils) rather than an aqueous solution (capsaicin is barely soluble in water, just enough to be readily detected by mouth - that's why full-fat milk or whole yogurt rather than the skimmed milk alternatives are recommended to treat the consequences of a too-hot curry), then making an emulsion of this for application onto plants.

Ladybirds land on sweetcorn plants a lot,maybe because of the aphids,they’d get stuck in an oil solution could ruin their flight,wing movement you know,water base is preferred. What about covering the corn cobs with net bags or something to stop them climbing,there must be other ways we just haven’t thought of yet? I don’t have squirrels here,there was one once & the noise it made scared our cat from trying to get close,like a screaming noise. Good luck,try two different growing areas too,sometimes pests only find the one area & stick to that.

[ChingfordHarry]

Ladybirds land on sweetcorn plants a lot,maybe because of the aphids,they’d get stuck in an oil solution could ruin their flight,wing movement you know,water base is preferred.

That's certainly something to bear in mind. I wasn't planning on spraying neat oil, but an emulsion with perhaps 1% oil to water (see recent thread on peach trees for an example - https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...e2#post2610981)

What about covering the corn cobs with net bags or something to stop them climbing,there must be other ways we just haven’t thought of yet?

The allotment guy (Terry Walton) on Jeremy Vine's show said a few years ago that he puts old socks on cobs to keep the squirrels off. Unfortunately, any old socks that I have are really quite holey so might not be an effective deterrent. I was going to try organza bags on my apples and figs this year, so I could divert a few to the sweetcorn.

Good luck,try two different growing areas too,sometimes pests only find the one area & stick to that.

Unfortunately, they attacked sweetcorn over the entire allotment site last year. Normally they stay close to the borders, but have become much bolder

[Peanut]

Could you make a simple chicken wire cage to go over the bed? A bit drastic and a bit of a pain but could be worth it? Homegrown sweetcorn is so good

[ChingfordHarry]

Could you make a simple chicken wire cage to go over the bed? A bit drastic and a bit of a pain but could be worth it? Homegrown sweetcorn is so good

It's an idea. I'd imagine if I buried the chicken wire in the way people do to stop rabbits then it might work (fortunately we don't get rabbits, but we did have a muntjac that stayed a while a couple of years ago...). Certainly the normal plastic netting/mesh hasn't stopped them.

[Peanut]

Don't get me started on muntjacs

[ChingfordHarry]

It wandered in from Epping Forest (which is also why we have no shortage of squirrels...). I think our foxes probably take care of any rabbits that do the same, they certainly leave bits of rats about.

[chickenman3]

an American garden author came up with the same chicken wire corn cage
idea in 1996 it on this page p26 of organic gardening magazine.