How to Get Rid of Squirrels in Your Yard

For most people, the occasional sighting of a squirrel in the yard or garden is just a pleasant wildlife sighting, but large squirrel populations can quickly become a nuisance, especially for avid gardeners or serious birdwatchers. Some squirrels, such as the very common gray squirrel (Sciurus spp.), are known to dig up a gardener's bulbs and flowers almost as fast as they can be planted, and squirrels can even gnaw through drip irrigation pipes and other shallow utility lines.

When food supplies are scarce, squirrels may even gnaw on the bark of trees and shrubs, vying with rabbits to see who can kill the plant first. Homesteaders who tap maple trees to make syrup may find that squirrels quickly learn how to chew through the tubing to consume the sweet sap.

Other species of squirrels, such as the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) can be voracious and brutal hunters of baby birds in the nest. In the wintertime, crowds of squirrels can disrupt your bird feeders. Bird lovers often come to despise the various species of squirrels that disrupt attempts to cultivate other wildlife.

Squirrels that get into the house or into the garage can also create quite a serious problem. In seeking to build nests, squirrels will chew openings through the siding and beneath eaves. They may also get into the home through unscreened chimneys and vents, and build nests there or in the attic, so the solution is often to make efforts to keep squirrels away from your yard altogether.

8 Ways to Get Rid of Squirrels in Your Yard

Limit Food Sources

Squirrels usually will not hang around in a landscape that doesn't provide nuts, berries, or seeds for them to eat, so the proper choice of plantings can make your landscape less attractive to squirrels. Avoid (or remove) nut-bearing trees and berry-producing shrubs. If you enjoy feeding birds, make sure your bird feeders are fully squirrel-proof. For example, you can mount feeders on tall poles covered with sheet metal that prevents squirrels from climbing—though they will still snack on seeds spilled to the ground by birds. Covering bird-feeder poles with petroleum jelly can also prevent squirrels from climbing them.

Gardeners can fence in vulnerable planting areas with wire fencing of no more than 1-inch mesh and at least 30 inches high. For additional protection, extend the fencing 6inches below ground and 6 inches outward to prevent burrowing. You may even want to cover the top of the planting area with a dome of wire fencing, which can be removed when you need to tend the plants. Buried bulbs can be covered with 1-inch mesh and covered with mulch, which will prevent squirrels from digging them up.

A landscape where food sources become difficult to obtain may cause squirrels to move to other nearby properties where dining is easier.

Limit Shelter

While large shade trees offer lots of benefits to a yard, try landscaping in a prairie or meadow style rather than a woodland style that features tall trees where squirrels readily nest. Getting rid of large, dense trees (especially nut- or fruit-bearers) will go a long way to encouraging squirrels to leave your yard.

Use Scent Repellants

Repellants that target squirrels are available at most nurseries and garden centers and from online retailers. Always follow all label directions and keep them out of reach of children and pets. These are the same products used to repel rabbits and other plant-eating creatures, and they usually need to be reapplied at regular intervals, especially after rainfalls. Most include liquid compounds meant to simulate the smell of the urine of predator animals, such as foxes or coyotes, so they may give your garden an odor you find disagreeable.

Introduce Faux Predators

Dummy snakes, birds-of-prey, foxes, or other predators can chase away squirrels, but only if they use motion or sound as well as authentic appearance. Squirrels quickly learn to ignore static "scarecrows" that don't use any motion or sound. But an artificial owl powered by a solar battery that turns its head and makes realistic vocalizations will make squirrels very nervous.

Encourage Natural Predators

If various faux predators make squirrels nervous, a real predator can positively terrify them. If you willingly accept the presence of a fox, a hawk, or a harmless snake in your garden, you will find that squirrels usually go elsewhere to ply their mischief. Or, they will stay well up in the trees where their damage is limited. Predator animals are more plentiful in rural or suburban areas, but even urban homeowners may be able to welcome an owl or hawk that takes up residence in a neighborhood where the squirrel-hunting is good.

Harass Squirrels When They Appear

Make a habit of shooing squirrels away whenever they appear in your yard. This is unlikely to completely rid your yard of squirrels—they'll often just retreat into the trees and chatter at you insolently—but combined with other methods, squirrels will be less likely to persist in a yard where they are clearly not welcome. If you have a fenced-in yard, an active dog can be helpful at harassing squirrels (a habit that also gives your dog plenty of exercise).

Practice Live-Trapping

In urban areas, it's usually quite easy to live-trap squirrels. Make sure to choose a trap size most likely to catch squirrels rather than other wildlife, but don't be surprised if your trap also catches an occasional chipmunk or small rabbit. Baiting the trap with foods known to appeal to your local squirrels will help your success rate.

One issue with live-trapping is that you're then faced with transporting and releasing the squirrel. Squirrels are often considered vermin animals, and there may be legal restrictions on releasing them to other locations. Ironically, official regulations may allow killing trapped squirrels, but not releasing live animals.

Where releasing live squirrels is practical and allowed, transporting them to a natural wildlife area located a considerable distance away is the best practice. But squirrels are often so numerous that trapping and transporting live squirrels feels like emptying a bathtub with an eyedropper. It is usually necessary to practice trapping in conjunction with a full array of additional control methods.

Hunt the Squirrels

For homeowners who have no moral qualms about it, hunting squirrels may be a possibility. In some states, squirrels are considered uncontrolled game animals, and property owners don't need a license to control them. They can be hunted in any season, though you need to follow local ordinances when it comes to the use of firearms—you generally can't do it in urban or suburban environments. It may be possible to hunt squirrels with an air-powered pellet gun if traditional firearms are not allowed, though you should check local regulations. Traditional hunting is, of course, more practical in rural areas—and you may even develop a taste for various stews and other recipes using squirrel meat.

In other regions, squirrels may be listed as unprotected, but a valid hunting license is still required to hunt them. For these reasons, it is critical that homeowners know their state and local laws, or consult a pest management professional, before initiating any hunting efforts.

What Causes Squirrels in Your Yard?

Squirrels gravitate to any property where their needs for food, water, and shelter are met. Thus, nearly any yard that is friendly to other forms of wildlife will be similarly attractive to squirrels. It is very hard to selectively get rid of squirrels, and doing so requires ongoing effort. These are climbing rodents that spend much of their time in trees, so any yard where tall trees are present—when combined with sources of food and water—will be a yard where squirrels may be present.

How to Prevent Squirrels in Your Yard

Preventing squirrels from taking up residence in your yard is a matter of practicing the same methods used to get rid of them—eliminating sources of food, water, shelter, and establishing an ongoing practice of harassing and repelling them when they appear.