Try sprinkling cayenne pepper, ground chili peppers, or pepper flakes around your plants when they are ready to bloom. Peppers have “capsaicin” which squirrels hate, so it's a natural squirrel deterrent. Or, make a pepper spray; you can mix dried pepper with apple cider vinegar.
Scents like white pepper, black pepper, and garlic are naturally unpleasant to a squirrel. The same goes for sweet smells such as peppermint. Try spraying your plants and flowers with water and then sprinkling on pepper or peppermint oil to deter squirrels.
Scare them away.
Rodent-chasing dogs and motion-activated noisemakers, such as garden spinners, pinwheels, and aluminum pie tins, all make good squirrel deterrents. In addition, if you're watering your lawn anyway, consider using a motion-detecting sprinkler to increase the scare factor.
They're said to dislike the scent of coffee grounds and peppermint, or you could make up your own recipe with vinegar, garlic and onions or peppermint oil to spray in the garden. Chilli flakes and pepper might put them off, so try a sprinkling of these – it's often used to keep squirrels off bird feeders.
Yes, Irish Spring soap can help to keep squirrels away. The scent of the soap is unpleasant for the animals and will prevent them from entering your home or yard. You can use either a liquid soap solution or shave bars of Irish Spring and sprinkle it around areas that squirrels are known to frequent.
Dryer sheets are often used to make clothes smell fresh and clean. They also work great for repelling squirrels! The strong scent of dryer sheets will keep squirrels away. You can place them around your property or add them to a bag and hang them in areas where squirrels are active.
Mothballs are a common home remedy for keeping squirrels away from bulbs, but there is no scientific evidence that they work. Some people believe that the strong smell of mothballs repels squirrels, but there is no guarantee that this will be effective.
To protect your pet, use statues and silhouette cutouts of natural predators to scare squirrels away from your home. Fake owls, foxes and hawks may deter squirrels from venturing too close to your property. You may also use motion sensor floor lights to deter squirrels from your property at night.
Coffee grounds will keep squirrels away from your garden because they do not like the smell. Simply sprinkle some fresh grounds on the soil surrounding your plants every two weeks. You can also try spraying your plants with a hot pepper spray for the same effect.
Adding aluminum foil to the base of your plants can scare squirrels away. Squirrels hate both the feeling and sight of aluminum foil. The shiny glare from the foil is usually enough to scare off any squirrels, but if any brave squirrels do approach your plants, don't worry!
As for nuisance squirrels, it may be useful for safe and humane wildlife abatement. You see, there is a theory that squirrels are afraid of the color red, and therefore, steer clear of anything resembling the crimson hue.
Live trapping
Live trap is one of the best home remedies to catch live squirrels and relocate them to another place. It is a more humane way to get rid of the pests without killing and harming them. Buy a squirrel trap from a local store and put some food such as nuts and seeds that squirrels can't resist.
Squirrel bait poison is made from chemicals called rodenticides. It kills everything from rats and squirrels to woodchucks. These chemicals are toxic for pets, children, and other small animals, so be sure that you keep poison for squirrels out of reach of children.
Try Repellent
To make your own, mix 1 part hot sauce with 64 parts water (or, one tablespoon per one quart). Transfer to a spray bottle and spray anywhere animals enter or leave droppings. Squirrels also hate the smell of apple cider vinegar, and some soaked rags placed around the attic will keep them out.
The ingredients required to concoct a natural squirrel deterrent can be found inside of the typical spice cabinet, including: Cinnamon: A generous amount of ground cinnamon or cinnamon oil mixed with cayenne extract or peppermint oil and warm water must be applied to affected areas to ward squirrels away.
With a mild gust, most of the wind chimes will chime and, if strategically placed, can scare squirrels away. Wind chimes are one way to scare off squirrels without spending much time or energy. For wind chimes to be effective, they should be placed where squirrels are likely to go.
Owl decoys are usually constructed of plastic or rubber. They can provide a low-cost and non-lethal method of repelling some wildlife pests, particularly birds or rodents that typically fall prey to the winged predators.
Citronella. Citronella is a well-known mosquito repellent, but it can also be used to keep mice and rats away. These animals hate the lemon-like smell of citronella, so using it around your home can help to deter them. You can buy citronella candles or oils or plant citronella plants around your home.
These repellents can be made from predator urine, like the fox and can be purchased at hunting supply or farm supply stores. The other option is to use ammonia soaked rags. Simply soak a folded rag in ammonia and leave them placed around your attic in areas you suspect may be home to squirrels.
When you use ammonia — putting it down as soaked rags — you have absolutely zero control over what animals (or people) go near it. We do not recommend using ammonia as a repellent for any wild animal, particularly squirrels.
While squirrels don't appear to dislike one brand more than the other, we like to think the additives in the hairsprays of the '80s are probably a bit more effective! Squirrels don't like the stickiness hairspray leaves behind, so be sure to recoat the pumpkins every few days or after rain.
A study published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Health found that Pine Sol did not have any significant effect on squirrel behavior. The study concluded that Pine Sol may not be an effective method for keeping squirrels away.
As for preventing the squirrels from entering your home, consider creating a mixture of 1 teaspoon of Lysol and 3 ounces of Epsom salts, diluted in a quart of water. Place the mixture in a spray bottle and apply it to wood shingles or door frames.