social

Peppers as Squirrel Deterrent


Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts

Loco peppers on a plateMy successful loco pepper experiment, began with a blender jar half filled with loco peppers topped off with water, and well blended = pepper slurry. Loco peppers on a plate

 

The first picture shows a concrete mixing tub that was filled with ivy cuttings. 90% of the cuttings were destroyed. I only salvaged 10%. No slurry was applied. Peppers as Squirrel Deterrent

 

The next photo is of a small bed being prepared for viola, riddled with holes. Had viola been planted, most would have been destroyed. Again there was no slurry. Peppers as Squirrel Deterrent

 

A small bed was prepared for viola. There was no damage. It had been treated with the slurry. Peppers as Squirrel Deterrent

 

The last photo is of a bucket of Loco peppers. Next year I will grow enough peppers to fill this 5 gallon bucket. Sweet! Peppers as Squirrel Deterrent

 

Advertisement

Steps:

  1. Photo Description My successful loco pepper experiment.

    Blender jar half filled with loco peppers topped off with water, well blended =pepper slurry.

    1. Concrete mixing tub was filled with Ivy cuttings. 90% destroyed. Salvaged 10%. No slurry.

    2. Small bed being prepared for Viola, riddled with holes. Had Viola been planted, most would have been destroyed. No slurry.

    3. Small bed prepared for Viola. No damage. Treated with slurry.

    4. Bucket of Loco peppers. Next year I will grow enough peppers to fill this 5 gallon bucket. Sweet!
  2. Photo Location

Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!


Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts
November 16, 20161 found this helpful
Top Comment

Here are a few of the Loco peppers I slow dried in an oven and then rubbed to reduce them. They will be stored in an airtight glass jar for later use.

Advertisement

These peppers seem hotter than Jalapeño, but milder than Scotch Bonnet or Habanero. I tasted one. Somehow, I don't think the heat of the peppers is what keeps the squirrels away. Maybe it's the irritation to the nasal passages. I sneezed constantly while rubbing the peppers.

I've never seen dried, rubbed Loco peppers for sale. Surely, all totaled, I must have $50 worth of pepper. It will be put to good use.

I'm sitting here laughing. I'm imagining seeing a squirrel sneeze. A dog or cat sneezing is funny. A squirrel sneezing has got to be hilarious.

 
Reply Was this helpful? 1

Diamond Post Medal for All Time! 1,246 Posts
November 10, 20161 found this helpful

It worked? I am now thinking my tabasco spray for deterring rascals was insufficient because it was not your slurry. Those peppers are amazing!

Reply Was this helpful? 1

Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts
November 11, 20162 found this helpful

I doubt Tabasco sauce would be hot enough, and too, it would be cost prohibitive when used on the scale I used it on.

Did it work? So far, YES. I have several beds scattered about my property, especially at the base of trees. Pecans from my tree have begun to ripen and fall. Normally, that would mean the squirrels would frantically dig holes in every bed, every day (along with hundreds of pots on the ground), to bury these nuts.

Advertisement

It has been over a week since I liberally applied the slurry to these beds. To date, there has not been one hole dug in any of my beds or tubs.

This particular pepper is quite showy, (looks good planted in flower beds), is easy to grow, produces lots of fruits, and will even reseed itself. I am now drying all the peppers I find. I will put them in a blender and make the slurry as needed, as I expect the effectiveness to eventually wear off.

After years of losses amounting to many hundreds if not thousands of dollars, I think I have finally found a way to prevent further losses.

In the past, I have tried cayenne and black pepper. Both were totally ineffective.

Reply Was this helpful? 2

Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts
November 12, 20160 found this helpful

attosa

It did work and worked very well. I posted a rather detailed reply to your question about how I actually used the pepper. It seems to have disappeared. Maybe I can PM you the info.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes

Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts
November 11, 20160 found this helpful

This pepper really looks good planted in flower beds and as a focal point.

 
 
Reply Was this helpful? Yes
November 30, 20160 found this helpful

I grew these this year in my vegetable garden. Here I bought them as a "5 Chinese pepper plant" Named because they grow 5 different colored peppers. Or actually they change colors I believe as they mature. But they are pretty plants. We used them in salsa & also dried some .

Reply Was this helpful? Yes

Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts
November 11, 20161 found this helpful

Funny thing about hot peppers, other mammals seem to be affected by it's heat just as humans. With Aves, it's a different story. I've heard many accounts of old time farmers feeding peppers to their hens when the birds had stopped laying productively.

Advertisement

It was said to be sure fire way to get the hens back to laying on a regular basis.

 
Reply Was this helpful? 1

Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts
November 14, 20160 found this helpful

The reason for applying the peppers in the form of a slurry was that I needed to apply a deterrent right away and the only thing available was fresh peppers. For future use, I have collected more peppers and slow dried them in a warm oven. These peppers should store well for a long time and I can take out as needed, an amount for crushing into flakes for distribution over beds and containers.

Advertisement

So far, I am getting very good results with this 'Loco' pepper, whereas black, red or cayenne pepper did not deter the squirrels at all.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes

Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts
January 29, 20171 found this helpful

Forget about the 'slurry'. I had some vegetable shortening I was planning to use for bird suet. I made a heavy paste with the shortening and pepper flakes. It works much better. I can paint it on the rocks surrounding my beds. I tried it on top of my neighbors fence. It was part of the squirrel's run. Now, they wont come anywhere near the fence. Yes!!!

 
Reply Was this helpful? 1
October 31, 20210 found this helpful

I have heard of squirrels scratching their eyes out after getting into things like that.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes

Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!

In This Page
< Previous
Categories
Home and Garden Pest Control Squirrels and ChipmunksNovember 7, 2016
Pages
More
🍀
St. Patrick's Ideas!
🐰
Easter Ideas!
🌻
Gardening
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
Contests!
Newsletters
Ask a Question
Share a Post
Categories
Better LivingBudget & FinanceBusiness and LegalComputersConsumer AdviceCoronavirusCraftsEducationEntertainmentFood and RecipesHealth & BeautyHolidays and PartiesHome and GardenMake Your OwnOrganizingParentingPetsPhotosTravel and RecreationWeddings
Published by ThriftyFun.
Desktop Page | View Mobile
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Generated 2023-02-18 15:10:36 in 7 secs. ⛅️️
© 1997-2023 by Cumuli, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.thriftyfun.com/Peppers-as-Squirrel-Deterrent.html