Q: This past June we helped my son and his wife refinish their deck with Olympic water base stain. Since then the squirrels are chewing the edges of the boards. She has witnessed a squirrel tearing a stick off the edge, running up on the rail and proceeding to chew the stick. Is this normal behavior?

A: Young squirrels seem to chew just about anything. I know of a case where one chewed the thick aluminum wire that attached a chain link fence to a post. I’ve seen them chew the bottom out of a plastic bucket and recently found where one had chewed holes in a plastic gasoline can.

It doesn’t seem normal – but I saw it with my own eyes!

They’ll stop chewing your deck after a while…or you can spray the edges with Hot Pepper Wax to help them make the decision.