Question
With spring approaching, are there any pointers you can give on how to keep the squirrels away from my flytraps and other small plants?

Last year they trashed 5 of my plants, and I almost have up on getting any new outdoor plants.

Answer
Hi John,

Squirrels are tough, but here's a couple suggestions.  First, see if any neighbors are feeding them and see if they would be willing to stop.  When I had this problem we had a neighbor that was feeding them Hazelnuts, so they would bury them in my pots.

Another thing that worked some for me was sticky stuff.  I made a little barrier with fly paper one time on a pot that helped.  Mouse sticky traps are another option.  Setting little booby traps like wood mousetraps can help too.  The thing with squirrels is that they are so intelligent, you often have to change tactics because they figure out work-arounds.

If you're willing to create a safe zone around your plants, an electric fence could work too.  I had a neighbor in SW Portland who was fighting raccoons, and his solution was the electric fence.  He had a beautiful Japanese water garden, and they would trash it.  He set up an electric fence using bamboo stakes with little insulators to hold the wire.  He said every night around 9:00pm he and his wife would hear a big yip as a new raccoon would find the fence.  Fence chargers can be purchased at feed stores or online.  They make many solar models.  They use high voltage, but low amperage, and pulse, so they won't kill stuff.

Hope this helps.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com