Squirrels are destroying my Chinese elm!

[Bonsai_Daniel]

I know this is a common issue, but I caught it too late and they have done massive damage to the base of my tree. I know it is squirrels because I caught one of them today chewing on it. I am so irritated. I’ve got some other trees that I dig up and am training, but I spent money on this elm and now it is pretty ugly

Does anyone have any advice on ways to make this look like a feature instead of a mistake? Or will I need to try air layering above the scars? It’s not the prettiest specimen, but it was my first bonsai. So it’s got a little bit of sentimental value.

I sprinkled cayenne pepper around the base cause I read that squirrels don’t like it. I’m not sure what else to do. I have bonsai because I like to look at them. Covering them in mesh to keep pests out would take from the beauty in my opinion.

 

[Goodbrake]

I have a collected elm with somewhat similar looking damage straight from nature, so I wouldn't worry too much about it looking like a mistake. I'd focus on the tree's health in the short term and see how the aesthetics evolved before deciding on something like an air layer.

 

[Gabler]

For the tree, I recommend you get it growing fast to recover from the injury. Consider putting it in the ground or at least in a deeper training pot to get it growing fast, and it may even heal over the wound completely. It is an elm, after all.

For the squirrels, I recommend a .22 or a conibear trap. You can find lots of good recipes online.

 

[shohin_branches]

I had this happen with my Japanese Maples and an azalea. I cleaned up the edges with grafting knife and covered with cutpaste and they all healed up really well. They probably need one more round of wound care to fully close up.

 

[Michael P]

Are there intact roots and bark on the other side of the damage? It is repotting season, you could pot it much deeper to cover the wound. Roots might sprout from the edges of the damage.

Squirrels: dogs, traps, air rifle. Take no prisoners.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

If there is bark on the backside then the tree should live but it may end up with a nasty deadwood area and it might even develop reverse tape there. Personally I’d ground or air layer it and in a few weeks you should have new roots and can start anew. BTW, if you leave the rootstock in the pot it will likely sprout a number shoots and give you a nice clump. I have a slippery elm that I ground layered due to a nasty surface root and it now has a nice flared trunk and radial root system plus I have a clump with 12 shoots as a bonus. I also have a beech that a squirrel got to and after 5 years the bark still hasn’t completely rolled over and it likely will have a permanent scar.

 

[NMbonsai]

Try wolf urine in a spray bottle. You can buy it online. Spray the shelves and surrounding area where you think they might be coming from. You don't have to spray the tree itself.
The problem with exterminating the brutes is that, because they are so territorial, when you get rid of one, others move into the vacant territory and take it over, looking for new food sources, like your trees.
I have a neighbor who doesn't do bonsai, but has been plagued with squirrels burrowing around his foundation. He hired a professional exterminator, who so far has live trapped 14 squirrels and counting.

 

[shohin_branches]

My squirrel catcher is hibernating still

 

[Srt8madness]

Could be a feature, nature doing it's thing.

Gamo air rifle. .177, at least 1200fps, that'll do the trick for prevention.

 

[PA_Penjing]

I’m with gabler, I have had this happen to my Chinese elms. So frequently that I stopped growing them actually. But the best thing I’ve found is just to leave them alone and fertilize heavily, they heal large wounds heal very well, thanks to the gelatinous sap under the bark.

 

[RJG2]

I have a neighbor who doesn't do bonsai, but has been plagued with squirrels burrowing around his foundation. He hired a professional exterminator, who so far has live trapped 14 squirrels and counting.

Waste of money! My neighbor did over 50 in a season, and it didn't make a dent!

 

[BrianBay9]

Could be a feature, nature doing it's thing.

Gamo air rifle. .177, at least 1200fps, that'll do the trick for prevention.

Yes, until they mount a defense. My squirrels now post sentries. If I come out empty handed they ignore me. If I come out with the air rifle they chatter and scatter. I'm good enough with the Gamo to hit a sitting squirrel, not good enough to hit a running one.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have a fox den next to our house. They tend to minimize, but not completely eliminate, the squirrels. I have tons of game cam photos of foxes trotting back to the den with a squirrel in their jaws.

 

[Michael P]

We used to have gray foxes in our neighborhood, beautiful graceful animals. But an idiot neighbor trapped them so we have more squirrels and rats.

Seriously, for everyone with squirrel problems you can't rely on just one method. You must use all feasible tactics. And squirrel-chasing dogs are very effective, but not because they actually catch many. Instead they create what ecologists call "the landscape of fear". The mere presence of a perceived predator changes the behavior of the prey animal. If a squirrel knows that there is a feisty terrier around it won't spend a few leisurely hours vandalizing your bonsai.

And for those who say that trapping or killing the squirrels doesn't work it is because you haven't killed enough of them. You must kill all the resident squirrels, then all the neighboring squirrels that move in to replace them, and their neighbors. In an artificially rich and predator free environment like a typical suburb, that may mean 50 to 100 squirrels before you achieve a squirrel-free period. But as Thomas Jefferson said, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Yes, until they mount a defense. My squirrels now post sentries. If I come out empty handed they ignore me. If I come out with the air rifle they chatter and scatter. I'm good enough with the Gamo to hit a sitting squirrel, not good enough to hit a running one.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Waste of money! My neighbor did over 50 in a season, and it didn't make a dent!

My grandfather once decided to set up a trap to relocate the squirrels in his small yard.

He would spray paint a small spot on their tails to make sure they weren't coming back.

After catching well over 100 unique individuals over one summer, he gave up.

I think we need to just protect our trees with chicken wire or something. I've even tried to put food out for the squirrels and birds so they leave my trees alone and don't go digging for acorns in my bonsai soil

 

[BillsBayou]

You need The Kania 2000! It quickly murders those little f---ers.

The Kania 2000 is responsible for more deaths than I can count. I actually lost count around 18, but kept going.

The downside: The killing mechanism is right next to the opening. Anything that is not solid metal or stone is going to be shattered. My recommendation is to make a box out of 1/4" hardware cloth. Kind of a hardware cloth hallway, 12" long. At one end, it is open as large as the trap opening. At the other end it is only open about 2-1/2". Put peanuts, still in the shell, inside the trap. Place peanuts along the entrance box. The squirrels will quickly start collecting peanuts, one by one, until they reach the trap opening. Cut off the tail. Toss the rest of the body into the trash. Hang the tails as a way of keeping count and as a warning to other squirrels. Only reason I lost count was that my dogs ate the tails.

A pair of bald eagles have been nesting 2 blocks from our home. Over the past 5 years, they've cleaned out more than their share of squirrels, opossums, cats, and the occasional shih tzu or yorkie (which is a shame. I like opossums). We've seen an increase in our pecan yield ever since they moved in.

 

[BillsBayou]

My grandfather once decided to set up a trap to relocate the squirrels in his small yard.

He would spray paint a small spot on their tails to make sure they weren't coming back.

After catching well over 100 unique individuals over one summer, he gave up.

I think we need to just protect our trees with chicken wire or something. I've even tried to put food out for the squirrels and birds so they leave my trees alone and don't go digging for acorns in my bonsai soil

I'm against the idea of running a travel agency for squirrels. However, putting out food for squirrels has me thinking.

What if you keep buying bags of deer corn for the squirrels? Big bags. Plenty of bags. One bag after another. Don't forget a water supply to help wash it down. Get your local squirrel population into the thousands. When you get to the point where you need to buy corn by the pallet, stop. Stop feeding them and turn off the water. Thousands of squirrels will move out into the surrounding areas. During the population increase, the days of endless corn, your thousands of squirrels will have already destroyed any naturally occurring food supplies. When they no longer have big bags of corn available, they'll hit the surrounding areas like a shockwave. They'll move into areas where squirrel populations have been stable for years. They'll consume everything they can find and continue outwards. Even more squirrels will end up starving. Not all squirrels will make it out of the area alive. Squirrels left behind will be scampering about looking for food that isn't there; wasting away; dying of starvation; too weak and skinny to outrun cats and dogs. Are there starvation-related diseases that affect squirrels? Maybe. We can hope. I bet the sudden drop in the squirrel population of your neighborhood would be catastrophic; almost a war crime. It would be epic. It would be glorious.

But if you want to be truly evil at a lower cost, buy lots of caramel corn. Give the squirrels a sugar addiction, diabetes, and tooth decay so bad that their teeth rot faster than they grow back. They'll end up too fat and slow to outrun cats and dogs.

One day you might see me on television and you'll turn to your spouse and say "I always knew Bill would end up in The Hague." Perhaps you'll find out how I really feel about squirrels.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I'm against the idea of running a travel agency for squirrels. However, putting out food for squirrels has me thinking.

What if you keep buying bags of deer corn for the squirrels? Big bags. Plenty of bags. One bag after another. Don't forget a water supply to help wash it down. Get your local squirrel population into the thousands. When you get to the point where you need to buy corn by the pallet, stop. Stop feeding them and turn off the water. Thousands of squirrels will move out into the surrounding areas. During the population increase, the days of endless corn, your thousands of squirrels will have already destroyed any naturally occurring food supplies. When they no longer have big bags of corn available, they'll hit the surrounding areas like a shockwave. They'll move into areas where squirrel populations have been stable for years. They'll consume everything they can find and continue outwards. Even more squirrels will end up starving. Not all squirrels will make it out of the area alive. Squirrels left behind will be scampering about looking for food that isn't there; wasting away; dying of starvation; too weak and skinny to outrun cats and dogs. Are there starvation-related diseases that affect squirrels? Maybe. We can hope. I bet the sudden drop in the squirrel population of your neighborhood would be catastrophic; almost a war crime. It would be epic. It would be glorious.

But if you want to be truly evil at a lower cost, buy lots of caramel corn. Give the squirrels a sugar addiction, diabetes, and tooth decay so bad that their teeth rot faster than they grow back. They'll end up too fat and slow to outrun cats and dogs.

One day you might see me on television and you'll turn to your spouse and say "I always knew Bill would end up in The Hague." Perhaps you'll find out how I really feel about squirrels.

I guess I'm not that into being evil to squirrels or anything else for that matter.

We have red squirrels here (the ones my grandpa caught were gray squirrels in the midwest where I grew up). So it's not quite the same issue that I think you guys are dealing with.

I think I've only seen 2 or 3 at a time in my yard. At least one of them lives in my big oak tree. I think relatively low populations are due to us having so many predators traveling through my yard: coyotes, gray foxes, hawks, owls, rattlesnakes, bobcats, and mountain lions. Not to mention a somewhat harsh climate where it rarely rains.

Basically, nature does the dirty work out here as nature tends to do. They don't need me out there with a fucking BB gun.

My suggestion, which is not really practical for most, is to give nature room to live and they will do the work for you.

Just the other day, had a turkey vulture eating a rat in my yard.



And I get many other visitors looking for a quick meal...

 

[Gabler]

I'm against the idea of running a travel agency for squirrels. However, putting out food for squirrels has me thinking.

What if you keep buying bags of deer corn for the squirrels? Big bags. Plenty of bags. One bag after another. Don't forget a water supply to help wash it down. Get your local squirrel population into the thousands. When you get to the point where you need to buy corn by the pallet, stop. Stop feeding them and turn off the water. Thousands of squirrels will move out into the surrounding areas. During the population increase, the days of endless corn, your thousands of squirrels will have already destroyed any naturally occurring food supplies. When they no longer have big bags of corn available, they'll hit the surrounding areas like a shockwave. They'll move into areas where squirrel populations have been stable for years. They'll consume everything they can find and continue outwards. Even more squirrels will end up starving. Not all squirrels will make it out of the area alive. Squirrels left behind will be scampering about looking for food that isn't there; wasting away; dying of starvation; too weak and skinny to outrun cats and dogs. Are there starvation-related diseases that affect squirrels? Maybe. We can hope. I bet the sudden drop in the squirrel population of your neighborhood would be catastrophic; almost a war crime. It would be epic. It would be glorious.

But if you want to be truly evil at a lower cost, buy lots of caramel corn. Give the squirrels a sugar addiction, diabetes, and tooth decay so bad that their teeth rot faster than they grow back. They'll end up too fat and slow to outrun cats and dogs.

One day you might see me on television and you'll turn to your spouse and say "I always knew Bill would end up in The Hague." Perhaps you'll find out how I really feel about squirrels.

It's frustrating that all the traps available are "humane" traps. It's too hard to find inhumane traps.