It is not unusual to have neighbors who are avid enthusiasts of wild animals.
As their neighbor, you may find it awful to see them feeding squirrels in their backyard.
There are certain actions you can take to prevent your neighbor from feeding squirrels without stirring a feud.
So, How Can You Stop Your Neighbors From Feeding Squirrels?
You can take several measures to stop your neighbors from feeding squirrels. Firstly, you can talk to your neighbors about your concern and ask if they can stop the habit. You can also consider trapping the squirrels and relocating them to other habitats away from your neighborhood, among other measures we will discuss below.
Squirrels are non-aggressive adorable rodents. Some people are passionate about caring for them, not knowing that they bring a lot of nuisances to their neighbors.
They can mess up your lawn by digging bits or littering your flower beds with peanut shells. It is an unpleasant mess that you don’t want to put up with.
Keep reading this article to discover ways you can do to stop your neighbor from feeding squirrels, how you can keep your house safe from squirrels, and more. Read on.
Five Ways How To Stop Your Neighbor from Feeding Squirrels
1. Talk To Your Neighbor
It won’t hurt to be diplomatic about the issue.
Introduce yourself to your neighbor and ask them about trash collection, the neighborhood, and what they do about the squirrel nuisance.
Ask your neighbor what they usually do about the cheeky squirrels skittering their roof and gnawing the woodwork.
You can gauge your neighbor’s response to know if you can take further action or amicably resolve to stop feeding the squirrels.
If your neighbor is adamant about your concern, you can clarify that you will take additional steps to prevent or relocate the squirrels.
Although your neighbor may be contributing to the menace of the squirrels, they may not participate in cleaning up the mess left by the squirrels on your lawn.
2. Use Deterrent Spices
Squirrels are cunning critters that adore fruits and vegetables. If you have a vegetable garden, you will savor your fruits, leaving the unripe ones.
You can ward them off your garden by using spicy spices, cordon your garden by planting repellant plants, or you can keep a guard dog or a cat in your garden to scare them off.
3. Use Plants That Repel Squirrels
You can use plants to keep the squirrels away from your yard.
Squirrels resent some flowers such as daffodils, allium, and hyacinth. Actually, daffodils are poisonous plants, and therefore they are inedible to squirrels.
So, you can plant some of these flowers around your yard to ward off squirrels.
4. Install Motion-Activated Sprinklers
Another great option to deter squirrels is using motion-activated sprinklers in your yard. This is one of the most humane techniques to prevent wildlife from invading your home yard.
The motion-activated sprinkler will release an intense burst of water when an undesired guest steps into your yard. This will only startle but not harm the wildlife.
Therefore, this is an effective method to shoo the squirrels away from your garden without upsetting your neighbor.
5. Use Air Sprays
Sprays and aerosols are handy options to scare off squirrels.
Animals are known to be allergic to sprays. So, you can use air sprays like insecticides and aerosols to repel the squirrels from your home.
Two Reasons Why Squirrels Are a Nuisance Around Your Home
Squirrels are amusing to watch as they wander in the natural environment. However, they cause a lot of trouble when they invade your home.
They destroy your beautiful landscape by eating vegetation and are a potential health hazard to you and the home occupants.
Squirrels can carry pests and diseases that are dangerous to human life.
1. Squirrels Can Damage The Structure Of Your Home
When they get too comfortable with humans, squirrels can make themselves feel at home.
They will build nests in your home attic, garage, or any other quiet crevice they can find inside your house.
While making their nests, squirrels can destroy your home structure by gnawing openings through the siding.
Squirrels can also destroy unscreened vents and chimneys and begin to build nests around these areas. While inside these places, squirrels can chew wires and cable insulation, thus causing a fire risk in your home.
2. Damage To The Landscape
Squirrels can cause a lot of damage to your garden. Like rabbits, they are a disaster to your plants in many ways.
When they invade your garden, they will dig bits in your beautiful lawn and chew twigs of your plants and shrubbery in the yard.
These little creatures have voracious appetites and can quickly destroy vegetables and tree fruits.
Three Ways To Protect Your Home from Squirrel Damage
Knowing that squirrels are a hazard to your building, you can take the following steps to prevent them from entering your home:
1. Install Screen Barriers On The Vents And The Chimneys
Apply mesh screen on the chimneys and vents to prevent squirrels and other creepy wildlife from entering your home.
2. Prune Excess Vegetation That Touches Your House
If you have plants with overgrowing branches, trim the excess growths that touch your home and those within six feet of the house.
3. You Can Request Your Utility Company To Place PVC Pipes Along Utility Lines
The squirrels will stumble if they try to run across the utility lines. The PVC pipes will rotate, making it difficult for these animals to walk on the lines.
Final Words
Stopping your neighbors from feeding squirrels can be challenging, especially if your neighbors are unfriendly or think they are helpful by feeding the squirrels.
You can approach your neighbors to talk about the issue and reach an amicable understanding. However, you should be careful not to trespass on your neighbors.
A safe approach could be to make a phone call or send an email.