How to prevent Squirrels from chewing Christmas lights?

[ERD50]

Last year was the first year that I found my Christmas lights chewed to bits in a few places. I assume squirrels, maybe rabbits (we have plenty of both).

I've read all the 'solutions', pepper/mint spray, predator urine, Irish Spring, human hair, and on and on. And plenty of reports that they don't work (we haven't had much luck keeping them out of bird feeders/plants). Please don't bother to suggest any of these, unless you have real evidence that they worked for you.

But I did read that they chew on the wires for their teeth, and I read one suggestion to provide sacrificial 'decoy' items, that they may chew on instead. Just maybe, by spraying the wires and providing a substituent, this might help? But my searches come up empty with suggestions or success stories, 'decoy' brings up the approach of using fake owls/snakes, etc.

Any ideas? Maybe just scraps of wood, PVC pipe?

TIA -ERD50

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Any ideas? Maybe just scraps of wood, PVC pipe?

Last year's Christmas lights?

 

[audreyh1]

I was always worried about wire chewing squirrels getting into the engine area of our motorhome and ruining stuff. We used to not have squirrels in our new development, but as the trees grew in the green belts and yards after a few years squirrels moved in from the nearby state park.

As far as we know the squirrels never caused problems, but other critters did, mostly possums and birds. Those possums ended up being a real nuisance for the motorhome and the jeep. They liked to build their nests in the engine compartment of either vehicle especially the jeep right on top of the manifold. If we gone for a few days leaving the vehicles behind, we learned to check carefully. Nevertheless, several possums went for a ride in our jeep engine. Fortunately short trips that didn’t cause problems. But the first event had us calling the fire department - that’s how we learned.

However the most frustrating case was the generator starting possum. We had been out of town for a while and got a text that our motorhome generator was running, and they knew we were gone. Fortunately I’d left house keys with a neighbor and they were able to access the motorhome and turn off the generator. This was quite a mystery until one night after we returned home about 10pm the generator started up! We shut it down and discovered a possum curled up on top of the generator on a bit of a nest. It turned out there was an on switch on the side of the generator and if the possum crawled up just right it could start the generator. Leaving the generator slide out a foot seemed to keep the possum from using it as a bed.

But when we took our motorhome for the final inspection (sold it a few months later), and we were gone probably a whole hour, when we got back we checked - and the possum had been there for the whole ride!

OK back to the regular programming…..

 

[Jeffman52]

Squirrels always chewing on stuff. I have had them chew up floor mats next to the doors, the fiberglass splash blocks at my downspouts and once they crawled in the engine compartment of my F150 and chewed on a solid-state relay. But worse, they would take tomatoes off my plants while green and take one bite, and drop it and grab another. Clearing my plants.



I lived far enough out that I declared war on them and shot them on sight. I removed all of their nests from our tree's (some with a shotgun). One of my neighbors got on board with me and we cleared no telling how many. It did make a difference and there were no repeat offenders.


Is there a more animal friendly way? Not that I know of.

 

[pacergal]

Our yard is part of the squirrel highway, even though we do not have any more tall trees.
I have never found chewed wires, though.
I have had success in spreading spearmint or peppermint oil around the yard. I buy a large bottle and walk around with the dropper placing it in spots. It helps, but only for a little while.
Mostly having the dog in the back yard is what keeps them away for us.

 

[ERD50]

Then DW mentioned, if I put out decoy/sacrificial teeth grinding stuff, is that just going to attract more squirrels?

Could be. You just can't fight Mother Nature!

-ERD50

 

[Koolau]

Squirrels always chewing on stuff. I have had them chew up floor mats next to the doors, the fiberglass splash blocks at my downspouts and once they crawled in the engine compartment of my F150 and chewed on a solid-state relay. But worse, they would take tomatoes off my plants while green and take one bite, and drop it and grab another. Clearing my plants.



I lived far enough out that I declared war on them and shot them on sight. I removed all of their nests from our tree's (some with a shotgun). One of my neighbors got on board with me and we cleared no telling how many. It did make a difference and there were no repeat offenders.


Is there a more animal friendly way? Not that I know of.

Just eat what you shoot.

 

[Koolau]

Then DW mentioned, if I put out decoy/sacrificial teeth grinding stuff, is that just going to attract more squirrels?

Could be. You just can't fight Mother Nature!

-ERD50

Maybe buy the lights in the plastic (Tygon) tubing?? Expensive solution, but I'm guessing the little devils will avoid it like the plague. YMMV

 

[ERD50]

Maybe buy the lights in the plastic (Tygon) tubing?? Expensive solution, but I'm guessing the little devils will avoid it like the plague. YMMV

That stuff (called 'rope lights'?) is too thick for the style. These are wrapped up and around branches, about 15 strings in front, four in back. But, if it gets bad enough, I might change styles.

People seem to report the critters stay away from the rope lights, but I'm not so sure they would.

-ERD50

 

[freedomatlast]

My FIL got tired of squirrels eating all the seed out of the bird feeder, so he rigged up a platform and a wire hooked up to a oil furnace transformer. Didn't take them long to realize trying to get the seed out of the feeder wasn't going to be a pleasant experience. And no, it didn't kill them. Something similar could easily be rigged up for the Christmas lights.

 

[Koolau]

My FIL got tired of squirrels eating all the seed out of the bird feeder, so he rigged up a platform and a wire hooked up to a oil furnace transformer. Didn't take them long to realize trying to get the seed out of the feeder wasn't going to be a pleasant experience. And no, it didn't kill them. Something similar could easily be rigged up for the Christmas lights.

Glad it doesn't kill them. (Heh, heh, just might be entertaining to watch, though.)

 

[audreyh1]

Just eat what you shoot.

Hey, DH’s mom’s big family survived the Great Depression on squirrel.

 

[RE2Boys]

I've found moth balls work decently on pests.


ETA: Just goggled this use of moth balls and found several articles that questioned their effectiveness in outdoor settings and their use may be illegal.

 

[freedomatlast]

Glad it doesn't kill them. (Heh, heh, just might be entertaining to watch, though.)

Actually it was. The jolt of electricity would knock them out of the feeder onto the ground and they'd wiggle around a little bit and then run off.

 

[Jeffman52]

Just eat what you shoot.

Always have. They make good stew meat.

 

[Palmtree]

OK, real life example. We had beavers or musk rats or something dragging fish on top of the floats for our dock and leaving the rotting carcasses there. I put bars of Irish Spring on top of the floats. Never had another problem. I hear dryer sheets work too but no personal experience.

I've had squirrels chew through my exterior Christmas lights too. Found out that a lot of the Chinese lights use plastic with starch as an ingredient so it smells good to them. Once I went to another type of light, they ignored them.

 

[GaryInCO]

Almost every year I have to repair some of the black plastic sprinkler hoses / drip lines in my backyard. Don’t know if they taste good, but the squirrels sure do like to chew on ‘em.

 

[Kork13]

Well, since it's the Christmas season .... I'll suggest a Red Ryder BB Gun.

Seriously ... my friend's father got tired of the squirrels, and he kept an air rifle beside the back door. He was a good shot, and while the squirrels all mostly survived, over time their unwelcome visits became less frequent. Squirrels are just fuzzy rats -- I wouldn't get too sentimental about them. The electrical shock idea seems pretty good as well.

 

[CaptTom]

Get those squirrel remediation plans ready. Around here it was a big year for acorns and chestnuts. Usually that means a bumper crop of squirrels next year. We had one of those a few years ago, worst I've ever seen. They were everywhere! It got so we were swerving to hit them, rather than avoid them on the road. They were even swimming across rivers.

 

[Koolau]

Hey, DH’s mom’s big family survived the Great Depression on squirrel.

Yep. Dad's side of the family did as well, though not as many squirrels in mining country for some reason.

 

[Sunset]

My FIL got tired of squirrels eating all the seed out of the bird feeder, so he rigged up a platform and a wire hooked up to a oil furnace transformer. Didn't take them long to realize trying to get the seed out of the feeder wasn't going to be a pleasant experience. And no, it didn't kill them. Something similar could easily be rigged up for the Christmas lights.

Neat idea,

Just run wire along the christmas lights , and hook it up to electric fence transformer (or similar thing) .

Something low enough power it doesn't set stuff on fire.

 

[Teacher Terry]

When I had my house I figured outside was the squirrels home and if they ate something I just stopped doing it. They would eat the garden so I gave up planting one. I couldn’t hurt them in any way.

 

[Steeler75]

Well, since it's the Christmas season .... I'll suggest a Red Ryder BB Gun.

Seriously ... my friend's father got tired of the squirrels, and he kept an air rifle beside the back door. He was a good shot, and while the squirrels all mostly survived, over time their unwelcome visits became less frequent. Squirrels are just fuzzy rats -- I wouldn't get too sentimental about them. The electrical shock idea seems pretty good as well.

+1

Works for me during apricot season.

 

[Koolau]

Neat idea,

Just run wire along the christmas lights , and hook it up to electric fence transformer (or similar thing) .

Something low enough power it doesn't set stuff on fire.

Well, since it's the Christmas season .... I'll suggest a Red Ryder BB Gun.

Seriously ... my friend's father got tired of the squirrels, and he kept an air rifle beside the back door. He was a good shot, and while the squirrels all mostly survived, over time their unwelcome visits became less frequent. Squirrels are just fuzzy rats -- I wouldn't get too sentimental about them. The electrical shock idea seems pretty good as well.

Heh, heh, bloodthirsty bunch aren't we?


I love the smell of squirrel fir smoke in the morning. Smells like... victory.

 

[JoeWras]

I don't have a solution. They do this like once every 10 years. So it goes.

The first time it happened, I was convinced that kids came and chopped up my lights with scissors. I mentioned it to a co-worker and they couldn't stop laughing at my suggestion. "Joe, it is probably rabbits or squirrels." Hey, I grew up in Chicago where kids were always up to no good.

What gets me is when they chew the rubber off my gas flex-line to the grill. That's kind of a problem!