If you’ve been dealing with squirrels chewing the bark off your thin-barked trees, we have a couple of effective solutions to share. Squirrels often gnaw on trees like Red Oaks, newly planted trees, and the outer growth of Pecan trees to obtain moisture, nutrients, and to maintain the sharpness of their teeth. This damage can accumulate, significantly affecting younger trees and sometimes leading to the death of large limbs when all the living tissue is gnawed off where they connect to the main trunk.
For a long time, there seemed to be no solution to this problem. However, we’ve recently tried something that appears to be working well, and we wanted to share our findings.
If squirrels are attacking your young trees, try these two steps to help mitigate and prevent further damage, allowing your tree to recover:
Step 1: Provide a Water Source
Leave a bird bath out for the birds and squirrels. By offering an alternative water source, squirrels will not need to use the tree’s living tissues to stay hydrated. While it may seem counterintuitive to provide water to the squirrels, it can significantly reduce the damage to your trees.
Step 2: Offer an Alternative for Gnawing
We’ve found success by attaching deer antlers to the tree with screws. Place the antlers near a crotch or branch union where squirrels naturally sit and gnaw. Squirrels love antlers and will prefer to gnaw on them instead of the tree. This solution is ideal because it provides a more attractive option for the squirrels right where they typically cause damage.
So far, we’ve had great success with this method. The trees we’ve treated have shown no additional damage, and there is clear evidence that the squirrels have been gnawing on the antlers instead.
Give these steps a try and protect your young trees from squirrel damage!
TL/DR:
Leave some water out for the squirrels to drink and screw deer antlers into the crotch of your trees to help prevent them from gnawing on your tree.
Author: Andrew Anstrom
Board Certified Master Arborist
