Squirrels in the garden: your deterrents

Air rifle, chilli flakes or a bowl of peanuts - Jane Perrone shares readers' tips for dealing with marauding grey squirrels
Man culls grey squirrels to aid return of red squirrels
Trapped squirrels must be killed, not released. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Rarely does a subject in the gardening world attract more vitriol than that of grey squirrels. When Guardian Weekend gardening columnist Alys Fowler answered a question about how to protect fruit trees from the "furry terrorists", plenty of you came forward with your own suggestions. Only one reader felt compelled to stand up for the squirrels. Uma Moorthy wrote:

"I know squirrels dig up bulbs and raid bird tables, but they do need to eat to survive. Red squirrels and hedgehogs were once plentiful all over the country, but are now threatened species - what is there to say that grey squirrels, however robust and plentiful now, might not go the same way?"

It is not, however, illegal to kill a squirrel: in fact several readers pointed out that under the law trapped grey squirrels cannot be released alive, as they are classed as a damaging non-native species. As Elizabeth Cook pointed out, "The only 'humane' part of the humane trap is that you get to chose between beating the squirrel to death or shooting it."

An air rifle was the chosen method of dispatch for several of you, including Laurie Taylor, Julian Malein and Paul Jennings. Norman Barker recommends "a .22 air rifle (with the correct slugs) and a steady hand", pointing out that as well as protecting the fruit, "the cadavers feed the magpies and crows and buzzards and foxes, which helps to take their attention from the smaller species of birds". Unless you're Peter Maitland, who says: "Surely no problem with trapped squirrels. They casserole very satisfactorily. Very green."

If you're not such a good shot, Graham White dispatched squirrels with a spring trap from Solway feeders. "I managed to kill one a day for eight days, and now I rarely see a grey squirrel in the garden," he writes.

If a non-lethal method is more in tune with your ethos, there seem to be two approaches: distraction techniques or physical barriers. Many of you simply feed squirrels separately, on the grounds that they won't bother with more tricky targets when tasty food's laid on for them. Liz Lyall also suggested growing a cobnut tree, which will provide a far more attractive food source.

If feeding squirrels seems like a bridge too far, Jenny Storry swears by chilli flakes sprinkled liberally around trees, Maggie Dann places prickly prunings such as brambles, berberis or gooseberry bush prunings in the branches of her trees, and Rachel Atkinson suggests putting a fake owl in the branches. The "tree skirt" method Alys suggested also seems like a good one, provided you use the right material. Margaret Symonds made hers out of chicken wire, "about 15 ins. In diameter, with the edge turned up so that all the sharp bits were sticking out".

It's perhaps not a great reason to get a dog, but John Nancollis finds his pet a great anti-squirrel device. "In our garden we have two apple trees and in our house a dog who loves chasing squirrels. Result = 40l of cider."

Are grey squirrels welcome visitors to your garden or a curse? Have we missed out any tactics to deter them from stealing your harvest?

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