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Homes & Gardens
Homes & Gardens
Sophia Pouget de St Victor

Using toy decoys may be an unconventional way to outsmart squirrels in the yard, but one gardening pro assures it's not as crazy as it sounds

A flourishing vegetable garden in summer, with flowers.

There is nothing quite as vexing as stepping into your vegetable patch to pick some ripened goodies, only to find that squirrels have beaten you to the buffet. Whilst I love the idea of embracing all wildlife in my garden, and like to think I have a live-and-let-live approach to my outdoor spaces, there is nothing quite so gut-wrenchingly disappointing as losing plants you have nurtured for months to a peckish squirrel. This poses the question, is there a method for protecting your plants and crops without harming wildlife, but that actually works?

If you're tearing your hair out, wondering how to get rid of squirrels and stop them from looting your beloved crops, then there is a fun but wildly successful method worth trying. Using 'fake' predators, such as plastic snakes or decoy owls, for example, seems to spook and intimidate squirrels so much, they will give your kitchen garden a wide berth.

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