# squirrels dropping missiles from pine tree help



## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

A real live cat is the best deterrent and yes cones will cease dropping when they have dropped them all.:smile:


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Perhaps you could install a couple of hat racks and fill them with hard hats--:smile:


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

Hi, SS; I remember you from my drain question; thanx for your :wink2:answer. Squirrels outnumber the cats around here 10:1, so cats will not work. Will the squirrels go away after the cones are gone? I've watched them, and they are out every morning up the tree for breakfast. Will they search for more pine cones at somebody else's house? Aren't squirrels (all pests, for that matter) motivated and controlled by food? HELP


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

oh, mike, maybe I could tack your picture all over the trunk of the tree :vs_cool:


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

The squirrel to cat ratio doesn't matter. The cat is only a deterrent. 10: 1 or a 1000:1 a squirrel will not stay in the area of a cat.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

I would have to tether the cat(s) to the tree, wouldn't I? How would I get a cat to obey? Sit! Stay! I have no pets.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

A cat was only an option that works better than snakes, moth balls, fake owls or Dawn dish soap.:biggrin2: A correctly constructed and placed baffle the will work only if there are no other trees in close proximity ( jumping distance ).


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

Put up a sign, "Hard Hat Area". I don't thing you have to worry too much about getting hit by a pine cone. If your that concerned, get a hard hat for the time the cones are up on the tree.


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

I have a Walnut tree and a Hickory tree in my yard that attract lots of squirrels. Around here the squirrels are too big for a cat. But I have a fenced in back yard where the trees are and my female boxer mix has killed two. She is out there a lot chasing them up trees but it doesn't stop them. Personally I don't mind them and have never been it in the head with a walnut. If the squirrels don't eat them the pine cones are going to fall as whole cones anyway.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

SeniorSitizen said:


> The squirrel to cat ratio doesn't matter. The cat is only a deterrent. 10: 1 or a 1000:1 a squirrel will not stay in the area of a cat.


 There are a bunch of feral cats around me and they never bother with the squirrels. They will kill rabbits and birds, but not squirrels. Much too fast and alert. Plus, they have an alert system that warns of cats on the ground.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

My main concern is passers-by on the sidewalk, strolling babies and dog walkers. I saw a green one fall right in the middle of the sidewalk. The mailman told me one fell at his feet. They are very heavy with sharp points, can hardly hold one in your hand. A falling brown whole ripe cone would not hurt as much.... 

My neighbor and I did cut down a jumper tree. The squirrels are climbing up the trunk of the pine. I called around about a baffle, and it seems like there are only baffles for poles (bird feeders). Nothing for a big fat pine trunk. I would have to make one out of sheet metal or something. What is a properly constructed bafffle?

I am hoping someone will tell me that they will go away when the pine cones are all gone. What will they eat next? 

I used to have a yard full of beautiful brown cones just in time for fall wreaths, and now nothing but cobs. No exaggeration.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

wood duck baffle for nesting box, raccoon baffle


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

DIherself said:


> Aren't squirrels (all pests, for that matter) motivated and controlled by food? HELP


ultimately every living creature is motivated by food and water including you and me. We are just somewhat insulated from the direct life and death nature of the motivation.

I don't think you can beat them in the long run. In my situation I am never without an abundance of squirrels in my yard, noting I have lived here for 21 years and the average life span of a fox squirrel is about 4-7 years. So I have had several generations of squirrels dining in my yard. I don't see them as pests, I see them as one of Gods creations. 
In any case I think you should either put up a couple "beware of falling pine cones" signs or cut down the tree.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

I agree with you. I have always wondered why I NEVER see dead squirrels (or dead birds) on the ground, and I've lived here 38 years in this house. Maybe they die in the trees, and their corpses stay up there. Once a petrified dead squirrel fell out of a tree, missing me by a few seconds, and that's what made me deduce that their graves are in the trees. I believe that all animals, except vermin?, have a purpose on earth. Maybe I could just cut down the limbs overhanging the sidewalk, and that would solve my problem. When a squirrel is chewing down a missile, pieces of cone fall to the ground for a while, and I can see and hear it, so I can see it coming. Sidewalk people wouldn't be paying attention to what I've been dealing with for a few months. Thank you, from one nature lover to another. I'm glad the City hasn't cited me for blocking off their sidewalk. It's not their problem.


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## Jon Duh (Aug 22, 2021)

”Squirrels outnumber the cats around here 10:1, so cats will not work.“
That’s like saying that squirrels are not a problem because pine cones are 100: to squirrels.…


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

@Jon Duh it's a 6 year old thread. Probably not a big audience.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

chandler48 said:


> @Jon Duh it's a 6 year old thread. Probably not a big audience.


Now it is. 😆


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