I wouldn't say they are regular visitors @Plantminded, l'm probably just paranoid 😁.
When l saw him (?) crossing the lawn with something dark in his mouth, from a distance l couldn't make out what it was and thought it was either a tulip bulb or perhaps a conker. I watched him bury it and then went out a bit later and dug it up, to find it was a tulip bulb (which l replanted). About 20 minutes later he came back and repeated the same process again in another area. I saw him a couple of days later retrieving the first bulb and carrying it away. I think there are going to be some very confused neighbours come late Spring !
Thanks for the link, l will certainly consider it. Tulip bulbs from Peter Nyssen aren't cheap and l don't buy them for the entertainment of Mr Squirrel 🐿.
The squirrels here never seem interested in bulbs. I occasionally find nuts buried in my tulip pots but no tulips taken ( fingers crossed that this isn’t a “famous last words” moment).
I wonder if it’s about the range/quantity of food sources locally or simply preferences, learnt behaviour ?
You may be right, I think the same in my case. I leav my pots out and never had problems with squirrels taking the tulip bulbs. At first I thought the layer of grit was deterring them, but I do find the odd chestnut deposited in the pots. So now I'm inclined to believe they leave the bulbs because there's plenty of other food (I have a large oak tree and two large sweet chestnuts).
I cover pots with chicken wire or netting depending on what they are, and what size the foliage is. I've got a pot of crocus this year which has an old 'grid' from an air fryer that didn't last long. That's been good. It's fixed in place with pieces of looped wire. Squirrels regularly dig up small bulbs [crocus, species tulips] in borders here. I just accept that it's going to happen. There's no shortage of other food sources around here, but they're opportunists, and will have a go at anything that suits them. I certainly don't want to encourage them into the garden, so I stopped using peanuts in bird feeders a few years ago, as that was a big attraction for them. They still try to get into the bird cages I have, which contain sunflower heart and seed feeders. I'm going to need to replace all the timber on them with metal though, because they keep chewing that to try and get in.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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https://www.crocus.co.uk/product/_/squirrel-proof-cloche/classid.2000018402/
May be something similar could be made with wire and chicken wire, you could start a cottage industry!
Are squirrels regular visitors to your garden? Would a squirrel feeder keep them away from the bulbs or add to the problem I wonder?
When l saw him (?) crossing the lawn with something dark in his mouth, from a distance l couldn't make out what it was and thought it was either a tulip bulb or perhaps a conker. I watched him bury it and then went out a bit later and dug it up, to find it was a tulip bulb (which l replanted).
About 20 minutes later he came back and repeated the same process again in another area. I saw him a couple of days later retrieving the first bulb and carrying it away. I think there are going to be some very confused neighbours come late Spring !
Thanks for the link, l will certainly consider it. Tulip bulbs from Peter Nyssen aren't cheap and l don't buy them for the entertainment of Mr Squirrel 🐿.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Squirrels regularly dig up small bulbs [crocus, species tulips] in borders here. I just accept that it's going to happen. There's no shortage of other food sources around here, but they're opportunists, and will have a go at anything that suits them.
I certainly don't want to encourage them into the garden, so I stopped using peanuts in bird feeders a few years ago, as that was a big attraction for them. They still try to get into the bird cages I have, which contain sunflower heart and seed feeders. I'm going to need to replace all the timber on them with metal though, because they keep chewing that to try and get in.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...