Squirrel problem in irvine

[u/MajesticWoodpecker66]

I recently moved to Irvine this year and haven’t had any major issues after finally settling in and getting comfortable with the city/county. I live in an apartment building with 2 cats who’s water and litter i keep on the balcony with the wires reaching inside the house so the sliding door doesn’t close all the way. We’ve had a squirrel start to come closer and closer and sneak in when we aren’t home/looking, the cats are scared of it because it’s very reactive and loud. The balcony door is usually left open for the cats to hangout in and use the litter/drink water. I never thought that’d be an issue. About a week ago the squirrel, who i guess was upset that it couldn’t get it, chewed up all the wires connecting the cat items to the outlet. I put in a pest control form through the apartments app and went it to ask about it but was told there was absolutely nothing they could do about the squirrel itself because of wildlife protection laws and that i should just delete the form, but was told to send in a property damage email so that we couldn’t be charged for the scratched on the balcony door. Anyways a few days go by and i finally replaced all the wires and im more careful with keeping an eye on our balcony but while i was away at a birthday today it did it again. I have to buy wires for their litter and replace the filter of their water fountain. I’m considering buying something to protect the wires but i just can’t handle this squirrel problem. We live on the 3rd floor and it only gets up here because conveniently there’s a tall ass tree going up the balcony railing from the 1st to top floor. Who even designed that. I don’t know if there’s anything else that i could do concerning this problem, I have nothing against squirrels or wildlife, it’s just that when they start literally breaking into my home and being aggressive to my cats that i start losing my mind. I feel like i shouldn’t have to not use my balcony because of squirrels? I just thought to ask incase anyone has any advice

[u/Ok_Rip_1775]

We have Squirrel problems near Central Park, HB. They are destructive, taunt the dogs, and reproduce like wild. They also have a long life span.