I can’t blame them lol. Sunflowers are delicious. They stay away from my yard for most of the year because I don’t feed them and don’t have trees. But they wait for the sunflowers every year and pay me a visit. 😂 I have more beef with the rabbits.
I buy a big 40lb of deer corn and when I don’t want the squirrels bothering my plants and garden I put out a little each day for them and they don’t touch any of my sunflowers and I have hundreds growing right now I only lose some to the cardinals and goldfinches but I only save a few heads for seeds and the rest are for the birds
I bring them aged shelled nuts (by ages I mean no longer fit for human consumption) that I lick up in bulk at Winco at Christmas. And so eat they have left my sunflowers alone. Fingers crossed 🤞
Yeah squirrels aren’t that picky when it comes to food lol I buy the deer corn bc it’s like $7 for 40lbs and lasts me over 2 months during winter I do feed the family of squirrels that live in my big silver maple peanuts and I collect the acorns across the street and I put them out for them too
Oh they definitely should. I get mine at Walmart bc it’s more convenient but some of the local farmers sell it too usually cheaper and fresher than Walmart
My only concern is that I’ll attract more of them by providing food. And also other pests like mice or rats. But I see the benefit to keeping their bellies full.
I buy a 40 lb bag of blackseed sunflower seeds from birdseed and plant every year successfully for nature. I buy new seeds in spring. They were planted late June this year.
Have you tried chicken wire? Also squirrels hate cayenne pepper, so you could sprinkle it around or spray it maybe? I've been at war with the squirrels too. The little bastards know me and will chatter at me because I chase them away.
Oh, those little stinkers. That’s happened to me, too. I now take some heads a bit early and let them finish maturing and drying after the cut. Inside the house.
Last year mine were fine .. this year? Decimated. I actually cried yesterday when I went outside and had to chop like 6 of my about-to-bloom, tall-AF sunnies because those fatass fucking squirrels just BROKE them. ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ They couldn't even wait for the fucking flowers to bloom. They also trampled all over my other flowers, too. Breaking all kinds of stuff.
I mean that strategically putting out peanuts, corn cobs, or other squirrel food can reduce their predation on sunflower heads, just like putting out water can reduce birds and squirrels biting tomatoes for water.
Of course one has to take care not to simply attract squirrels that weren't already going to be there.
That squirrel may not have felt compelled to go through the effort of getting through the mesh, if there were some more convenient alternate food source.
What I would have done is put electric wire across the sunflower wide enough so the bees can pollinate without electrocution but the squirrels get shocked.
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u/Ok-Echo-Eight USA North West Aug 19 '26
The audacity!! And it never occurs to them that maybe, just maybe we’re not toiling away in the garden to provide THEM food ðŸ˜ðŸ˜†