I use a Scarecrow water sprayer to discourage squirrels, but these are my best squirrel, rabbit, and oppossum deterrents:

Yep, a dog is the answer, but I am a cat person.

My fur baby is 15yr. old now and considers herself above chasing squirrels. I looked out the other day to see her sitting about 3ft. from a squirrel who was calmly eating seed on the ground. Never made a move, just watched.

Speaking of dogs, I finally discovered why it is that my neighbor gets all the passion fruit off my vine, and none is ever seen on my side of the fence even though it is the 'sunny' side and the plant is growing on my side. He has a dog, so the squirrels can eat all my fruit but not his. Thankfully, he shares 'his' fruit with me.

Finally dug up a picture of my Squirrelbuster, and the little catch net underneath. I do wish the net was bigger.

I think you all must have much more hostile squirrels than I do!

Here's the ScareCrow. Works for dogs, humans who want to pick bouquets of roses from my rose bush, etc.
https://www.contech-inc.com/pr...

The ScareCrow may work for some animals, but the squirrels would soon get used to it and ignore it. Elaine, I have a "catch-net" that is 36" diameter.

I am with Ken!
You can't train Squirrels, they are way too smart, and soon you will realize they train YOU!
I fought Squirrels for years, no matter what, eventually they figure out how to get at your plants.
I remember looking out the kitchen window and seeing a Squirrel running across the shiny steel bar ( which I was sure was impossible for them to reach) and dropping into the Epiphyllums hanging from that. I ran outside and oiled the bar!! I oiled it really well!!!
I look out the kitchen window and there is the same Squirrel running now very fast over the bar and happily using an Epi basket as a hammock. I could have sworn he was grinning!!
Netting only helps temporarily along with everything else I tried. And believe me I tried everything except shooting them. I couldn't do that.
In my book there are two ways to keep Squirrels out of your stuff:
Built a cage, place everything dear to you into it
Trap and relocate
Hire a Hawk......oh well, that doesn't work too well, but seriously, the Hawks made a come back around here and lately the Squirrel population has somewhat declined.

Yep. All the shelves I built between my oaks and cedars have cages built around them. And of course, I "relocate" those squirrels I trap. I trapped 23 last spring/summer. That's the only control that truly works, other than killing the squirrels. I played the game of "I'm smarter than you are" for two years and found out the squirrels were the smart ones! Believe me, I have tried it all: grease, mono, netting, triggered feeders, auto sound/water, and more. A squirrel is simply relentless when it comes to figuring out a way around a barrier to the food. It might fail 12 times and then succeed once. Then it fails 6 times and succeeds once. Finally it succeeds 100% of the time. They just don't quit until they have success!

It was often entertaining to sit on the porch and watch them time and again try to defeat whatever wonderful, creative barrier I constructed. That was until they destroyed a just emerging inflorescence on one of my orchids. Why they cut the stem and dropped it/them to the ground, I have no clue? They never seemed to have interest in anything but chewing through and then dropping these bud-laden stems. That's when the traps come out.

Ken, your assessment is spot-on!

Taught by experience and many failures, Ursula.

I have a Scarecrow motion detector sprinkler, and it is excellent for short-season fruit like my lychees in the front yard. It keeps the birds and squirrels at bay just barely long enough for the fruit to ripen and me to actually get some of it. It works at night as well, because in summer when the lychees are ripening, we have fruit rats, too. I can't use it in the back yard - if I do the cat comes in wet and very miffed. It's also too leafy in the back yard, and the leaves moving in the wind sets off the motion detector too often.

Luckily we also have many owls, and lots of hawks, but I don't like letting the resident red-tail hawk prey on my songbirds, so he hunts in the front yard, and I 'discourage' him with the pellet gun if he lurks in the back yard. The birdies also have good cover from big birds in my stand of bamboo about 10ft from the feeders.

You're right, Ken, I think a hula hoop would make an excellent catch net. That's truly been the best squirrel deterrent, because they always have a little seed to feed on, and I even sometimes put a scoop or two in the net for them, just because it keeps them from raiding the feeders.

Nope, that large catch-net below my largest feeder doesn't slow those squirrels down at all. They will empty the feeder (it can hold up to two gallons of seed!) into the net just for the heck of it. It doesn't matter whether the net has food on it or not. They just like to empty the feeder!

See, my squirrels are trained . . . maybe? I think it helps that they can see me at my desk through the window.

Ours are, too, but definitely not by design. I have one that will come and tap on the window where I'm sitting...as if to say, "hey, we're out of grub here! Up and at 'em lazybones!"

The squirrels in my area are hilariously aggressive. In the summer, they drop acorns on my head or on the roof of my truck when I pull in the driveway. I'm dead serious here, and I know assigning that sort of malice to rodents makes me sound crazy...but I know my truth. They also like to grab tomatoes from the back yard and drop them from the trees in my front yard...so the first thing I see in the afternoon is a beautifully ripe, smashed tomato on the porch. My dad and I had a good laugh about it one time, because without a little rodent backpack I don't know how you get a tomato up there.

@drdawg I'm sure you have the best approach with the live traps. It's either that or napalm, and currently I'm all out of styrofoam.

Wow, that's amazing, and mysterious too! I've had raccoons carry off a mango, and they weigh about a pound each, so that's again an amazing feat for a 4-legged critter to carry something at least 10% of it's weight. They only choose the ripe ones, so couldn't carry in their mouths. The fruit would break off. I find the mango seed 50ft away from the tree sometimes.

I've always wondered, but it seems as if my squirrels are not interested in my tomatoes. They grow right next to the bird feeder, but the squirrels never touch them. Again, I think it's because the seed is an easier meal.

Now, the cardinals . . . ! ! Peck a hole or two in about 5 tomatoes, I've seen them. Netting is happening this year.

I've never had a squirrel touch tomatoes, they do pick apples off my tree and carry them whole in their mouth, strong teeth! They seem to pick the ones that have bruising that I wouldn't eat anyway.

We too. I have never seen damage to my tomatoes, at least caused by the squirrels. Now birds, that's another story.

@wayne ....

Sounds like your squirrels have learned to play "Bombs Away".

As kids, we used water balloons. Oh, the water wars were awesome

Be glad they haven't figured out how to use more dangerous ammunition ...

Smiles,
Lyn