I have waged a war on my many squirrels, not so much because they bother my orchids (they rarely do) but because they empty my bird feeders. I have tried every trick in the book, - netting, thin monofilament fishing line, wire (greased!), positioning my feeders further from the tree trunks and further off the ground, anti-squirrel cones above the feeders and even greasing the cones. I would win one war, but each time the squirrels figured a way around my deterrents. It might take a day, it might take a week, but squirrels are cleaver and they are patient! I would watch how they got to my feeders and would do something more, perhaps adding another, expanded layer of netting. I kept winning battles but they kept winning the war. After three years I have waved the white flag. Yesterday I took down all my netting (some of it was six layers thick! LOL). It literally took me all day. I had hundreds of square feet of netting. I will now either just let them have at the feeders or simply quit putting bird seed out.
Usually the only time squirrels bother my orchids, other than jumping from one basket to another, was when some of them were in bud. They would chew through the canes, dropping the buds to the ground.
Now, when I see an orchid in sheath, I will either put in one of the GH's or on my porch. I enjoy the budding and love the flowering anyway, I just start that process earlier.
