I had a neighbor who was putting out peanuts for the squirrels, who were burying them in my planters and orchids! I found out that if the peanut shells are cracked they won't bury them. I did use the hot cayenne pepper, also the flakes, and got that from the dollar store. I found out which neighbor was feeding them. Went to her house, and nicely asked if she could just crack the shells first. I suggested she put them in a bag and hit them with a mallet (the peanuts not the squirrels!). When I explained they were messing with my orchids, she was very nice about it. I have bird feeders, but don't put out peanuts. I haven't had any problems with the squirrels in the past few years. They do go to the bird feeders, but I can't do anying about that unless I stop feeding the birds.
The visual picture of a squirrel pool party is funny. But no animal in your pool is good. Some years back I had a mother Racoon and her baby in my pool. Don't know whether this was the tail end of a pool party or whether baby had fallen in. This was early in the morning when husband usually checks the pool for leaves (or frogs). We didn't need to intervene, she got the young one out and then they took off. They don't have salivary glands so will look for water to "wash" their food in sometimes. But not in my pool please. Yuck.
