Problem with squirrels

AEH

How to prevent squirrels from destroying my sweetcorn plants, eating the stems and immature cobs.

fidgetbones

Shotgun, Jack Russell or an active cat. I lost an entire crop one year, nearly 70 cobs stripped off in an afternoon. We followed the trail into the wood. I assume they took them back to the drey.

Hostafan1

trap them and kill them if they're grey, count your blessings if they're red.

tessagardenbarmy

Will netting work? No greys on our allotments  but cobs get eaten by magpies and other rodents most of us find netting a good deterrent .

BobFlannigon

Hostafan1 said:

trap them and kill them if they're grey, count your blessings if they're red.

That's horrific.  I want to ask why skin colour matters, but at the same time I really I don't want to make light of your comment!

Hostafan1

Grey squirrels are an introduced alien species from N.America and are now classed as vermin. They've driven our native red squirrels out of virtually the whole country, only remaining in isolated pockets.
If you catch a grey squirrel, you are legally required to humanely kill it. Releasing it back into the wild is a criminal offence. 
That's the difference .

Hostafan1

BobFlannigon

I don't think it's a legal requirement to exterminate them or report them, not one that's actually observed or enforced anyway.  They definitely are not vermin, this just resonates with the Badger cull, that was ineffective too.  The main hope for Red squirrels would be to vaccinate them against squirrel pox that grey squirrels carry, simply killing stuff is barbaric and almost always futile.

ZeroZero1

Your opposition:

Fire

I too support grey squirrel culling, as I do with rats and deer. Grey squirrels and deer destroy saplings. 

ZeroZero1