Gorging on gourds, Windsor residents fed up with squirrels

Halloween season means costumes, candy and jack-o-lanterns. But this year, some pumpkins may not make it to the holiday because squirrels have been feeding on them.

In Windsor's Riverside neighbourhood, Tom Dula and his family followed tradition and bought some pumpkins before Halloween. The family painted two, keeping another to be carved closer to the holiday, then put them outside.

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"The two that were painted, the squirrels consumed both of those pumpkins and the one that was yet to be carved," Dula said. "So they made these large holes in them. Ate everything. Within a day of putting it out."

He said he isn't going to be buying any more pumpkins before Halloween.

The whole year he's seen many squirrels out on his and neighbouring lawns, sometimes as many as 10. It's become so hard to keep them from eating their plants that he can't even grow a garden.

"We've tried it in the past, we had tomato plants and the squirrels have eaten them and I've heard the same thing from neighbours," he said.

Dula grew up on a farm in the county and had a big garden, so it can be frustrating. It's even affecting some of his co-workers. Squirrels have been eating wiring in some of their cars.

"That causes thousands of dollars of damage to cars. Because a lot of car manufactures are now replacing plastics with a more environmentally friendly type of plastic," he said.

Dula speculates it may be the many walnut trees in the area enticing the squirrels, but he isn't sure. For the time being he will be keeping the pumpkins in the house.

Spice could also keep the pumpkin-eaters away. 

"One of the things that squirrels do not like is cayenne pepper. So it's been well documented if you sprinkle cayenne pepper in with your birdseed that squirrels will tend to avoid it," said Karen Cedar, naturalist with Ojibway Nature Centre.

She said if it rains, put more cayenne on. If you take the pumpkins inside during the day, but put them out at night, they are still possible treats for raccoons and deer, according to Cedar. 

Squirrels and other animals are very hungry this time of year.

"It's fatten up or die. So all the mammals that are getting ready for winter they need to really, really stock up the fat and having a big, luscious, nutritious pumpkin out sitting on people's stairs is a quick easy way to get some nutrition into you," Cedar said.

The larger population of squirrels could also be attributed to the mild winters. Cedar said it is cyclical, so eventually Windsor will have a harsher winter and fewer squirrels will survive.