A Super Easy Way to Help Spare Your Pumpkins
My neighborhood is full of cute fluffy-tailed creatures who turn into vicious beasts as soon as pumpkin season arrives. That’s right, harmless, playful squirrels turn into ravenous pumpkin-eating monsters. As such, I typically don’t buy or display pumpkins until right before October 31. I’ve tried protection methods in the past, but without luck. This year, I tried again since I wanted to be part of the pumpkin party that is Halloween.
Tapatio Hot Sauce + Water = Squirrel Deterrent
I did some research online (I know, I know), and many sights listed hot peppers mixed with water as a pumpkin protector. There were many other possible options, but I was looking for a fast and easy solution. So I dumped a bunch of hot sauce (we had Tapatio in our fridge) (a couple tablespoons) into a spray bottle, filled with water, and sprayed the carefully-chosen-by-our-young-sons (as in, if anything happens to these pumpkins, there will be rivers of tears) pumpkins with the mix.
Now, some websites would have you think that your front porch or the pumpkins will turn red, but I didn’t have that problem. One problem that I did encounter is that my spray-bottle got clogged. I am not sure if the Tabasco caused the clog, or if it was a bit faulty before my project…but I finally just dumped the mix on the three pumpkins that were sitting on our front porch.
The Results
See for yourself in the photo below. Three pumpkins were sprayed with the mix and one was not. Guess which one wasn’t?
One of these pumpkins is not like the others…
I will be adding more Tapatio water to the pumpkins after we carve them, which will be the true squirrel vs. pumpkin test. I’ll keep ya’ posted.
Do you have any proven pumpkin protecting against squirrels recipes?
