How to Discourage Squirrels from Chewing Up Balcony Baseboards?

[Dan]

Two or three of the California gray squirrels who visit our second-story balcony have been chewing the wooden baseboards in three separate locations (the great majority do not engage in this behavior). If they continue at the rate they are going, this will pose some significant issues for us.

The association rules of our condominium community do not allow us to either lay anything over or fasten anything to the boards. We have tried spraying them with a vinegar solution but this does not seem to have been of much help.

Any suggestions as to what we could do to prevent further chewing away of the boards would be most appreciated.

[Diggie's Friend]

Did you use Apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar; I ask for the first they tend to like the latter not. In either case, vinegars quickly degrade in potency.

[Dan]

Did you use Apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar; I ask for the first they tend to like the latter not. In either case, vinegars quickly degrade in potency.

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.

In response to your question, we used a spray with white vinegar (which had no effect).

Online, we see spray products the main ingredient of which seems to be chili peppers.

Does anyone know whether this may be harmful to the squirrels? We certainly wouldn't want to harm them.

I've read that the reason they instinctively chew wood is to clean, sharpen and maintain their teeth. That makes sense but we can't allow our balcony deck to be chewed away.

[Rock Monkey]

Provide them with some oak branches, in small pieces one or two inches long, as an alternative.

Also, if you are giving them nuts, give them nuts in a shell. Better yet, give them hickory nuts or black walnuts (Black walnuts can be found or purchased. I don't know if you can buy hickory nuts.) The shell on these is quite thick and should keep their teeth sufficiently filed down. (Note, their incisors do grow 6" per year.)

[Dan]

Provide them with some oak branches, in small pieces one or two inches long, as an alternative.

Also, if you are giving them nuts, give them nuts in a shell. Better yet, give them hickory nuts or black walnuts (Black walnuts can be found or purchased. I don't know if you can buy hickory nuts.) The shell on these is quite thick and should keep their teeth sufficiently filed down. (Note, their incisors do grow 6" per year.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

Our dilemma is that if we give the squirrels peanuts in shells (or provide other things to chew on), the debris falls through the openings between our deck boards, onto the neighbor's porch below. So that's not really an option. And condo rules forbid our covering up the deck boards so that shell debris and the like do not fall onto our neighbor's area below through the cracks between the deck boards.

For the time being, we have applied some chili liquid to the spots that the squirrels had been chewing on. So far, it seems to be working (fingers crossed!).

[Rock Monkey]

And condo rules forbid our covering up the deck boards so that shell debris and the like do not fall onto our neighbor's area below through the cracks between the deck boards.


With the black walnuts the pieces tend to be quite large, not likely to fall through the space between the boards, because they only do the bare minimum amount of chewing since the nuts are so hard and thick. Also, maybe you could provide a pot planter base or a small trey or even a door mat on which to place the nuts. These nuts are so sturdy that human either need several hammer blows to open them or a good vice.

[Dan]

With the black walnuts the pieces tend to be quite large, not likely to fall through the space between the boards, because they only do the bare minimum amount of chewing since the nuts are so hard and thick. Also, maybe you could provide a pot planter base or a small trey or even a door mat on which to place the nuts. These nuts are so sturdy that human either need several hammer blows to open them or a good vice.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share these helpful suggestions. Most appreciated!