Squirrel candy.

[psparr]

Went up to the cabin this weekend to get ready to tap and of the 2 3/16 lines I have run, each was chewed apart at no fewer than 6 places each. At one drop there was 5 pieces of tubing no more than 2" long just laying on the ground.
Wondering if it was the sap left in the line that they were after?
I had a couple bite marks the year before, but nothing like the massacre I saw this weekend. Very disappointed.

[adk1]

They will do that.! When they run up a tree I think they get pissed and Just chew the line out of spite. I only get chew marks within 6" of the tree and on the drops. I am seriously considering buying some of that stainless mesh that is designed to cover the lateral and drop around the tree and tap area.

[MaxJ]

Got our fair share of grey & black squirrels running around the property as well as deer, nothing has chewed the lines "yet". Then again now that I've said it I'm sure it'll happen. There's lots of natural remedies that seem to work at keeping them away from the garden and feeders.

Squirrels object to the scent of cider vinegar, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Because of that, cider vinegar can be highly effective for keeping squirrels at bay. Simply immerse cloths in cider vinegar and place them around the area needed to protect. You'll need to replace the cloths with new ones whenever they lose their strength.

[Mini_Maple_Men]

I find the best squirrel deterrent is a boy with a scoped rifle and a box of 22 shells. Sounded like WW3 in my sugarbush last weekend!

[adk1]

Got our fair share of grey & black squirrels running around the property as well as deer, nothing has chewed the lines "yet". Then again now that I've said it I'm sure it'll happen. There's lots of natural remedies that seem to work at keeping them away from the garden and feeders.

Squirrels object to the scent of cider vinegar, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Because of that, cider vinegar can be highly effective for keeping squirrels at bay. Simply immerse cloths in cider vinegar and place them around the area needed to protect. You'll need to replace the cloths with new ones whenever they lose their strength. sounds great for the small guy with a couple dozen taps. just think of the guy with 500-10,000+ taps.

[BlueberryHill]

I did not have any squirrel chews last year. Now this year I have already had 5. On the 3/16 lines it really is a pain since they drop right to the ground for quite a long distance when the tree rats chew through them. I wish I had time to get out there and pick them all off. I suppose I should try to get some kind of traps out there pretty quick before they do too much more damage. I am almost out of 3/16 straight connectors!

[blissville maples]

Went up to the cabin this weekend to get ready to tap and of the 2 3/16 lines I have run, each was chewed apart at no fewer than 6 places each. At one drop there was 5 pieces of tubing no more than 2" long just laying on the ground.
Wondering if it was the sap left in the line that they were after?
I had a couple bite marks the year before, but nothing like the massacre I saw this weekend. Very disappointed.

were your lines less than 4' off ground??? the pieces laying on the ground, i doubt were from squirrels, possibly but coyotes are the ultimate destroyers. squirrels usually just knick a small hole in line, sometimes they knick about a hudred little knicks in a one foot section but never see na line in half from a squirrel. however, wish i could show pics of some coyote damage, they will drag sections of laterals off in woods!!, i have one star where they went up and chewed everything right off from it. ive seen tracks in snow. last year had one line in a week period that SOB chewed in half 3 times. you can tell from the way they bite it what it was. also porcupines can be a pain, anyways coyotes may be your issue

[sugarsand]

We had some new lines that were getting chewed up by a porkapine, I swabbed a bunch of hot sauce on tubing and the tree that it was attached to and haven't had a problem since. Recall reading somewhere about rubbing some terrible hot peppers on lines that are chewed on to discourage knawing pest.

sugarsand

[pipeline]

we had aprox 500 taps turned into saw dust years back! 2weeks ago saw drop chewed in half 2 pieces laid on snow and fresh coyote tracks and there where 2 butt prints melted in the snow 10 feet away! fisher pics on trail cam deer chews gotta love it!! we have put cayene pepper grease on tubing vicks vapor rub probably harder on tapper than animals where gloves all the time dont touch with bare hands ever seams to be best cure!!

[blissville maples]

i think, like a puppy, the coyotes like it to chew on the softer tubing. i see spots where they mash and mash and mash it up. pics of deer chewing on lines eh, time to start filling freezer!!