Only one thing i hate more than squirrels

[The Bee]

That would be more squirrels. All day today with chewed up lines.

[karl evans]

I can't put into just words, how much I agree & feel your pain.

[buckeye gold]

They are instruments of the devil for sure. If all dogs go to heaven all squirrels should certainly go to hell. My sap run was less than I expected this morning so I walked line....two complete chew throughs.....arrrrggggg. It's at the same trees all the time so I loaded em up with hot sauce today,

[minehart gap]

buckeye, your going to have to elaborate on the hot sauce method. I have been paying local youth $0.50 a tail for tree rats shot around my sugar bush. I have had some success but I also still have some of the little rodents

[buckeye gold]

I think it was Maple flats who I first saw mention hot sauce. What I use is sriracha sauce, it's thick and will stick to trees and tubing. Here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/Huy-Fong-Sriracha-Chili-Bottle/dp/B00U9VTL5U/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1550746342&sr=8-3&keywords=shriracha

When I have a certain tree that gets chewed over and over I put the sauce on the tubing around it and some on the tree above and below. This sauce is thick and will last longer than other hot sauces and the cap screws loose and squirts right from the bottle. I keep a bottle in my work bucket with my repair fittings and two handed tool. It's not a permanent cure, but it helps during season. I had one tree that got chewed every day and I practically painted that thing with it. I have not had a chew since on that tree in 3 weeks. Rain will wash it off, but it seems they quit using the tree to travel on. I noticed in the snow about a week after dosing up that tree there weren't even tracks.

[maple flats]

It was my brother in law who came up with it. The hot sauce he came up with was called Vicious Viper Hot Sauce. He puts just 10-12 drops in a blend of water and vegetable oil, puts it in a spray bottle. To use it you need to shake the bottle before each spray to mix the ingredients. This has worked quite well for us. Be sure to wear rubber gloves (nitrile works good) and have eye protection on. He only sprays near trees, does not seem to need to spray everything. It will last up to about 10-14 days except if you get lots of rain. We never get even a hint of it in the syrup.

[Trapper2]

buckeye, your going to have to elaborate on the hot sauce method. I have been paying local youth $0.50 a tail for tree rats shot around my sugar bush. I have had some success but I also still have some of the little rodents

Matt,I can help you save money. Follow my link. https://www.mepps.com/squirrel-tail/

[Ghs57]

Does it work for the other dumb-*** tubing chewer, usually brown, sometime seen with antlers, and who roams the woods in groups? These animals have been taking down my lines the past two days. I was thinking this called for the 30-06 solution-but nobody is hunting here anymore.

[220 maple]

Mrs. Sis Puffenbarger of Puffenbarger"s Sugar Orchard of Blue Grass Virginia told me about reading in a Magazine about squirrels avoiding Ginger, she tried it hanging some in a cloth type bag on the tubing where they was always having squirrel damage, squirrel or Squirrel's did not bother that section of tubing during the season, just another option.

Mark 220 Maple

[Michael Greer]

Heh! They never chew on my buckets.

[Trapper2]

Heh! They never chew on my buckets.
I find them in the buckets on occasions belly up though.

[DrTimPerkins]

It was my brother in law who came up with it. The hot sauce he came up with was called Vicious Viper Hot Sauce.

Capsicum has been demonstrated to have moderate ability to penetrate the older formulations (PVC) of maple tubing. There hasn't been any research that I know of, but some people are using it with the newer types of tubing with success. Just take care to wear gloves, and don't put it anywhere that you might want to take apart later for repairs (near spouts or tees). Wouldn't take much to impact the flavor of the syrup.

[FanshaweGirl]

Heh! They never chew on my buckets.

They chew my plastic lids!

Haven't found a dead one in a bucket yet, but there is definite tooth marks on the lids.