Squirrels are proficient in foraging and collecting foods like nuts and seeds, but whether they really eat fruit is often an unveiled myth.
Squirrels are skilled and can easily collect and locate fruits with their color and smell.
So, go through this complete article to know whether Squirrels eat fruits and ways to prevent them from eating your fruits.
Table of Contents Show
What Do Squirrels Eat?
Squirrels are cute omnivorous animals that rely on a variety of food items depending on food availability.
They often prefer nuts and seeds as these foods make them full. Squirrels also get lots of protein and vitamins from these nuts.
Furthermore, these small animals also rely on fungal matter and Mushrooms as they are mild, delicious, and nutritious.
Additionally, during extreme food scarcity, you can find them eating the bark of trees and shrubs. They also enjoy human leftovers like bread and fast food.
When the summer arrives, Squirrels feed on various fruits and vegetables. It’s because fruits are sweet and rich in nutrients like fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.
5 Major Fruits That Squirrels Eat
Yes, Squirrels enjoy eating the seasonal fruits in your backyard, like Cherries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Bananas, Peaches, Grapes, Oranges, and Strawberries.
Mostly, these fluffy animals love fruits that are pulpy with sweet flesh. Also, they bury the ground and hide the fruits for future use.
1. Cantaloupe: Squirrels prefer Cantaloupes as they are sweet, hydrating, and loaded with Vitamins, calcium, potassium, etc.
2. Apple: Squirrels enjoy Apples as they are delicious and boost the immune system allowing them to search for other food actively.
3. Kiwi: Kiwi Contain Vitamins C, K and antioxidants helping them to fight against diseases and boost immunity.
4. Pineapple: As Squirrels jump and run all day long, eating Pineapples helps to save energy and strengthen their bones.
5. Pomegranate: Pomegranate is a highly nutritious fruit that protects Squirrels against diseases and helps to keep them energized all day.
These are just a few examples, but Squirrels enjoy eating every type of fruit that is sweet. However, too many fruits are not good for them as they lead to stomach upset.
How To Prevent Squirrels From Eating Fruit?
As Squirrels are small and find ways to forage foods at any cost, it’s quite challenging to fully prevent them from eating your fruits.
However, these ideas will be very helpful in saving a lot of fruits in your backyard.
- Install the mesh settings around the fruits or wrap the fruiting trunks with metal wrappers.
- Apply natural repellents like chilly garlic oil and other essential oil over the fruiting branches to make Squirrels avoid the fruits.
- You can also buy artificial repellents from markets or online stores.
- Create a feeder and fill it with nuts and seeds to distract them. Squirrels prefer nuts and seeds over fruits.
- Prune the branches near the roofs and trim the lower branches, as they are the access points for Squirrels.
- Use artificial deterrents like moving objects or hang DVDs or CDs on the fruit-bearing trees to deter Squirrels from your fruits.
- Fence your vegetable garden with a small mesh size so Squirrels cannot reach your fruits.
- Harvest the fruits as soon as they ripen. Unripe fruits are safe, as Squirrels don’t prefer raw ones.
- Grow the fruits like tomatoes in the hanging baskets and place them out of reach from squirrels.
From Editorial Team
Fruits That Squirrels Don’t Eat!
Squirrels do not eat spicy, bitter, toxic, and hard shell fruits on fruit plants like Chillies, Avocados, Lemons, Limes, Coconuts, etc.
Planting these fruit trees can be an excellent natural deterrent if you want to avoid the Squirrels in your yard.
