Do Squirrels Eat Soap? (A Guide)

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Do squirrels eat soap? This question might cross your mind especially when you have squirrels living in your home as pets. Squirrels can be naughty and silly sometimes, you don’t know what to expect from them or what they are up to.

They look cute and harmless but can be a thorn in the flesh to garden owners.

Nonetheless, keeping harmful substances away from your pet should be a top priority, is soap one of those things to be kept away from squirrels?

Squirrels do not eat soap; it is used as repellent in gardens to prevent an invasion. Soaps have a strong smell that squirrels don’t like and it is quite toxic when it gets eaten by them. By all means keep soap away from squirrels, unless you hope to drive them away.

For gardeners, soap might be an effective tool to ensure that squirrels do not destroy their plants and flowers or dig up seeds. But if you have a squirrel under your care it’s fit to know that as much as eating soap is toxic to humans it is also the same with squirrels.

Do Squirrels Really Eat Soap?

Some soaps like Irish spring soap have a crisp, strong, and refreshing fragrance with different aromas. Squirrels on the other hand have very sensitive noses and just the smell of soap can upset them.

But squirrels can be silly sometimes and they might end up eating very unusual soap. Squirrels can’t stand the smell of soap as it can make them feel sick.

If the strong fragrance of soap can cause them to feel sick, then imagine what could happen when they eat it. The taste of soap could result in temporary distress like nausea or frailty, squirrels may stay away from soap but you should also try to keep it away from them to avoid mishaps.

What Does Soap Do To Squirrels?

While some people intend to keep squirrels safe from soap, others use it to protect their plants, seeds, and flowers from squirrels. For gardeners or garden owners using soap is an effective yet affordable way to stop squirrels from coming into their lawn.

However, it’s a benign way to discourage squirrels from invading and destroying your crops as it only upsets them rather than killing them.

Most soap fragrance isn’t pleasing to squirrels so they tend to stay away from them because it makes them feel nauseous when they inhale them.

Note that squirrels are quite choosy about what they smell.

If the scent is too intense for their very sensitive noses they can get weak and sick.

Generally, the smell of soap makes them very uncomfortable and uneasy and it compels them to avoid the yard. But it normally doesn’t cause permanent damage to them or harm them severely.

How To Use Soap To Repel Squirrels?

If you are wondering if you can repel squirrels with soap the simple answer is yes. They can be easily used in your garden to drive them away.

Here are some adequate steps on how you can keep squirrels away from your yard with soap.

Step 1: Cut the soap into smaller chunks. Cutting the soap into pieces will help release the aroma better and makes it possible to use the soap in multi corners around the garden.
Step 2: Wrap the small pieces of soap up into a cloth, and put them in a cotton sock. Make enough wraps that will be enough for the entire yard or garden.
Step 3: Make stands with sticks, ensure to put the stands at every nook and cranny of the garden. It’s best to use strong wooden sticks to make these stands.
Step 4: Tie each soap wrap to a stand. Make sure you properly fasten the cloth with soap pieces to the stick stand.
Step 5: Now that you must have fixed them around the yard and in between plants, allow the fragrance of the soap to circulate in your garden and its environs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What foods are bad for squirrels?

Almost all squirrels are vegetarians, but they are not very selective about what they eat. Squirrels will eat any kind of food as long as it smells edible and delicious. Nonetheless, there are various kinds of foods that could be toxic to them and they include avocado pits, cayenne pepper, corns, wild mushrooms, sago palm, cardboard palms, cycad palms, and florist flowers. Other foods that are bad for squirrels also include pet food, breakfast cereal, salty, sugary, human formulas, and any other junk foods.

What to feed squirrels in my yard?

Squirrels love food, they always want to chew on something. And it’s not a secret that they love eating nuts and seeds as it provides the necessary nutrients to them. However, there are many other foods you can give squirrels living in your backyard and these include carrots, apples, almonds, hazelnuts, cabbage, pecans, peaches, zucchini, and watermelons.

What flowers do squirrels eat?

Commonly, squirrels are invaders, they raid gardens, flower pots, and the backyard, eat up plants, dig up seeds, and destroy flowers. Flowers that squirrels love to eat are rhododendrons, hostas, tulips, hydrangeas, hibiscus petunias, sunflowers, forsythia, and roses.

Do squirrels eat crocosmia bulbs?

Yes, squirrels do eat crocosmia bulbs. Squirrels usually make it impossible to plant and grow flowers and bulbs. They can’t digest cellulose material so they sometimes rely on protein-rich plant structures, like the ones found in crocosmia bulbs to survive.

Final Thoughts

All species of squirrels are naughty animals and a little bit problematic to lawn and garden owners. They eat plants, dig out seeds and destroy flowers. They can eat anything except soap, the smell alone upsets them.

Squirrels hate the scent of soap; they can barely tolerate it. They have strong and sensitive noses to the fragrance of soap. As it makes them sick, weak, and nauseous which discourages them from staying around the area.

If you are hoping to repel squirrels Irish soap should do the work but if not it’s best you keep any soap away from them.

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