plant-chipee problem!

[PRH]

Every year when I sit my plants outside for the Spring,Summer and part of Fall,I have a chipee problem. They get dug up,knocked over and yes,sometimes - broken to the point where I need to toss the plant out.
Now,in the past - I have made a cover of screen over the top of each pot so water and fertilizer can still be added without any problem and the soil does not get dug - up either. Within about a month,that cover of screen I made for each pot gets chewed by either a squirrel,bird or even a chipee and the process starts all over once again. ( I have even saw chipees in my plants having a field day ) - (I swear,it's enough to make me loose some religion )
I have an attatched garage and even have left some of my plants in there over the Summer months, but those darn chipees have a field day with them even in the garage. ( I have set traps to catch them,but they run inside,take the bate and run back out like it's no big deal .I have put different things ( bate/poison ) in there holes to ward them off that I see around my home,but those don't seem to do much ) Does anyone have a clue as to what I could do to solve this problem besides target practice? ( I've though of that 1 but... )
In a word -- " HELP " the season will soon be here again!!

 

[RiverRock]

O am not sure what chipees even are, bt I am very much against poisons of any kind. Most of the rodent poisons kill the animal by making it bleed to death internally. It is slow and very painful for them. Not to mention very inhumane. Just my 2 cents. As an animal rescue worker I hate to see people use poisons. Also there is always a risk some ones pet may get hold of it. You be suprised what cats get into.

RR

 

[Annette99]

Are the chipee's chipmonks? You could feed them lots of peanuts, and they may leave your plants alone. Have a heart traps would work too. Good Luck!

 

[RiverRock]

You have a really good point there...maybe try setting up some "feeding stations" were they can go and get food. Maybe that would deter them from your plants and also then you can watch them eat peacefully

RR

 

[Jade]

I used a product called Ropel in Canada to keep the animals from digging up my bulbs. It worked great!! I think that it is an animal urine product, but I should look that up to make sure. We had a woods in the backyard, and now we do too, so it is a problem when you want to plant tulips and other things. They were digging them up as fast as I was planting them.
Ok, I researched it and it is organic. I also used it on other problem areas in the perennial border that backed on to the woods.
It doesn't hurt the animals, it just keeps them away.

 

[RonsGarden]

I have the same problem but with squirrels!
They have plagued me for years!
All I could do is cover my pots with a flexible, black plastic fencing mesh to keep the beggars from digging in the pots and containers.
The main problem is that our neighbors put out peanuts for them.....and off they go looking for places to bury them, which just happens to be all my pots and containers!
I've tried to reason with the neighbors to no avail.
I used various pest repellents over the years with no permanent success since the beggars get used to them....they even like the hot pepper spray!
All I can say is that you will just have to learn to live with them ,and try to minimize the damage they can do from year to year!