if this were at my house i would know the culprit--my miniature horse who i swear is part beaver.

i would get a live trap--you can borrow them from animal control or fish and game. squirrels are easy to catch. then go on a long drive and release them where they won't bother anyone. we had an entire family of squirrels devouring our garden shed and we caught one a day until they were all removed.

sunflower seeds are good for baiting a trap.

That's just how some inner door frames look in my house, where my rabbit got them .

That is, despite regular coats of capsaicin - his favorite spice.

Of course, yours are a different story as they are outside.
OTOH I'd think anything that needs to grind its teeth down for its health - like rabbits - would enjoy such a "teether".

Looking forward to learning what the culprit is, after you set up a wildlife camera.

Lisa, what did you end up doing about this?

I thought our problem was solved, but apparently it's not and there's a squirrel trying to eat off our window trim outside.

I fixed the door with wood putty and repainted. I tried to get the hot pepper additive for the paint but Sherwin Williams said they no longer carried that, so I just painted it with regular paint. We seem to be OK so far - no damage has appeared since I fixed it. Maybe whatever it was has moved on or is hibernating. I did inherit a motion activated security cam thingie from my inlaws so if I notice more damage, I will set it up and turn it on to try to catch the culprit, but so far so good!

I know that doesn't help you with your squirrel problem. :-( I did consult the google and found this: https://www.hunker.com/1341662...ewing-on-wood-siding

Thanks for that link Lisa!!

We are going to take a multi-pronged approach...

quote:

Originally posted by Lisa:
I fixed the door with wood putty and repainted. I tried to get the hot pepper additive for the paint but Sherwin Williams said they no longer carried that, so I just painted it with regular paint. We seem to be OK so far - no damage has appeared since I fixed it. Maybe whatever it was has moved on or is hibernating. I did inherit a motion activated security cam thingie from my inlaws so if I notice more damage, I will set it up and turn it on to try to catch the culprit, but so far so good!

I know that doesn't help you with your squirrel problem. :-( I did consult the google and found this: https://www.hunker.com/1341662...ewing-on-wood-siding

Ms. clever DIY, again! Only regretting not seeing a recording of the culprit to satisfy my curiosity.

So a follow up!!!!

Last fall, I repaired all the gnawed spots with wood putty and repainted the door. All was well for months. Then maybe in early May, I noticed a tiny chew spot. I sprayed it with bitter apple and put some wire fencing up across the stoop to block the door....it certainly wasn't going to keep out a determined critter, but I thought it might be enough to encourage them to find something else on my 5 acres to chew besides my door trim. Alas, a few days ago, I noticed a lot more damage. I suspect groundhogs but I was never able to determine for sure.

I called a few places to get rid of them and here are my choices:

I can go with "Trapper Dave" who will set traps and take away whatever he catches for $50/animal. He tells me that he must "put them down" because in PA the game laws are such that you can get a $300 fine for relocating any rabies-vector animal. I know this is true and it is why we aren't trying to do this ourselves. But still - he kills the poor little dudes. I feel bad about that. Trapper Dave is a one man operation but was referred to me by the game commission so despite his cheap rates, I know he is licensed and legit.

Or I can go with a larger company with that has several crews. They charge $175/trip to my house - so $175 to set traps, then $175 every time they come to the house to take an animal away...but if they set 5 traps and each one catches an animal, it's still just the $175 to take all 5 away. They say they release them somewhere safe but since they are basically breaking the law by doing that, I suspect they off them and just say they release them so squeamish softhearted people like me hire them. They also say they'll assess the house and come up with a plan to keep them from wanting to live under my screen porch -- and again, I know from past experience that even if I trap and remove a bunch of them now, within a year or two, a new family will move in because my screen porch is apparently prime digs for the groundhog community. I'm also skeptical that there's anything you can really do to keep them out if they are determined -- there's already buried wire fencing around it and they scoff and tunnel under it like they're starring in Shawshank Redemption. That said, they haven't done any damage that I know of under there, so until they started eating my front door, I was kind of live and let live with them. If we remove the offender with the door-chewing habit, I'd be happy to go back to peaceful coexistence.

What do you think - go for cheap and certain death? Or expensive, likely death, and maybe a chance to solve the problem?

I would go with the cheap guy. $175 every time will get old.
Old style naptha moth balls will deter new critters un the the house. They are a carcinogen, be careful. If you put too many the smell will keep you away.

Ugh, so sorry!!

So, do you know it's groundhogs or is that just a guess?

Can you put down bird spikes?

We had a squirrel chewing on window trim. Mr. SK put a prickly wire brush there, where the squirrel would sit. Well, squirrel has not returned since then (over 6 months I think).

Also, on our front porch, we've had gnawing on our pillars. Mr. SK put a rope around each pillar, it's supposed to be interpreted as a snake-like object?? Anyway, that seemed to help, so literally last week we went and bought $6 worth of plastic snakes at Walmart!

We're planning to put those on the front porch when Mr. SK fixes the pillars. I'm just worried that it might scary delivery people!

Sorry, more to the point: go with Trapper Dan Dave. (As much as I hate to say it).

Do you have porcupines where you live? That would be my guess.

At those prices, I would be buying a live trap and catching the culprit myself.

You could also do what I do to deter my mini--put out delectable pieces of wood for the critter to chew instead of your house.

I'm kind of confused/put off by the supposedly legal restriction against rehoming any critter that could be a rabies vector.

Doesn't that mean pretty much anything warm-blooded?

I never heard that rule about PA, Lisa. My neighbors on either side have each put an end to the lives of about 50 squirrels apiece in the last week alone. (I am SO grateful to them!! *Smooch!*)

(Don't know why I'm still hearing scrabbling in my attic, though...)

We had problems with raccoons under our porch/mudroom years ago. A wildlife expert came and gave me an idea that I have used ever since and seemed to work well.

You may need to do some trim work afterwards but if it needs repair, two birds with one stone!

We removed the trim around the porch skirt (it was just 18 inches or so above ground, so had a large board across). We then dug a ditch all around the perimeter right next to the framing. Attached hardware cloth to the frame (we used 1/2 inch) to cover the skirt area and (the most important part!) to go under ground about 10-12 inches. At the bottom of the ditch, your hardware cloth should be folded with about a 6-8 inch lip facing you. So it is like burying an L shaped piece of mesh. Back fill and replace trim etc.

The mesh prevents critters from going in and out and the "L" at the bottom is a deterrent for diggers.

We knew it worked when the following year, I found a large spot where a raccoon had attempted to dig, but she kept encountering the mesh, even under ground.

No more raccoons.

My new deck, constructed 3 years ago, includes the same mesh set up as there was evidence of critter homes under the old one. Much easier to do while doing new work but still worth the effort.

I use a similar method to keep the dog from digging up the garden.

Our deck is just open all the way around (ok, on two sides, the other two sides are the house). But there's also an outdoor faucet under there that we need access to.... OTOH, there's a snake living down there, so maybe that's why we haven't had critters yet??

BTW, I have never seen a racoon in this neighborhood.... Maybe I'm not out at the right time? But, we don't put our garbage outside until it's time for pick up, and then we put the garbage can out by the rood (so very far from the house). Maybe that's why we don't see raccoons, because we're not leaving food out for them?