ot - the war rages on, with pictures

Following the wire-meshing of all access points to my porch a few weeks ago, the squirrel returned.  A week or so ago I found a pile of wood chips in & around the area I covered in mesh, little bastard was eating a 1x4 I jammed into one of the holes & then bore about a ½ inch crater directly into the ceiling which didn’t go all the way through.  Having read some about hot pepper & its effectiveness as a deterrent, I mixed some Dizzy Pig Ghost Pepper rub into some vinegar & sprayed it all around the perimeter of the porch, basically adjacent to all the areas they were getting in before & trying to figure out new ways to get in. 

For over a week all was quiet until earlier this week I came out to find a pile of wood chips in the dead center of the porch, nowhere near any access to the side walls or soffit areas where they were living before the mesh.  I get up on the ladder & realize this little C-sucker was ripping a nice divot out of the main support beam. 

Obviously I’m dealing with a squirrel bent on vengeance, and spite.  Like the squirrel version of little steven.

While the Ghost potion worked well, it did clog the sprayer (empty Windex bottle) due to the fine particles of spice I couldn’t strain out.  So I determined it was time to make my own from scratch.  This is one pound of fresh habaneros shredded in the processor soaking in 1.5 gallons of white vinegar to remove the capsaicin.  Let it steep for 2 days and strain:

strained:

Part of the final product, one U.S. Gallon of Weaponized Habanero:

The delivery system:

I soaked every square inch of the support beam, the ceiling, and re-did the perimeter.  Then gave it all a second coat for good measure.  When the vinegar dries, it should leave behind pure hell for any rodent that decides to take a bite.  It won't wash off given its location so we'll see if & for how long I don't see any new signs of attack.

I don't know if this will work but I'm out of ideas barring putting the walls & screens back up, but that's hideous & this route only cost me about 6 bucks so it was worth a shot.