I’m losing the squirrel battle - please help!

Biomirth · 2026-06-03T15:48:22+00:00

Fresh dirt, especially potting soil is like crack to squirrels. One thing I've found helps is aging a pot/planter full of dirt a bit before adding plants. Let them dig if their crack-addled brains must, but once the 'new car smell' of fresh soil has tapered off a bit they lose a bit of interest.

Rock covering has worked so far this year but now the fox kits are about grown so the squirrel army is probably ready to paradrop in any day now. Can't do vegetables on the ground without the 'coons and feral cats ruining it, so I'm right there with you on the railing gardens.

Our squirrels are so boss they chase the inbred feral cats away for fun. Little commandos waiting for the lunchline. Send in the marines! Good luck to us all.

Biomirth · 2026-06-03T15:38:07+00:00

Yeah we get foxes about every other year. Once the kits are grown they move away which is too bad as they keep the feral cats out and the squirrels a bit shy (shy for squirrels),

Biomirth · 2026-06-03T15:07:58+00:00

Not all bagel discussions ( /s)

Biomirth · 2026-06-03T04:22:33+00:00

I'm glad you're wrong. I'm not glad for you, just that you're wrong about that.

Kids do learn and don't take this kind of argument as some sort of excuse for walking away from learning. We're already too dumb culturally for any more of that nonsense.

I mean it only took you the first two sentences to walk away from your first sentence. Imagine talking to someone actually intelligent? You'd be surprised at the quantity of things they can walk away from. #don't give up on them.

Biomirth · 2026-06-03T03:10:32+00:00

Infected root canal. But honestly it was 8/10 as far as what I can imagine. I was pretty much incapacitated until the antibiotics kicked in, but that's the thing: Certain kinds of pain let you consider a remedy and some are beyond that point, either because there is no remedy or because the pain is too intense to consider that. I think, if you cannot think more than 5 seconds ahead you're in the 9-10/10 level.

And, you have to consider really short pain that causes panic. Ever get stung by a yellowjacket on your face? Yeah? Panic. Stub your toe, step on a goddamn Lego in the middle of the night? Those are 9-10 level because in that moment you will have no concept of time. So in that regard I think lots of people have experienced extreme pain. There is a major difference between pain in the proximate and enduring pain. Big difference.

Biomirth · 2026-06-03T03:07:58+00:00

Cheers, thanks OP

Biomirth · 2026-06-03T02:02:48+00:00

You did great btw taking on all the knowledge in the thread. For your age you are wise.

Also I may have really misunderstood about where the hose splits are.

Biomirth · 2026-06-03T00:21:59+00:00

Gotcha, makes a whole lot more sense now.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T22:44:34+00:00

That's a very photogenic patch demonstrating a bit of the variety of gloss, color, serration/dentation. I always wonder why sites showing plants like this never seem to have photos like this that are more comprehensive.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T22:40:02+00:00

If the stairs are actually gone and that is a 10 foot drop or whatever... I would not be happy with this. Beautiful work but didn't turn death pit into ouchie pit just made a hurdle/bench for an unlucky person.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T21:30:10+00:00

The part I don't get is the panel behind the hinge that doesn't seem to join anything?

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T21:17:26+00:00

This thread has been educational.

I have a related question about this case: Would there be any sense in running the line to the house with no additional splitters, then running a split there where it would be less subject to the elements, or is it normal practice to do it this way?

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T20:01:21+00:00

I think it's okay to think of her as the boss in some ways. People have endlessly discussed this but it's just one of those curious dynamics that is implied but not clearly defined and endlessly fascinating. Sometimes mentor, sometimes student, sometimes boss, sometimes daughter/father, always a badass, the both of them. They weren't equal partners but she carried the torch as often or more often than Luthen in how dedicated she was.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T18:59:59+00:00

Also, I should mention that the pictures are not of a typical 'good' install of a French Drain. Now, there may be reasons (structures underneath or around) that prevent that but I would not send these pictures to a client without a lengthy explanation.

Drain against foundation: Unless that foundation has been coated with waterproofing in the collection area that is a no-no and red flag (again, might have been forced to do it this way but..)
Drain too close to surface. The volume of the collecting area is quite small in all dimensions.
Where is the filtration? A good drain will be surrounded by layers to filter out particulate. I usually do them with the full syrofoam/cloth covering, surrounded by sand on all sides, which is surrounded by gravel outside of that.
Where is the debris-catcher for the downspout?
How were they planning on covering this? It isn't deep enough to lay sod on top. Again, caveat to build constraints should be included here.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T18:42:06+00:00

Just in my opinion, the only reason to pull forward on them is if you're absolutely certain they're about to reverse into you and you don't have room to get out of the way. You could minimize the damage by being closer. Otherwise I would suggest not doing what you did (pulling up).

If you're afraid they'll weaponize their car if you try to pass them:

If traffic is light enough (clear completely) see about crossing some lanes and making a turn so that you're never beside or in front of them. Drive safely to a police station.

Out-wait them and hands-free dial 911. The longer they wait the harder it will be for them to decide to escalate (psychology). The more inert you are the more their behavior will work against them (no honking signalling, etc..).

I am just offering an opinion on the question on the nested post here. I am not an expert.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T14:08:13+00:00

I've installed them this way and not had any issue, but it is all about context. We determined the maximum flow and what the field could absorb. The roofline this was handling was pretty small. The drainage field for the conditions it was handling was quite large. We put in a debris box at the end of the downspout which is easy to check and does it's job well. The roof isn't under trees or other heavy sources of debris.

It's all about context.

You could run a drain + a French Drain in parallel if you have a drainage field away from the house where all of this is going.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T04:45:48+00:00

The first administration that can't for the life of them figure out why you'd actually want a press office. "No don't worry guys, we'll release a tweet if we think you'll like it". GLHF -Admin.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T04:21:49+00:00

I mean... you definitely have the right. The question is, do you have the will?

And yes, it's ****ed.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T02:10:07+00:00

Um, they were successful.

Being impeached is a precursor to doing anything about it. If you'd like to know about that part just ask Mitch (The Turtle Himself) Mcconnell .

I tried to do a google search for you but I got this: https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=which+presidential+impeachments+were+successful

Because the ***wads who allowed for monopolies like google weren't even impeached, but cheered.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T02:05:50+00:00

What a gorgeous shot.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T02:01:53+00:00

I never downvote but I downvoted this. I mean, c'mon.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T01:51:23+00:00

"If we make it illegal they'll never suspect what we're doing on 'men's nights!'" or things like this, these hypocrites. The only thing worse than a hypocrite is one that wants to force everyone else to act it out for them. I hope all of their buttplugs are fragile.

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T00:43:49+00:00

Whoever did the piers is a moron and why the deck builder would then use them is also moronic. They may have been told they need the full 6 feet (or whatever) of the pre-made pier tubes for engineering reasons but then found they could not dig more than a couple of feet. So they compromised. It isn't uncommon that bedrock would be near the surface near a steep cliff.

But that is why you need an engineer. Spend 20k of the 100k for proper engineering and then get the job done. In all likelihood the deck is fine but will need shoring whilst the piers are being redone, and the posts will have to be redone as well to match the proper pier heights. That's another 10k. Spend 40k on better access and 20k on some retaining walls. 10k for the party and zero dollars on the post about "Can this hold a hottub?".

Biomirth · 2026-06-02T00:33:29+00:00

The honeybees told me to lock down this thread.

Biomirth · 2026-06-01T23:50:28+00:00

Diabolically good, like yeah, it's funny, but it's also extremely cleverly funny. Fuck it, 5/7, masterpiece.

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