Squirrels like mahogany

[61SkiBee]

Imagine my disgust in finding that a squirrel had been chewing on the transom end of my gunwale-- a piece of solid mahogany with a nice big gash in it now.

Anyone have ideas on how to foil these varmints, or will I have to sprinkle chili powder all over the gunwales ever time I park it like I just did tonight?

This year it seems everything has been happening to my ol' '61.

[prowlersfish]

Put another coat of Varish on mix in some Cayenne Pepper may work .

[61SkiBee]

prowlersfish,

Thanks for the tip. Mixing wouldn't have occurred to me, but sprinkling with Chili powder has kept them away temporarily. I need to add a couple of coats of varnish, and I notice that Chili powder, which contains cayenne, is a nice mahogany color! I plan to give it a try.

Thanks again.

[prowlersfish]

Let hope they dont like spicey food

[61SkiBee]

prowler,

Interesting you mention that. I've heard that using spices on plants keeps them away for a while, but they do develop a taste for the stuff!

[larryeddington]

Havn't seen a squirrl yet develop a taste for shotgun lead. It is not good for boats either so shoot him before or after his mahogany meal.

[mr elevman]

i have three jack russel terrers that rome my yard nothing is safe

[Stripermann2]

Let hope they dont like spicey food

They might be Mexican squirrels...they like the spicey stuff.

[BeaconMarineBob]

Use moth balls in boat under winter cover keeps mice away to.

[foofer b]

use an animal trap followed by forced relocation.

[k9th]

Interesting problem. Didn't know squirrels liked chewing on wood like that. Sounds like many others have had the same problem and have the solution well in hand.

Good luck with a permanent fix

[61SkiBee]

Would a nice wad of 3M bedding compound be about right for a permanent fix? That's as far as I got last year, and I wanted to get out on the water sometime before labor day for a change. So that's how she sits.

Got the prop all prettied up, and went halfway across the lake before my wheezy old fuel pump gave out. It didn't owe me anything, having pumped more sand than gas for part of its life. Since I had a spare, the rest of the trip consisted of mounting a new pump. Nothing much to it. Kind of relaxing out there. Luckily, it was nice weather for "boating."

[oldboat1]

think I would try a patch of West System epoxy, mixed with mahogany sawdust. Depends on size and location of damage, of course, but the epoxy fix is usually a good one. I'm not sure what the effect would be on future varmint gnawing, but guess the epoxy would be safe at least. The look of the fix should be fine.

[61SkiBee]

Thanks oldboat1. I've had good luck with West System stuff in the past. One problem is, though, I never cut up any mahogany so I have no sawdust! That dark mahogany is hard to find. Some fill materials will take stain, but it never looks quite right.

[oldboat1]

bad enough having a squirrel attack, but then they turn out to be clean eaters with no leavings....

I think the West System people advise against oil based stains, but I never had any problems with the little bit of stain used to get the color right. There are also water based stains which would probably do fine in similarly limited quantity, in lieu of the alcohol based solvents which I think the company recommends. I'm guessing you could get a nice match if you work at it a little. Got a boat shop in the area for some wood scraps or sawdust? Maybe a visit to a hobby shop for a little bit of mahogany -- and maybe even a little bit of fir sawdust would do the trick.

Any squirrel that manages to chew through the epoxy should probably be left alone. Definitely not a critter to mess with