the great pumpkin experiment

every year when we put out our carved pumpkins on the porch, at least one, if not all, of the pumpkins end up being mauled and mutilated by squirrels. as if they need to eat any more...the majority of the ones around our house are rather fat little buggers. this year, i did some surfing on the net and discovered the use of cayenne pepper as away to prevent squirrels from attacking your prized jack-o-lanterns. so tonight, tyler and i decided to try out this method, and hopefully it will work. first, we took non-toxic elmer's glue and applied a thin layer on the pumpkin (we used fingers, but i think a brush may have been more efficient). the internet source said to apply glue/pepper mixture to whole pumpkin, but since "our" squirrels usually attack the cut or top portions first we decided to just do those areas. i think the glue is supposed to keep the pepper on the pumpkin (think glitter and glue except spicy not sparkly). next, we sprinkled the cayenne pepper around the areas with glue and then set them to dry. even though we didn't do it this way, mixing the glue and pepper together prior to application is probably the most effective way to put on your "squirrel repellent" to ensure an even coating around your whole pumpkin. i don't know about applying this mixture to the inside of the that cayenne pepper sprinkled on the pumpkin is supposed to keep the squirrels at bay. so this evening, tyler and i decided to try it and we're hoping it works. first, we applied non-toxic elmer's glue around the top and cut areas of the pumpkin, spreading it out pumpkin in case the glue is flammable, but maybe just sprinkling some of the pepper would work too. i'll have to try that. for those interested in the results of this experiment, i'll post a status report sometime next week (if i remember).