How do you keep the critters out of your wood shed?

[Longknife]

This spring I'll be building a new wood shed. It was supposed to happen last fall, but I just couldn't squeeze it in before the weather hit.

Currently I have 16' x 26' shed that is well past it's prime. The end walls (short sides) are repurposed 2x4 cedar decking, tightly spaced, and the back side (low end of the single slope roof) is open but backs into a cedar grove so not a lot of snow blows in. The front side is weighted tarps to keep the weather out.

Anyway, invariably, the squirrels nest in various spots in my wood stacks and pack it with walnuts and other sundries. For whatever reason, I don't usually see a lot of evidence of mice, but that could be because I usually move the wood from seasoning piles and hay wagons into the shed late fall? I will usually uncover plenty on mice in the seasoning piles and wagons, and can certainly detect their presence through smell and the droppings they leave behind.

My new shed will be 12' (because I have a load of free 12' I joists for the roof) x 24 to 28'. Single slope roof from 8 or 9' down to 5 or 6', however it will have another sharply slope roof on the front projecting about 2 - 3'.

It will not be an "open" design. We get far too much blowing snow here and as I bring my wood in by the small wagon load at a time, I hate for it to have any snow or ice on it that will melt in the wood box. I plan on covering all the walls with rough cut 1x10-12" and having 2 x roll up garage doors on the south facing side. I haven't worked out an exact ventilation plan, but I will make sure it breathes well. My hope is to get enough wood in it to get a few seasons ahead so I can season right in the shed. Currently I'm pretty much hand to mouth seasoning my 5-7 annual cord in one summer before it goes in the shed in the fall. It seasons quite well though as I have (most) of it on covered hay wagons on top of a wind swept and sun beaten hill. Plus it is usually at least 60% ash and standing dead elm. I'm usually about a year behind and the wood I'm c/s/s that season was felled a year prior and stacked in logs.

Anyway, my main thing is, because the shed will have stacks of wood in for 2,3, or even 4 years at a time, I want to keep the critters from making a mess in it. I will probably have the overhead doors open most of the spring/summer/fall and was considering leaving large spaces between the 1x12" on the rear, short wall.

My coon hound has the run of the property and doesn't let the squirrels linger long on the ground anywhere, however she hasn't kept them from getting into outbuildings.

Any tips?

Thanks

 

[osagebow]

Being cool with the non venomous snakes is a good start, but with a high prey drive hound that may be difficult. I always put racers, ratsnakes and milks in in the wood shed if we see them in the yard. I also set traps all year, especially under the vehicles. They are a bigger threat to catching your mower on fire than hurting the wood stash. Squirrels mess up and drag off a lot of my snap traps, so I try to put them in tiny crevice spots underneath everything. Squirrels are unstoppable IMHO unless you want to kill them. They wise up to havaharts and other non lethal methods pretty quick.

 

[jwfirebird]

the only way to keep squirrels out of a building is covering every hole with metal. like chicken fence or screen

 

[Tar12]

Are the squirrels chewing their way into your building? A 110 conibear will bring it to a halt...very effective.

 

[nrford]

Are the squirrels chewing their way into your building? A 110 conibear will bring it to a halt...very effective.

So will "lead poisoning"!!

 

[Tar12]

So will "lead poisoning"!!

That works to!

 

[BenTN]

Sounds like you need a cat or a 10yr old with a pellet gun. Squirrels keep to the tree tops around here.

 

[maple1]

I don't know of any way you will be able to keep squirrels & mice out of a wood shed. If they are around, they will go in.

Aside from possibly the cat suggestion (not what I'd do, I like having birds around), I would just let it be. Maybe take some comfort that they are out there rather than wanting to get in the house. When you move your wood in, you can just knock off any doings and leave that stuff out there & bring clean wood in.

I don't have a shed, but the last 5 years or so have been working on getting a few years ahead and leaving my double stacks to sit drying for a couple or three years. As opposed to letting it dry for a year at most. That has led to me finding more mouse nests etc. in my stacks when comes time to move the wood inside for the winter. So I've changed up my 'moving in' process too. I used to just leave most of it on the stacking pallets & move it in with a FEL & pallet jack. Now I mostly wheelbarrow it all in, from the pallets just outside the door, to beside my boiler via walkout entrance. More work, but I have very dry very clean wood inside now. In the pallet moving days, I used to find the odd mouse nest in the wood when I was loading my boiler, but I never found any mice in them. So, not that I was worrying about it before, but now I really don't worry about it.

 

[FTG-05]

I have 6 cats, all are outdoor/shop cats. We have plenty of squirrels and birds around, especially those bright Red Cardinals and Blue Jays.

What we don't have: Mice and rats. And since there are no mice and rats around, we don't have snakes. I usually see one or two passing though; but in 2017, not one snake was seen on our property.

I have two dogs to protect the cats and chickens from coyotes and other vermin.

 

[Paulywalnut]

A true wood shed I don't much care what's living in there. My tractor shed is another thing. Mice building nest in your carb or in the manifold, bad news for you and the mice in the nest

 

[kennyp2339]

That’s my spring, summer and fall pest control. In the winter he takes a break

 

[peakbagger]

I dont, the critters that concern me the most are bees, yellow jackets and wasps and there isnt much expect a can of spray that will keep them out.

 

[Longknife]

I'm most interested in passive control measures and things I can incorporate into the building process.

- Not much for snakes around here, at least any that could control squirrels
-Not completely fond ofthe idea of having a cat at the present time for an assortment of reasons. Maybe once I get some out buildings squared away and I have something suitable for them to inhabit. I don't want them coming indoors.
-When I was between dogs (after my Aussie (in my profile pic), and before the coon hound) the squirrels, and especially the chipmunks, began an all out assault on my house. I used snap traps and an assortment of firearms to control them at the time. They now keep mostly to the trees and the wood piles with the dog around.

-As for chicken wire, I didn't think there would be a suitable mesh to control squirrels? How tight does it have to be? I always assumed it would be too fine to be worthwhile trying. I may have to think about incorporating that into any possible entry points into the new shed, although if the doors are wide open 6 months of year, it may not make much difference.

I've never had to deal with squirrels before. We always had enough animals around to keep them at bay, but that's not in the cards right now.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[peakbagger]

Hardware cloth is the only good product for squirrels while still allowing air flow. If they are red squirrels they are very destructive and will gnaw through wood once they get established. Only choice is trap them and them isolate them with hardware cloth.

 

[maple1]

All squirrels are destructive, it's not just the red heads.

 

[SuperSpy]

I never had squirrels around, but I had tons of chipmunks when I moved out to the country.

Not anymore.

 

[cahaak]

I would encourage you to think of a much more open woodshed for all but the snow months of the year. It is not very inviting to squirrels. I have a shed that is 24' x 8'. It is built somewhat like a polebarn, but without any sides at all. Three of the sides consist simply of woven (2" x 4" opening) metal mesh fencing. My metal ag roof overhangs all of the sides and I leave everything open in the spring, summer, and fall. No rain gets of the wood due to the overhang. There is great air flow and drying with this set up. At a few strategic places, I reinforce the metal fencing with 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 exterior supports. I stack my wood right up to the metal fencing. In the winter, I drop tarp like material down over three side that would have the prevailing winds (E, W, and N for me). That keeps all of the blowing snow out of the stacks. I can raise the tarps material to access the piles as needed. In the spring, I open the whole thing up again. Also, in the piles, I liberally sprinkle borax through the wood as I stack and then also drop mouse bait chunks around the piles especially at the bottom (I stack on pallets). I occasionally find a mice nest in the stacks, but not to often. Never any squirrels or chipmunks. For the uprights of my shed, I used 4" x 4" and put the bottoms down below the frost line. There are 8 total for my entire shed and I can get 9 cords in it because I can stack 6' high. It was super cheap to build. Green treated 4" x 4" and then the rest regular lumber unless a bottom chord and then regular ag metal roof. I'll be dead before the shed needs any work. I have a one side lean shed just like you note, I'm about 9' high on one side and 7' on the other. IF you don't make it inviting, you won't get any squirrels.

 

[jwfirebird]

we got cats too, my house was built in 1850. we had snakes, chipmonks and and some mice in the winter. not anymore. but i dont let them outside that is a huge pain to pay to vet bills they get in fights with bigger critters and other cats. they are very territorial. i have seen a few dogs chased off by my moms, she let them go out

 

[Destructor]

I have an old metal shed with no doors that I keep wood in and my father has a couple semi open wood sheds, squirrels pretty much keep out excepts for stormy non winter days they’ll go in to wait out a storm, they have their tree nests during winter. Mice are always making nests and chippies use the wood piles for hiding spots. I’m mostly interested in keeping them out of my 70 Cutlass. I do watch the piles for yellow jacket nests. Skunks tend to live under my father’s sheds but they keep to themselves.

 

[firefighterjake]

I have a "live and let live" philosophy when it comes to the woodshed . . . hence there is at least one squirrel living there that I hear from time to time. I don't really mind as long as they stay out of my house and don't steal my wood . . . besides it gives the indoor cats fits when I haul wood inside and they are all over it, smelling it as they know something "interesting" was on the wood.

 

[Longknife]

I would encourage you to think of a much more open woodshed for all but the snow months of the year. It is not very inviting to squirrels. I have a shed that is 24' x 8'. It is built somewhat like a polebarn, but without any sides at all. Three of the sides consist simply of woven (2" x 4" opening) metal mesh fencing. My metal ag roof overhangs all of the sides and I leave everything open in the spring, summer, and fall. No rain gets of the wood due to the overhang. There is great air flow and drying with this set up. At a few strategic places, I reinforce the metal fencing with 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 exterior supports. I stack my wood right up to the metal fencing. In the winter, I drop tarp like material down over three side that would have the prevailing winds (E, W, and N for me). That keeps all of the blowing snow out of the stacks. I can raise the tarps material to access the piles as needed. In the spring, I open the whole thing up again. Also, in the piles, I liberally sprinkle borax through the wood as I stack and then also drop mouse bait chunks around the piles especially at the bottom (I stack on pallets). I occasionally find a mice nest in the stacks, but not to often. Never any squirrels or chipmunks. For the uprights of my shed, I used 4" x 4" and put the bottoms down below the frost line. There are 8 total for my entire shed and I can get 9 cords in it because I can stack 6' high. It was super cheap to build. Green treated 4" x 4" and then the rest regular lumber unless a bottom chord and then regular ag metal roof. I'll be dead before the shed needs any work. I have a one side lean shed just like you note, I'm about 9' high on one side and 7' on the other. IF you don't make it inviting, you won't get any squirrels.

I'm fairly concerned with tidy aesthetics, as my new (potential) location will be fairly prominent. I don't want to deal with tarps anymore. Doors, windows, and soffit/wall vents is my plan. It will most like be a "pole" structure as I have a bunch of utility poles set aside for it. If I decide I want a concrete floor however, it will be conventionally framed.

 

[WiscWoody]

There are both red and grey squirrels up here and since I put out corn for the deer I also end up feeding them and the chipmunks and rabbits and blue jays etc but I’ve never had squirrels nest in my wood but it’s not in a shed, it’s all covered with nice heavy canvas tarps. Do you have a Black & Tan? Mine is always on the hunt up here, the best dog I’ve ever had! That’s his ball and chain next to him... he can’t go anywhere without her by his side lol. And she’s only 6 but grey already.

 

[Longknife]

There are both red and grey squirrels up here and since I put out corn for the deer I also end up feeding them and the chipmunks and rabbits and blue jays etc but I’ve never had squirrels nest in my wood but it’s not in a shed, it’s all covered with nice heavy canvas tarps. Do you have a Black & Tan? Mine is always on the hunt up here, the best dog I’ve ever had! That’s his ball and chain next to him... he can’t go anywhere without her by his side lol. And she’s only 6 but grey already.

I *think* she's a black and tan. After we invested a lot of money to try and save our Aussie (long story) we got her for free as a pup from someone her took her as a rescue. Could be a dolberman/hound cross of some sort, but she really looks and acts like a coon hound.

 

[WiscWoody]

I *think* she's a black and tan. After we invested a lot of money to try and save our Aussie (long story) we got her for free as a pup from someone her took her as a rescue. Could be a dolberman/hound cross of some sort, but she really looks and acts like a coon hound.

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She looks like a mostly pure if not all purebred B&T Coonhound and a nice looker too! Black &Tans always have that white patch on their chest too. You might know that the breed is half Blood Hound and half Fox Hound so they have excellent scent capabilities. When I toss a treat to my hound he will always locate it by scent never by sight.