How to Use Sheet Metal Around Trees
If you have a problem with furry creatures like rats and squirrels eating your fruit before you do or using trees to climb up to your roof and attic, you may benefit from wrapping sheet metal around trunks to discourage climbing. You may also use cones of sheet metal to protect nesting sites from raccoons that eat eggs and baby birds.
Rats and squirrels are detrimental on home landscapes in many ways, including eating crop vegetables, nuts, fruits and birdseed. Both will nest in attics, if given a chance, and will gnaw through wood and walls as well as wires, pipes, hoses and insulation. Trees often provide access to the higher reaches of your home, and even when isolated in the landscape, their trunks still offer rats and squirrels a way to climb up into trees and destroy fruit and nut crops.
Sheet Metal Guards
Sheet metal makes it impossible for rats and squirrels to climb trees, as its smooth surface doesn’t offer the same purchase that tree trunks do. Use a strip of sheet metal 18 to 24 inches wide, long enough to wrap around the tree plus an extra 2-inch overlap. Run a piece of wire through both sides of the sheet metal from underneath it, then bend the wire outward to keep the guard in place. Metal cones to protect nests should be at 18 inches in radius, mounted all the way around a tree and bent downward toward the ground.
Sheet Metal Placement
If your problem is rats, you should place your sheet metal band about 4 feet off the ground, as rats can only jump about 3 feet. However, if your problem is squirrels, your band will need to be significantly higher to prevent them jumping up, between 6 and 8 feet. When attaching the sheet metal to the tree, keep the attachment wires several feet away from the tree’s canopy, as rats or squirrels may use wires to access higher parts of the tree. Place sheet metal cones 3 feet off the ground below a nesting site.
To keep rats and squirrels out of attics, saw branches off at least 8 feet away from the house; 10 is better. To avoid attracting them to fruit and nut trees, pick up fallen fruit instead of letting it spoil on the ground. Don’t bother with sheet metal exclusion if trees touch fences or other trees that offer access to their branches. Be aware that sheet metal cones will not protect nesting sites against snakes.
Sarah Moore has been a writer, editor and blogger since 2006. She holds a master's degree in journalism.