The Trouble with Squirrels

I must say that don't like squirrels. I used to think they were kind of cute, but that was all before they started messing with my tomatoes. The problem started last summer, when one or more squirrels started regularly jumping from a nearby tree to our back balcony, then running over our roof to our front balcony where they subsequently wreaked havoc on our container garden. Many almost-ripe tomatoes were picked by these furry rascals, only to have just one bite taken from each of them. The remainder of the tomato would be left there, as if to taunt us. The thing is, this entire situation really wouldn't have bothered me so much if these squirrels would just eat the whole tomato rather than wasting so much. But, no, they never did that.

Last summer I had thought about buying some sort of spray at our local gardening supply to keep the squirrels away, but felt wary after I noticed that none of these sprays seemed to be organic. So, I just put up with the problem for the rest of the growing season, cursing the squirrels all the while.

This year I really want to keep the squirrels away from my tomatoes. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do, but I want to take a route that is organic (i.e., no chemical sprays). I've had my eye on one of those big, fake plastic owls for a while now, and have thought about attaching one to our back balcony right around the spot where the squirrels usually jump over from the tree. But, I'm wondering, will a fake owl really fool these pesky squirrels?

Does anyone out there have any suggestions about how to deal with squirrels?