My solution for ticks: 2 parts Cedar Chips<br> 1 part water<br>Soak chips in a covered dark container out in the sun for at least 24 hours. Strain the water into a spray bottle. Shpritz!!<br>It will dye your clothes and your dog red, but it smells good to humans and bugs--ticks, fleas, moskitoes, no-see-ums, even yellow flies don't like it. <br><br>I do not have a ranch, hence I do not kill squirrels except for food. (I understand that others may have a different circumstance than I do,) In the yard my solution for squirrels is sunfolower seeds. Squirrles love 'em. But they have to crack open each shell one at a time to eat them. It keeps the squirrels so busy that they just don't have time to get into anything else.