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Do Squirrels Eat Pumpkin Seeds? Yes — and Your Pumpkin

Squirrels eat pumpkin seeds readily and will hollow out a porch pumpkin to get them. What is safe to offer, what is not, and how to protect the display.

By Zakaria 4 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A grey squirrel sitting up on a lawn holding a nut in both paws, among daffodils
Photo: Bruno Nascimento, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Yes — and that is exactly why the porch pumpkin gets hollowed out. Pumpkin seeds are high in fat and protein, squirrels take them readily, and a carved pumpkin puts the seeds on display at nose height in the middle of autumn caching season.

The nutrition, honestly

Pumpkin seeds are genuinely good food: fat, protein, magnesium, zinc, iron. That is why a squirrel wants them.

The problem is the same one that applies to nearly every nut and seed squirrels love.

The calcium-to-phosphorus trap

Seeds and nuts are high in phosphorus and low in calcium. A squirrel eating mostly one of them pulls calcium from its own bones to balance the ratio, which causes metabolic bone disease — weak bones, fractures, hind-leg paralysis. It is the single most common cause of illness in hand-fed and over-supplemented squirrels. Wild squirrels avoid it by eating very widely, which is why variety is the whole answer.

The same arithmetic is why sunflower seeds sit on the same list — taken eagerly, and one of the worst things to make a staple.

Common squirrel foods, rated
FoodVerdict
Pumpkin seeds, raw and unsaltedGood occasional food
Walnuts, hickory, hazelnuts, acornsFavourites; good in variety
Pecans, beech nutsFine in variety
Sunflower seeds, peanuts, cornPopular but poor staples — high phosphorus
Raw peanuts specificallyRisk of aflatoxin mould
Salted or seasoned nutsNo
Bread, crackers, processed foodNo
Chocolate, sweetsNo — toxic
Fresh fruit and vegetables in small amountsGood for variety

Do they like walnuts?

Very much. Black walnuts are near the top of the preference list, and the hard shell is no obstacle at all. Hickory nuts, acorns, hazelnuts, beech nuts and pecans are all taken enthusiastically.

There is a pattern to what they do with them: squirrels assess a nut before caching it. Perishable or damaged nuts get eaten on the spot; the ones that store well get carried off and buried. So a squirrel eating one nut at the feeder and running away with the next is making a storage decision, not being fussy.

Protecting the porch pumpkin

The attraction is the cut flesh and exposed seeds, so the fixes work on those.

What works:

  • Petroleum jelly mixed with cayenne pepper or hot sauce, smeared on the cut edges and the inside of the lid. Mammals react strongly to capsaicin; birds do not detect it at all, which is why the same trick is used on bird feeders.
  • Leaving the pumpkin uncarved as long as possible. An intact skin is far less interesting.
  • Hairspray or a clear sealant on the cut edges — modest effect, mostly by drying the surface.
  • A vinegar or peppermint-oil wipe, reapplied often. Weakest of the real options.
  • Feeding squirrels somewhere else in the yard, which gives them a better option than your doorstep.

What does not: ultrasonic devices, and most bottled squirrel repellents once it rains.

In the vegetable garden

This is the version people take less seriously and probably should. Squirrels take developing pumpkin and squash fruit on the vine, gnawing into the side for the seeds, and a single squirrel can ruin a row.

Repellents wash off. Wire cages or hardware cloth over developing fruit is the answer that actually holds, along with cleaning up spilled birdseed, which is what supports the high squirrel numbers in the first place.

If you want to feed them

Offer variety in small amounts rather than a bulk pile of one thing:

  • A mix of nuts in the shell — walnuts, hazelnuts, acorns, pecans
  • Raw unsalted pumpkin and squash seeds
  • Fresh fruit and vegetable pieces
  • A cuttlebone or a calcium block, which offsets the phosphorus problem directly

And keep it away from the house, the bird feeders and the vegetable beds — otherwise you have simply moved the problem to a place you use more often.

Common questions

Do squirrels eat pumpkin seeds?

Yes, enthusiastically. Pumpkin seeds are high in fat and protein and squirrels take them readily, both fresh from a cut pumpkin and dried. They will also eat the flesh, the skin and the flowers, which is why a carved pumpkin on a porch is usually hollowed out within a few days in autumn. Raw and unsalted is what they should get — salted or seasoned seeds intended for people are not suitable.

Are pumpkin seeds good for squirrels?

As an occasional food, they are fine and genuinely nutritious — high in fat, protein, magnesium and zinc. As a staple they are not, because like most seeds and nuts they have far more phosphorus than calcium, and a diet dominated by them causes metabolic bone disease in squirrels. Wild squirrels balance this themselves by eating a wide range of foods, which is the strongest argument for offering variety rather than a pile of one thing.

Do squirrels like walnuts?

Very much, and black walnuts in particular are among their favourite foods — the hard shell is no obstacle and the high fat content makes them prime caching material. They also take hickory nuts, acorns, hazelnuts, beech nuts and pecans. Squirrels assess nuts before caching and tend to eat perishable ones straight away while burying the ones that store well, which is why you see them eat some on the spot and carry others off.

How do I stop squirrels eating my porch pumpkins?

Make the surface unpleasant rather than trying to remove the squirrels. A coat of petroleum jelly mixed with cayenne or hot sauce on the cut edges works well, because mammals react to capsaicin and birds do not. Vinegar or a peppermint-oil wipe helps a little. Keeping the pumpkin uncarved for as long as possible matters most, since the cut flesh and exposed seeds are the actual attraction. Feeding squirrels elsewhere in the yard is the other half of it.

What should you not feed squirrels?

Salted or seasoned nuts and seeds, bread and processed human food, chocolate, anything sugary, and large quantities of corn, peanuts or sunflower seeds as a staple — all three are high-phosphorus and low-calcium and cause bone disease when they dominate a diet. Raw peanuts specifically can carry aflatoxin-producing mould. If you feed at all, offer variety in small amounts rather than a single bulk food.

Can squirrels eat the whole pumpkin, flesh and all?

Yes — flesh, skin, seeds and flowers are all eaten, and they will take unripe fruit on the vine as well as a carved display. In the garden that makes squirrels a genuine pest of pumpkin and squash crops, and the usual answer there is to protect developing fruit with wire cages rather than to try repellents, which wash off in the weather.

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