Hello, my homie Matt sent me here to share some knowledge.

1st. Focus is everything, like using the sun to burn grass with a magnifying glass. The 450nm diodes have okay beam coherency but the beam spreads over distance. You would need to focus it close to the object.

2nd. The water is going to eat power. Even though the water looks clear it will absorb some of the energy. You did good with going with blue wavelength though, it travels the best through water (deep in the ocean everything turns blue because those wavelengths are the last to get absorbed.)

3rd. Poor pest! I mean, it's just a squirrel trying to get it's own nut.