Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed!

[kenmbz]

Our foxes control the squirrel and other small critters.
Have not seen the groundhog yet as still cold for them, maybe I go lucky and fox got them.
We were overrun with squirrels and rabbits.
Fox cleared most of them, but not all, and moved on.
Heard it back the other night, mating season, time for the blood curdling screams !

I walk the dog and don't leave her unattended. But fox sees her of me and runs in the other direction.
We had a whole family and a young one born on the front of my property. Would see them chasing critters every now and then, very focused.

We had flying squirrels in our last houses attic, that was a mess and not fun to clean up.

Good luck with the starlings, don't blame you for paying to get them removed. It sounds like a nasty chore.

 

[hube2]

Same here. Don't have a huge problem with them, might get one every 4-5 years. They're really stupid and easy to trap, I'll just take them a few miles away & let 'em go far from anyone else's house. Don't really want to kill them.

The problem with catch and release for groundhogs is that I need to hire someone that is licensed to do so. If I were to get caught doing this the fine is as much as hiring someone. But there is no restriction on killing them. Stupid laws. For some animals I have to contact the DEC to get a permit, but the permit is usually free, only obstacle is getting them to agree, but I've never had any issues with that.

 

[MossRoad]

The problem with catch and release for groundhogs is that I need to hire someone that is licensed to do so. If I were to get caught doing this the fine is as much as hiring someone. But there is no restriction on killing them. Stupid laws. For some animals I have to contact the DEC to get a permit, but the permit is usually free, only obstacle is getting them to agree, but I've never had any issues with that.

Indiana is pretty reasonable in catch and release.

"

A resident landowner or tenant can legally capture these species of wild animals listed above without a permit on the property that he/she owns or rents if the animal is:

1. Causing or threatening to cause damage to property, or
2. Posing a health or safety threat to people or domestic animals

The landowner/tenant also can designate another person to take that animal for them if:

1. The landowner/tenant provides written permission (which must be on the person while taking the animal),
2. AND no compensation of any kind is given to the person who takes the animal.
3. A hunting or trapping license or nuisance wild animal control permit is required to take wild animals on land that you do not own or rent.

Within 24 hours of capture, the person who takes the animal must release it or euthanize it. Animals that are released must be released on land in the county where it was captured. Furthermore, the landowner or property manager must give permission for the release. These nuisance animals cannot be possessed for more than 24 hours and cannot be sold, traded, bartered or gifted."

 

[ovrszd]

That's interesting. I've trapped many groundhogs and released them in the nearby woods but they always come back and dig out the hole again. At first, I thought it was a different animal but when I trapped one without a tail for the third time, I changed my mind.

I peacefully coexisted with the critters for over 25 years and actually enjoyed watching them with their young. All of a sudden, for some reason, they started undermining my barn floor slab and concrete patio. Repeated trapping and blocking their holes got to be a futile waste of time and unfortunately, I had to resort to shooting them.

I think the problem was overpopulation. I shot 22 the first season and 10 the next. Now, I see them in the fields but they stay away from the house & barn. We now have a few red foxes in the area and I think they control the population somewhat. Thankfully, I haven't had to shoot any groundhogs for several years.

No tolerance for ground hogs. Horribly destructive animal. As you eventually found out.

 

[fishdrivel]

I bought this house a year ago.
After moving in, I started seeing cats - a lot of cats!
Turns out, the "crazy cat lady" lived here before.
Now her cats were expecting me to feed them.
I have no problem with people that like cats but if you have cats and they do not stay inside your house, they are free-roaming cats and subject to live catch. Animal Control is very helpful and I have taken in 40 or so in last year. My neighbor (female) across the street is feeding feral cats. There are now 4 or so eating at her house. They are showing up at my property and I have broken out the trap again. When will people learn?
There are more cats in America than there are people!

 

[NorTracNY]

I bought this house a year ago.
After moving in, I started seeing cats - a lot of cats!
Turns out, the "crazy cat lady" lived here before.
Now her cats were expecting me to feed them.
I have no problem with people that like cats but if you have cats and they do not stay inside your house, they are free-roaming cats and subject to live catch. Animal Control is very helpful and I have taken in 40 or so in last year. My neighbor (female) across the street is feeding feral cats. There are now 4 or so eating at her house. They are showing up at my property and I have broken out the trap again. When will people learn?
There are more cats in America than there are people!

You need to try and find the balance in nature. When we first moved in, the neighbor was also feeding the feral cats that roamed and hunted at my place. They stayed away from the house and my dogs. Over the years, they disappeared (likely helped feed the animals up the food chain). Then we suffered a few years with huge increase in the number of ticks! The feral cats had been keeping the mouse population under control which also controlled the tick population.

 

[fishdrivel]

You need to try and find the balance in nature. When we first moved in, the neighbor was also feeding the feral cats that roamed and hunted at my place. They stayed away from the house and my dogs. Over the years, they disappeared (likely helped feed the animals up the food chain). Then we suffered a few years with huge increase in the number of ticks! The feral cats had been keeping the mouse population under control which also controlled the tick population.

I central California I used to hunt dove and quail. We encountered feral cats, We would waste a shell on them. There are more cats than people in US and they really like California - and quail, and rabbits, etc. Balance? There are 2 times as many sea otters in California than is natural. They have taken out the Abalone, Sea Urchins, Pismo Clams and more.
Species are on the verge of extinction while the sea otters and cats are protected. You like cats? keep em' in your house or barn and spay or neuter them. When my neighbors let their cats roam to cause mayhem, kill wildlife, and reproduce like rats, that is unacceptable. If you can't keep them on your property, you are not a cat owner, you are a cat problem!

 

[Jstpssng]

Fox are good at controlling groundhogs and other things you don't want, but they will also go after small pets like cats and small children that are not attended. I will not let fox live if they are visiting my property regularly. Females will go back to the same den every year, so if you have one you generally have it for life. If you get rid of the moma the pups will not return.

I have no problem with groundhogs as long as their not doing damage or destroying my garden. When this happens I kill them as well.

I don't mind coexisting with wildlife as long as they are not a nuisance.

For several years I had a vixen with a den somewhere near my property. One day I was eating lunch and heard a commotion from my meat birds, who were penned up next to the driveway. Looking out I saw the fox so I grabbed my Mark II and trained it on her as she skirted the tree line in back of the house. Part of me knew that I should pull the trigger, but I didn't want to because I knew that she had babies someplace.

An hour later I went up to my field where the rest of the poultry was and my dog started going apes; right away I knew what had happened. He searched and found 2 dead chickens plus one injured rooster who I had to kill later. It's true what they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

The next year I came home and found the fox standing over 3 dead chickens with another in the road. If I'd had my Ranger I would have put her under the tires but I was in my company Chevy and by the time the truck figured out I'd stepped on the gas the fox was in the next county. Ruger tracked down another hen who was hiding under a brush pile, but she had been savaged and died a couple of days later.

 

[RSKY]

Skunk catcher came yesterday. Said they would clean up nest, sanitize the area, install critter proof cover that will last in all three attic vent areas, and install same critter proof cover in all under house vents. Didn't give us a price but wife says we are having it done so I guess we will. The guy who runs this outfit is the one who had his restaurant cooking meals for the tornado victims and rescue workers for a couple months. He started cooking and delivering meals two hours after tornado went thru and had people working day and night cooking and delivering. We were told that he had worn out his grills and other equipment. We have already donated several hundred dollars to help fund him so even if we are quoted a high price we will still have them do it.

He said it would take at least six large industrial size trash bags to put all the nest material in.

I made the mistake of parking my truck right under where the birds were entering and leaving the attic and now it is covered with bird poop. I was so tired when I got home that night I didn't even think about it.

RSKY

 

[JDZ735M]

I forget the term, but my biologist kid tells me they have some deal where they only perceive threats they can see. As soon as they can't see it, they return to normal activities. Pretty weird, but fun to experiment with.

Fun until the skunk is quicker.