Squirel Farm West

[beowulf]

We have had squirrel problems before - they take all the almonds from one tree every year, and treated the orchard like an all you can eat cafeteria. We have used traps, and a 4-10 shotgun, but with only limited success. I can manage to shoot a couple from time to time, but once they hear the boom, they hide for an hour or more, and I don't like sitting around waiting for them to reappear. Anyway, with the super amounts of rain this past year (40 inches instead of the 14 inches the year before) and with water shooting out of gopher and squirrel holes I was hoping many would be drowned. No such luck - we have more than ever - several times more than ever, scampering everywhere, on the deck, the porch, the orchard, the garden. . . everywhere. Our old dogs and old cats don't really deter the squirrels. We also have rabbits and quail every day in the yard, but it is the squirrel population that strips our trees and garden

So, we will again try the traps and so on, and may try to coat the tree trunks with sticky stuff. We are looking into poison but are reluctant to use poison unless there is a safe way to do so. I have started to use gopher gassers in any holes I can find and that may help a bit. Anyway, I thought I would ask if anyone has any creative and hopefully successful ways to help with our squirrel problem.

 

[polo1665]

This is the first thought that occurred to me. We are having a rabbit problem ourselves this year.

https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/ec1641.pdf

 

[RSKY]

Not going to help your problem but we had something similar a few years ago except the squirrels were doing damage to cars and houses.

Neighbor to the south, with a one acre lot, killed 153 off his property year before last. I got about a dozen or two, neighbor to the north got about ten. So slightly less than 200 off three acres.

Then some hawks moved in and built a nest.

No squirrels. Well maybe one or two every week or so.

Lure you some hawks into your area and you will never have squirrel problems again.

RSKY

 

[beowulf]

Thanks guys. We do have red tail hawks circling and crying out from time to time, and I have seen them fly off with a snake or two, and a rabbit once, and a squirrel or two a few years ago. So I will try to figure out how to encourage them to hang around.

In the mean time, I will try out some of those black sticky pads with some fresh fruit bait placed at the bottom of trees.

BTW, this is the squirrel trap we have been using - it does catch squirrels just not enough for our squirrel population. It is at Tractor S Co - a bit expensive and a bit flimsy but works to some extent. I will avoid using poison.

CatchMor Squirrelinator Trap - For Life Out Here

 

[rswyan]

The squirrels here love sunflower seeds ... I'd try laying a trail (of sunflower seeds) from the trees out to lure the squirrels into a more open area and placing bait there if possible.

That way you give the hawks a better shot at diving on them.

 

[oosik]

Good Lord - if you were able to trap 200 squirrels off three acres - - that wasn't just a problem - that's a plague. I have pine squirrels but never even see one a year.

Now those tiny stripped tree squirrels( chipmunks ), that's a whole nother situation. I'm constantly "working" on them and my community of pocket gophers.

 

[TnAndy]

I've had good luck with a 3x9 scope on a Ruger 10-22 up to 150yds, and a couple of live, double end door, cage type traps, with the .22 applied to inmates.

 

[RSKY]

Seems like when we shot ten, ten more would show up the next day. The only deterrent we found was to leave the carcasses in the yard and that only worked for a day or two until the smell hit us. Then they went into the trash can.

RSKY

 

[oosik]

RSKY - exactly the results I get here. I just started up my pocket gopher trap line again and have caught six. I'll swear the six plus have come in from out in the dark to take their place.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I know your problem, but unfortunately I have no solution. We were taken into the city limits a few years back, so shooting, at least with a .22 is out of the question. Keep in mind that these things vary from year to year, and time and predators will eventually take their toll. One year, they were so bad that they were cutting my tomatoes, and green ones at that. I counted 17 one morning around the bird feeder. We came home one evening, and our plum trees were stripped...including the ones fallen on the ground. We thought we had been raided by hungry kids, but figured out pretty quickly it was the squirrels.

I have never seen a hawk get a squirrel, although they do watch them playing in the yard but never bother them. The feral cats do have an occasional success though. Back when I was growing up, us poor country boys keep their population down by harvesting them for the table. Grew up on fried squirrel, rabbit, quail, duck and an occasional catfish.

 

[nybirdman]

I would get a couple Jack Russell's.

 

[gsganzer]

Find some folks that squirrel hunt with dogs. Squirrels are great to eat. Especially when they've been fattening up on almonds :licking:

 

[r porter]

put an underground fence around the trees and insert a hyper rat terrier or jack russel. and keep the 410 handy.

 

[bigdeano]

Can you shoot a pellet gun where you are? Some of them are very effective on small pests. I shot thousands of ground squirrels where I used to live with a pellet gun with a scope. When they get into an alfalfa field they multiply out of control and strip it bare. Mine had a lever under the barrel you pull down, put the pellet in, and close the lever. Don't get one you have to pump multiple times.

 

[oosik]

Strange - many have problems with squirrels - we have pine squirrels but very, very seldom see even one. Some years I will nail a Shed Spread butter container to one of my pine tree and put unshelled, unsalted peanuts in the container. Beyond the chipmunks going ape s**t over the peanuts - occasionally it WILL attract a pine squirrel. They are a completely different, solitary animal and quite interesting to watch. Once the peanuts are gone the pine squirrel never says around.

 

[jfh28]

I use to fight with the tree rats every winter......I have to put out bird food to keep the woodpeckers from drilling holes in the barn.......and there is no such thing as a squirrel proof feeder.......I tried them all.......eventually I gave in and started to feed them.......got some wildlife mix at tsc.....corn nuts sunflower seeds......and spread out about a cups worth on the ground in the morning away from the feeders......the squirrels are quite happy with that and leave the feeders alone.......although they are very clever I think they are inherently lazy so an easy no effort source of food keeps them fat and happy........might be something to try......Jack

 

[beowulf]

Update re our squirrel adventure. We have caught about 8 - 9 in the trap I linked to but I discovered a more entertaining way to address the problem. When ever I would shoot them with my 4-10 I might get one but then they would sound the alarm and they would all hide for a long time. . . it seems once they saw me it was over as far as getting any good shots. But today I took the screen off the bathroom window - a window that looks out into the small orchard. Well, within an hour I shot 14 of them. It seems they don't see me at all, or well enough, and even after I shoot one, more will be scampering in the orchard within minutes. And overall, not a bad way to entertain myself. 14 is only a small dent in the population, and only for those harvesting our orchard (there are others in other areas around the place) but 14 is better than zero.

 

[RSKY]

The summer that we killed nearly 200 off three acres my neighbor and I both saw a squirrel in his yard with half his tail and some fur missing on his back. Later in the week he saw the same or an identical squirrel on the road more than a half mile straight line away. Over the summer we saw the same squirrel several times but never shot him. It was all over the neighborhood in about a quarter mile circle.

You have to kill a bunch of squirrels over a large area to clean them out.

RSKY

 

[beowulf]

You have to kill a bunch of squirrels over a large area to clean them out.RSKY

Yeah, that would seem to be the case. There are fewer in the orchard than before but there are plenty of them scampering around behind the barn and in other areas. I went out this morning to gather up the dead ones from the orchard that were scattered around and getting ripe (I had to leave for town yesterday before I could get that done) but they were all gone. I assume coyotes came in last night and took them all.