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O/T - Deterring squirrels.

Terry Keeley

Titanium
Joined
Oct 18, 2005
Location
Toronto, Canada eh!
Squirrels are digging up my backyard in my urban home.

Tried sprinkling red pepper flakes, spraying a mixture of tabasco and water, ultrasonic deterrents, nothing seems to work. I can't shoot them here and trapping seems to be a waste of time, don't want to put poison out.

Any ideas to keep the little buggers out of my yard?
 
The only thing that seems to work in the Boston area is a rat-trap (other kinds are illegal here) baited with peanut butter. If legal, the body-hold (Conibear) traps are very effective.
 
The Squirrelinator. is the best trap I have used so far, been doing this for about 20 years now. Our mini subdivision is called Grey Digger Heights, for the type of squirrel we have. I relocate about 100 to 150 a year to a neighbor about 2 miles away, yeah, the ground is crawling with squirrels over there. It is a nice 10 minute bike ride at the end of the day. I pull an old T-shirt over the trap before sticking it on my bike so it's not too obvious what I am doing. If I keep the trap set and get the scouts then it seems the family never moves in,so I end up trapping less. It is way easier, less time spent, and no bad juju from outright killing them. I say outright because the owls in the area seem to know where the good hunting is. I see them hanging out at the release zone at dusk fairly often.

I use good salted peanuts in the shell, peanut butter, and dog food as bait. I think dog food is the best but I trap more with a variety of baits.
 
Other than a four legged pest control agent on constant duty NOTHING will deter them. They are squirrels and are doing what they are programmed to do, which is to dig up the food stashes of other squirrels and bury their own stashes. It's all about survival and even shooting them wouldn't stop them, just reduce their numbers somewhat.
 
Assuming you're talking about ground squirrels, the most effective trap I've ever used is a 5 gallon bucket about 1/3 full of water with a handful of sunflower seeds floating on top. Lean a board against the pail as a ramp and sprinkle a few seeds on it to coax them to the bucket. They lean down to get the floating seeds and fall in and drown. I set one up every few years when they get out of hand and usually catch 2 or 3 a day.

To be honest, I don't really care about the tunnels and holes. The problem I had is they'd run up my downspouts to escape my dogs and the dogs would tear the downspouts off the house to get to them. I got tired of repairing them.

Prior to that I'd set a wire live trap on the ground baited with peanut butter but I caught more birds than ground squirrels and I felt bad seeing them beat themselves half to death flapping their wings in a panic to get out.
 
No solution, but I opened my hood on my car yesterday to put in some oil, what do I find, a squirrel!!!! I could not believe my eyes. WTF
 
We have a plague of squirrels here too. Twice they have found a way into the attic, nesting, chewing on power cables and anything else. I tried traps, “Hav-a-Hart”, but bugs eat the bait before the squirrels get there.
New technology, is needed, possibly a “rough terrain” version of the Roomba Claymore?

cr
 
As far as making them lunch, a fellow could starve to death eating squirrel. Them critters don't like to get undressed.

A hint printed in Farmshow magazine from a trapper in Tennessee.

Use a basketball inflation needle on a blow gun....:skep:

Blows them up, and takes all the work out of it...ewh...:ack2:
 
Ill tell you what, with all the wonderful things life has to offer ,you need to do ,GET A LIFE the day I worry about a squirrel burying a nut in my yard. Is the day I know I have a some kind mental problem .
 
I'd guess that catapult wasn't designed by an engineer. If the arm was cranked nearer the bucket at the end the squirrels would go higher and maybe further. They are getting thrown out on an horizontal plane at the moment, the device needs more elevation.

Regards Tyrone.
 
Ill tell you what, with all the wonderful things life has to offer ,you need to do ,GET A LIFE the day I worry about a squirrel burying a nut in my yard. Is the day I know I have a some kind mental problem .

I'll tell YOU what....Try re-reading the Op's problem, this time with some COMPREHENSION !

Not a singular squirrel, and NOT just "burying a nut".

Causing house fires, bringing mold & disease into the home.
 
I feed my browns. They dutifully sit in the feeder and stuff themselves - or they help clean up the ten million pecans laying about.
 
COMPREHENSION huh "Squirrels are digging up my backyard in my urban home"
Yeah i know what you mean My power lines coming to my house and a lot of my neighbors have been replaced I keep my lawn tractor outside all the plastic has been chewed on .They chewed my neighbors propane lines causing leaks on his rv camper. Squirrels cause millions of dollars a year in damage.
If you live in the city limits theirs not a much if anything you can do about it.

Now if you think your arrogant enough fix the problem good luck. And while your at it fix the rat problem to.

I wonder if there are more rats or squirrels.

May I need to get a life Im writing about squirrels on my day off.
 
I'd guess that catapult wasn't designed by an engineer. If the arm was cranked nearer the bucket at the end the squirrels would go higher and maybe further. They are getting thrown out on an horizontal plane at the moment, the device needs more elevation.

Regards Tyrone.

I dont think Boris and Natasha ever claimed to be engineers. ;)
 
COMPREHENSION huh "Squirrels are digging up my backyard in my urban home"
Yeah i know what you mean My power lines coming to my house and a lot of my neighbors have been replaced I keep my lawn tractor outside all the plastic has been chewed on .They chewed my neighbors propane lines causing leaks on his rv camper. Squirrels cause millions of dollars a year in damage.
If you live in the city limits theirs not a much if anything you can do about it.

Now if you think your arrogant enough fix the problem good luck. And while your at it fix the rat problem to.

I wonder if there are more rats or squirrels.

May I need to get a life Im writing about squirrels on my day off.

Your starting to sound like the bible thumper in the radio ad for
Christian health insurance...

How much product do you put in your hair every morning ?
 
Now we just need to get the OP some engineering help to come up with a cheap way to send the Ontario squirrels into orbit to be parachuted into a backyard in South Carolina. Long range drone with gps? ;)
 








 
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