P3PPY
SuperDork
12/15/23 11:54 a.m.
Meet Scatter.
He or she was number two. Skitter went two days ago. This looks like it might go on for a while so I'll start a tally.
1:1 attempt on the first one
1:7 on the second one (apparently the trap mechanism needed more lubrication. I fed that guy like a cup of PB!)
1:1 on the one that got caught just now with me on the pooper
There is one little red one left in the yard. I keep chasing away the big fat ones who are not the ones actively eating my back deck so I don't want them eating my peanut butter. I only moved the first two a mile away soooo if I have to trap more than four I'll know I messed up going to so close a park.
Nature abhors a vacuum. That includes a squirrel vacuum. As you remove the critters, the low squirrel-pressure will cause other squirrels in the surrounding, relatively high squirrel-pressure area to get sucked in.
Mr_Asa
UltimaDork
12/15/23 1:50 p.m.
For what it's worth, many states have laws against the relocation of "nuisance" animals.
Just a heads up
Toyman!
MegaDork
12/15/23 2:27 p.m.
My mother hates the things and wants my dad to "take care of them."
His response was I'll shoot them if you cook them.
The best way to relocate them. They don't taste bad at all.
She gets rid of the squirrels and dad gets a stew a couple of times a year.
OOOH a douglas squirrel. Fiesty little bastards. We just live with them as they never really ever go away. Another one or two will replace the one you remove. It's called nature for a reason as we have no control no matter how much we think we do.
P3PPY
SuperDork
12/16/23 10:56 p.m.
In reply to mad_machine :
Ha! I wondered how that had turned out. I mean, it cannot be all the nature's vacuum thing or your work would have already had squirrels too, right?
mtn
MegaDork
12/16/23 11:32 p.m.
High in cholesterol. I wonder if you can smoke them?
P3PPY said:
I only moved the first two a mile away soooo if I have to trap more than four I'll know I messed up going to so close a park.
I did that once and the squirrel beat me home. After that they got hauled ten miles away and to the other side of the Mississippi.
Toyman! said:
My mother hates the things and wants my dad to "take care of them."
His response was I'll shoot them if you cook them.
The best way to relocate them. They don't taste bad at all.
She gets rid of the squirrels and dad gets a stew a couple of times a year.
Mmm, stew and a souvenir to hang on the bicycle handle bars
RevRico
MegaDork
12/17/23 8:53 a.m.
mtn said:
High in cholesterol. I wonder if you can smoke them?
With enough papers or a big enough bowl...
P3PPY said:
In reply to mad_machine :
Ha! I wondered how that had turned out. I mean, it cannot be all the nature's vacuum thing or your work would have already had squirrels too, right?
Work has a lot more squirrels now. Where I used to see them occasionally, I see them all the time now. I wonder if the grounds guys have noticed yet?
As a side note, squirrel tail fur is great to use in flies and other fishing lures.
P3PPY
SuperDork
12/26/23 4:28 p.m.
Twenty days later and they're all still gone. I park the Z4 in the driveway over winter and today took a gander under the hood.
I now have an enclosed mouse bait box and a full block of the bait in the open up top there. This is in addition to the ones in the interior and trunk. Ugh. Hopefully it was one of the ones I already relocated.
Last Spring I discovered that they'd made it 3/4 of the way through the air filter on their way to the intake. That was a close one.
Can I just say, red squirrels are nuts to me. I live in PA where we have the gray ones.
I have issues with squirrels eating my bird food and knowing on my outdoor furniture. Unfortunately I live just far enough "out of town" that I've seen people releasing squirrels and groundhogs at the state game lands within a mile of my house.
If you want them gone it's a never ending battle. I remember my grandfather telling me stories of his one neighbor. He once caught over 100 squirrels and rabbits in his yard in a year. The neighbor started painting the squirrels tails blue(not sure how)(also before all the animal rights people) just to see if they were the same one finding their way home.
There is a short film titled "Daylight Robbery" (easily found online) that documents the squirrel vs. birdfeeder battle. Spoiler alert: the squirrels win.
We long ago surrendered to the ingenuity and persistence of the little bastards - we now buy bulk peanuts in 10lb bags and have installed squirrel condos in several of the trees on the property. You would think that the little freeloaders would show some gratitude, but no...
P3PPY
SuperDork
12/27/23 9:02 a.m.
camopaint0707 said:
Can I just say, red squirrels are nuts to me. I live in PA where we have the gray ones.
Right! That's all I ever knew from the Great Plains, but here I am in Michigan and they come in black and red, too. Who knew??
Next to these methy red ones, the gray ones were so gentle and mild, too.
P3PPY
SuperDork
12/27/23 9:03 a.m.
In reply to Andy Neuman :
I had a friend who used to spray paint them blue, too. Odd.
