X#%*&$# Squirrels!

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OK, I discovered why the tree trunk squirrel trap hasn't caught anything for quite a while.

 

I went out to bait it, and discovered that the internal portion of the spring had busted... plus the trap is out of stock and I haven't found any way to get a replacement spring. I might be able to weld on another bit of steel to renew the spring, not sure.

 

We'll see.

 

 

 
 
Here's an interesting comment I found on Amazon.com about another trap, and the problem with relocating trapped pests:

 

c9b8495e-df17-4f30-969d-75da3fa5cd64._CR0,0,93,93_UX110_.jpg


<span class="a-profile-name">peter Rabbit</span>

<em class="a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating" data-hook="review-star-rating"><span class="a-icon-alt">5.0 out of 5 stars</span></em> Amazing trap but there is a catch...

<span class="a-size-base a-color-secondary review-date" data-hook="review-date">Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2020</span>

So this trap will catch squirrels like crazy. But they offer a plastic box to fill with water to "dispatch" the squirrel. I didn't want to do this. I drove the squirrels several miles away and let them loose. Yep, you guessed it! They found their way back. And now they will not go near the squirrelinator so it is now useless. These cute little critters are destroying my paver steps, patios and tunneling under my house. I have learned to hate them because of the damage they are doing. If I were to do it all over I would have used the water box. For a brief time I was down to a few squirrels and now I am up to my armpits in smarter and really wary squirrels... and worse.. it's spring time and they will soon all be mommas and poppas. Use this trap and don't even think about relocating the squirrels. They will be back and you won't be able to catch them again.

 
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I wish I had the same success with squirrels as I've had with rats.

 

A family friend inherited a 1930s house that hadn't been inhabited for many years.  After cleaning the place out, and since I was looking for a place to live, the friend offered me cheap rent just to have someone in there to keep things up while the estate was settled.

 

The first night that I tried to sleep in an upstairs bedroom I was kept awake my rat activity in the attic.  They were busy and there were a lot of them.

 

The next day I got a 6-pack of d-Con rat poison, the old type that looked like oatmeal, and pushed up the attic access panel and placed a box just inside, closed things up and hoped for the best.  Of course the first night there was no change, but the next morning the box was empty.

 

I put in another box.  Again, another noisy night, and another empty box. 

 

The third box was put in place.  More rat activity that night, but the next morning the box still had some bait left in it.

 

That night, it was all quiet. 

 

I wish they still sold that stuff because I'm sure it would do the trick on squirrels, and they can't bury it either.  Yes, I've seen squirrels bury marble sized rat bait before.  I'm looking for more immediate results.

 
 
Well, I was able to get in touch with the distributor, and while the entire trap is out of stock, they have some extra springs and are sending me one for about $28 including shipping.

 

Here's a photo of the trap. It's extremely effective. It's called the Kania2000, and appears still to be available from Canada:

 

https://www.kania.net/images/kania2000.jpg
 

Plus, a video:

 



https://www.kania.net/2000.htm
sudsmaster-2020092302285007018_1.jpg
 
Chuck,

We have a chubby little guy like that who visits our yard occasionally.
For whatever reason, I have no desire to do away with him. We only see one, and I've never seen him do any significant damage to anything.
We've had one take up residence under our shed. But the same space has also been occupied by skunks, and one year, foxes.
I'm very live and let live with most of the woodland creatures. But the chipmunks and red squirrels could go away.

Barry
 
Eastern Fox Squirrel

The most common tree squirrel in the SF Bay Area is the Eastern Fox squirrel. These were introduced to the West Coast starting around 1900, and have driven the native Western Gray squirrel out of much of its habitat.

 

It's the tree squirrel I see in my back yard. If it wasn't so destructive, I'd be live and let live. But it is destructive. I have two large avocado trees on my property. The fox squirrels with take some bites out of unripe fruit. let it drop to the ground and rot. Where do they come from? Well, there's a condo development on the other side of the tall ivy covered chain link fence at the back of the property. It was built in the 1980's, on the grounds of a former light industrial factory. The developer planted the entire site with Canary Island pines, which are very tall and drop large pine cones. No doubt these are what the fox squirrels are thriving on. Then they come over here and depredate the avocado, fig, peach, apple, etc trees. It's a constant battle against their numbers. I know I'm not the only one to be aggrieved by these little demons.

 

I do what I can, legally, to reduce their numbers. They are not native, they are not cuddly, they are not cute.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_squirrel
sudsmaster-2020092402181306178_1.jpg
 
Rich,

That's interesting. If I saw that tree rat that you posted, I would think it was an ordinary grey squirrel.
I would be questioning what I see here most often, except the article that you linked to said that we don't have fox squirrels in New England. Or, very few.
So, the grey or black ones that I see here are most likely variations of the grey squirrel. I'm pretty much okay with them. They seem pretty laid back, for a squirrel. I stopped using a bird feeder because they were destroying it. Now, when I feed the birds, I just scatter a small amount of seed on the ground. When the greys do show up, they eat right alongside the birds, instead of chasing them away, like they did with a feeder.
Then, there's what I'm referring to as the reds.
They're smaller than the greys, and seem quicker and almost spastic in their movements sometimes.
They kind of look like a squirrel and a chipmunk got together.
I definitely don't see as many of them; maybe two. But for me, that's two too many!
And we're crawling alive with chipmunks.
I'll figure something out. I personally don't like the idea of catching them in a humane trap and then giving them swimming lessons.
I've seen a variation of that trap that mounts on a tree or post, and pops them in the head when they go in to find the bait. The one I saw was powered by a CO2 cartridge. They were kind of spendy though, and not easy to find. Plus, it's not like I could post a sign on it "Red squirrels only".
I really don't want to be killing off all the greys in hopes of getting rid of the few reds.

Barry
 
Well, I may have spoken too soon.

 

Animal Control Products in Wisconsin told me they had a spare spring. They charged my credit card for it, and since then have gone silent. I left them multiple voice mails, emals, and even messaged them on their facebook site. Nothing. If they don't respond next week I'll have to contact my credit card company and cancel the transaction.

 
 
As far as I am concerned, a squirrel is a rat rat with a fluffy tail. I hate them. As we speak, I am having work done on the latticework on my deck Groundhogs have chewed though the wood, and are burrowing under the deck. The workers pouring concrete footer under the perimeter of the deck, and added some other kind of material that cannot be chewed. Cost $1300.00 I think it is a deal. I have lived in the same house for 41 years now. We never used to have problems such as this. We have raccoons, groundhogs, possums, and whatever else, that lurks out in the night. This is in the middle of the city, and a neighbourhood that is about 90 years old. What is up with this?
 
"What is up with this?"

Oh hell yes Rick -- you are preaching to the choir IMO. 

 

The answer is easy.   Squirrels and other vermin are considered wildlife even in the heart of an urban environment, and as such, at least in my area, trapping and relocating are not allowed (so what good is trapping then?) and of course using any lethal methods is also forbidden.  This is total BS.  These critters are overrunning neighborhoods and causing costly damage, as you have attested to.  There aren't enough natural predators for squirrels, which as prey move way too fast anyway, and as far as I know, vermin the size of raccoons have no predators at all in an urban setting.

 

Something has to be done.  This sort of unchecked overpopulating can't continue.  I just chased off another raccoon that was eating out of the cat's food dish on the side porch night before last.  A whole family with juveniles has been passing through the yard and making a mess of the water feature that I use as source of drinking water for the cat, even though I put a cover on top of it every night and weigh it down with a heavy rock.  This is all happening in a neighborhood that's over 100 years old and adjacent to the urban core.  Unless they're really young, raccoons are too smart to fall for a trap.  I'm fed up to say the least.  I've started bringing the cat's dish inside at bedtime.  Maybe that will discourage them enough to not bother with trespassing even for the water feature's entertainment value.
 
Ralph, I have a live trap that I use when I start seeing property damage from raccoons and groundhogs, once again. I bait the trap with peanut butter spread onto a Ritz cracker. I put the bait in the base of a plastic cottage cheese, (or whatever) container. Gets the raccoons every time. I will not say what I do with the them, however, they never come back again. And I do get the very large ones with this method. The groundhogs are harder to catch, or at least the ones around here are. For those, I cut an apple in half, and spread peanut butter on one part of it. Place the other part of the apple on the outside of the cage. They will eat the first half, and go into the cage for the other half. Possums I simply let go again, for they are harmless. That said, they are so stupid, that at times it is difficult to get them to leave the cage. And if anyone thinks that I am being cruel, for protecting my property against damage, please send me a check for $1300.00, and in return, I will send you some raccoons and groundhogs.
 
Saw a groundhog tonight in the neighbor's driveway. It crossed the street into the other neighbor's yard, possibly on its way to my backyard. There are some that live under my shed.

I occasionally see opossums and raccoons in my yard, but not often. I used to see lots of squirrels and chipmunks, but due to more cats in the area the past few years, they are less frequent.

There is a creek behind my house with a woods along it, so lots of wildlife there. Once in a while deer will come up in the yard.

The most unusual animal seen was a lion standing in the neighbor's backyard overlooking the creek. My mom thought I was crazy when I told her, but she got the binoculars and looked anyway. She called the neighbor Betty, and told her to look. We found out it had escaped from the Kings Island Wild Animal Safari, and had followed the Little Miami River and connecting creeks. It was later captured and returned.
 
Ralph,

 

Yes, trapping and relocating is illegal.

 

However if you can figure out a humane way of euthanizing the trapped nuisance/depredating animal, then that is legal.

 

I checked with California Fish and Game about this about 15 years ago.

[this post was last edited: 9/26/2020-22:59]
 
Good to know Rich.  I suppose the term "humane" is up for debate, but I'd relocate a raccoon if I caught one.  It's not like I haven't done it a number of times with opossums and an adolescent raccoon.  I have a dumping spot adjacent to many acres of undeveloped parkland with a creek running through.  It's surrounded by two freeways, a light industrial zone and a large shopping center. 

 

For squirrels, which are a constant and far more prevalent problem instead of occasional, I don't view anything other than lethal means as viable or effective.
 
Seems to me the fires and the lack of humans out and about due to the pandemic has resulted in an influx of raccoons into urban/suburban areas.

 

Again, even to undeveloped rural areas, relocating trapped depredating animals is ILLEGAL.

 

It's not difficult to figure out a humane way to euthanize them on site. If you are not willing to do that, then don't trap them to begin with.

 
 
The law against relocating wildlife makes a LOT of sense.

 

When you relocate problem animals you are upsetting the natural population balance. You are stressing out the population where you relocate the animal(s) to, creating more disease and problems in that locale. Eventually the population pressure will result in a return of the problem species to your yard, perhaps more aggressive and desperate because of  your misguided intervention.

 

But hey, don't listen to me or the wildlife specialists.

 

Fuck the world, right?

 
 
F_ck the vermin is more like it.  I don't buy that argument and flatly reject it (but fully expect to see a citation of research to appear here in short order).  The natural population is waaaaaay out of balance in urban neighborhoods where this "wild"life is over-breeding without any means of keeping it in check.  How can relocating to an area where they have room to roam and bother no one, a water source, homeless encampment garbage, even dumpsters that offer a little slice of their former home behind restaurants in a shopping center that abuts industry and railroad tracks, and most importantly, predators, be viewed as an impetus for imbalance or overpopulation?  Are we completely discounting Charles Darwin's work now?

 

There are a lot of decisions people can make that that qualify as "f_ck the world," some being as simple as  failing to properly recycle, wasting water, or driving a smoke-belching car.   Turning a raccoon loose into a hospitable environment doesn't strike me as one of them, and alleging a "f_ck the world" attitude is a gross overreach.  Call it misguided if you want.  I call it protecting my investment, and last time I checked, raccoons were not in charge on this planet.

 

Ready, set, start googling.
 
See this little guy? We were watching him yesterday in the same spot- where the door of the shed meet. He was obviously laboring to get in- almost looked like he was trying to open the door. From the look of the marks, he's been successful getting in and out of there, probably getting ready to nest for the winter. These doors are about 3'wide, 7' tall and 2x4 frame with T-111 on them. Each has things hanging on the inside. My point is that they're not light! LOL!

Rich was watching him earlier this morning with his first coffee- going at it!

We spotted him about 3PM today doing the same, and he got in. I threw the bolt up on the left door and secured the hasp on the right door so they were now closed.

FF to 20 minutes ago- I see him going at it, secretly laughing because there's no way he'd be able to get in there now! I thought it would make an interesting wildlife vid for FB. The jarring of the camera is me moving a step closer every time he stuck his noggin in. I'll be damned if he didn't get in!

I'll be taking care of that issue after I've smoke-bombed the shed to be sure the critters are all out.

Chuck

 
Draggin off topic

I know we were squirrel hating, but I saw ground hogs and other mentioned so I wanted to add a new menace that we have started experiencing that will destroy your yard overnight. Armadillos. One day your yard is crisp and pristine, the next day it looks like "Caddy Shack".

Never used to be a problem here, but they are gradually moving north, and we are starting to see their effects.
 
Ralph,

 

Why don't you call California Fish and Game and ask them why relocating depredating critters like squirrels and raccoons is illegal. They are better equipped than I to explain to you the wildlife management science behind the law. And if you won't believe them, there likely is nothing I can say to change your mind.

 

Just be careful you don't get caught, M'kay?

 

PS-I'm glad I live about 40 miles from your place, LOL.

 

 
 
Harley,

 

No armadillos here that I know of. They eat ants and termites, which can't be a bad thing, but I understand about the burrowing. In high school I hung out with the nature crowd. A friend of mine had a pet armadillo. It was very odd. I recall he had some problems with it trying to burrow through the linoleum flooring. LOL.

 
 
Kania update:

 

The replacement spring arrived today and I got it installed, trap baited and hung back up on tree (in better position), without breaking any digits or limbs. Yes, the trap spring is strong enough it could certainly break fingers if not hands.

 

Now I can't wait for the next Sciurid guest of honor (evil laugh).

 
 
I chased off two squirrels in my potted fig tree this morning.  There aren't even any figs on it at this point, but they've been regularly tearing up the soil in the pot.  Walking back into the house, I noticed they/one of them had yet again dug up and tipped over the 1-gallon pots with fuchsia cuttings that I had managed to root from types not commonly found in nurseries.  Potting soil all over the ground. 

 

That did it.  I'm calling Kania tomorrow to order a trap (on line isn't a current option).  They're not cheap, but the satisfaction factor is well worth it.  I will gleefully deposit the carcasses into the garbage cart, and with each incident will be incentivized to keep baiting until the destruction stops.  Here's hoping for a hot streak.

 

I can tolerate the raccoons.  Their habits aren't anywhere near as destructive as these goddamned squirrels. 
 
Well if you had outdoor ponds, esp with fish, you wouldn't be so blasé about raccoons.

 

Good luck with the Kania trap. I can recommend also getting a product called "Squirrel Butter" which is a sort of fruit jam that the squirrels are supposed to love. Other baits can include raw almonds, peanut butter, etc.

 

If you have any unpaved garden soil, I recommend digging a small hole and burying the murdered squirrel(s) there. It will enrich the soil.

 
 
Have you tried dried bloodmeal in your pots? I use it in my veg garden and it seems to keep the critters at bay. Cayenne powder also tends to work and is cheap but needs to be re-applied after every rain or good watering.

 

Chuck
 
Well, the blood meal might work for flower pots and such. But I have a number of fruit trees and it would near impossible to coat them with blood meal.  The squirrels' favorite target is the avocado, which happens to be the one I value most. The squirrels will also go after the grapes, apples, peaches, figs, etc.

 

Today I was in the back yard and heard one jump from one roof to another, and then into a tree, but I couldn't spot it (they are great at hiding up high). Later I just happened to be out there and he was, down low on an avocado tree trunk, looking to make trouble. He's now incorporated into the compost bin. The tail will be hung up on the trophy board.

 

These eastern fox squirrels are big and relatively heavy. I didn't weigh it, but it was probably a pound or two. Might be good eating, but ...

 

 

 
 

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