View Full Version : Squirrels
EricCO
10-10-2002, 10:38 AM
I recently bought a house and have notice I have a few squirrels taking up residence in my attic.
I plan on closing off all access to my attic. Covering vents with screen and blocking off access via eaves from garage into attic.
Till then, I feel the need to trap them or kill them. Especially since I caught them on my boat in the garage this morning.
How should I take care of (trapping and killing) these little critters till I get the attic sealed off for good? What traps, bait, and etc. do I need to know?
Wishin' for rain in the 303.
Shoot them with pellet gun! End of story.
Bad Finger
10-10-2002, 10:51 AM
Get a squirell trap and bait it with unsalted peanuts. Then kill the critter.
Re-locating the animal away from it stored food locations is a death sentence this time of year. (At least here in Minnesota) Making the animal someone else's problem is not neighborly.
Bob Z
10-10-2002, 10:56 AM
Buy a box or two of moth balls. Scatter them around in the attic in the fall. Worked for me.
Neal/CO
10-10-2002, 11:07 AM
More fun that way also! They sealed their fate when they ###### with your boat!
EricCO
10-10-2002, 11:11 AM
If I only rented the house I would use the 20 gauge with 3 inch shells and #6 shot. Full choke on they fuzzy asses.
I just about freaked out when I saw them on the boat. I can't rest till they're dead.
Wishin' for rain in the 303.
james /loch lomond
10-10-2002, 11:33 AM
We have your american grey squirrels over here in scotland, i favor a .22 pellet around the eye socket area, that will sort them out.
The only american imports i dont like are your mink and the squirrels, everythings else hotntots, reefrunners etc i love.
cheers james
DaveB
10-10-2002, 12:08 PM
Traps and w/ peanut butter. Pellet gun works fine too.
I agree. I prefer to use a Sheridan Silver Streak air rifle - silent and that pellet packs a punch.
Best Regards,
FJH
I think you should adopt them as your own and teach them to fish. That way you can get them a WY license (they'll be happy to have the money) and fish with more lines in the water at Glendo.
Tried it with my dogs, but it didn't fly.
Good luck,
BRS1
PS: I think I prefer the target practice option. Trapping seems to passive.
Yeah, those have-a-heart live traps work good if you can't use a pellet gun, because of collateral damage. After you have the little sucker caught in the live trap, just fill a 5 gallon bucket with water and drop the trap and all in it. If a 5 gallon bucket isn't big enough, use a trash can filled with water. Just make sure that the water covers the trap completely.
JohnF
10-10-2002, 01:41 PM
Pellet gun could be alot of fun. Good way to get some applied practice. If you lived close I'de come and help...
You might try those big rat traps. You can get those pretty cheap at Ace or Walmart.
You need a predator; buy a weasel, they're wicked efficient. When it comes time to get rid of the weasel go and get a wolverine or tasmanian devil. From there you'll need a tiger, and they're big enough you'll know where it's hiding so it would be easy for you to find it and carry it off.
I had squirrels in my shed a couple of years ago. I decided to give all the corners a full on stream from the hose. (they hate water) Turns out there were something like ten in there. They had chewed up gobs of stuff including the insulation on my wiring. And it STUNK! These things are bad for houses (but good for soup!).
John
sevenmmm
10-10-2002, 02:07 PM
Scotland? That is so cool. Just how did you tap into this website and have you ever fished walleyes?
Oh yeah, those squirrels make excellent table fare. Nuf Said!
ArtCo
10-10-2002, 02:18 PM
Stop with the BB gun already. Eric does not live in the Sticks.
Remember the movie the Chrismas Story? The that kid grew up his name is Eric.
Eric, I had the same problem in Chicago . I traveled, so the Squirrels had a party in my attic. The live traps work with dried out corn on the cob wired inside the cage. I caught three squirrels on one weekend alone. When you do catch them, dump them alive in Neals backyard.LOL
Art
110 conibears work well if you know any trappers. Stand trap up in corner with a bit of peanut butter in back of the trap. Remember to check daily if its warm - trust me it's not pretty if you skip a few days. Rat traps would likely work.
Crossman 760 .177 cal is an inexpensive pelletgun that will do the job well.
Stump
10-10-2002, 03:34 PM
We had one that somehow got into our basement(son probably left the door open a long time) anyway...at that time we had a heating duct that went from one room to a laundry room where for about 3 days the squirrel would run across the heating duct from one room to the other. I blocked it off so the thing could not get into the laundry room (my wife was freaking)so I thought.What I didnt know was it was in the laundry room when I blocked it off. Being said...My wife was doing laundry and screamed like H#LL.I went down to find her with a can of Raid Ant and wasp spray in her hand and a dead squirrel about 5 feet away.Yep, from the time I heard her scream till I got down there(less then a min.) she blasted the rodent with the spray and just kept on sprayin.About 30 seconds after I got there the thing was "pushin daisies" Nuf said....Give the wife a can of raid and send her up in the attic! LOL!
If you do choose to "pop" the thing with a pellet gun, make sure it doesnt get to where you cant get at it. If it croaks up there it will get pretty ripe up in the attic.
STUMP
"My wife said to me that if I go fishing once more, she will leave me. God, I'm gonna miss her!"
steve dover
10-10-2002, 04:02 PM
i live out in the country so I use the 12 gauge, I shoot 6-8 squirrels every fall, they were going in my attic, the damage they can cause is serious. good luck...always be careful direction you are shooting my neighbour shot a side of car no real damage, luckily it was an old banged up one, the car was out of range but shot still kind of carried that far with not much force left.
kliph
10-10-2002, 05:34 PM
Make it easy, rat trap and corn/peanut butter.
Add potates and onion and pepper cook slowly.
Where is the back of a 110 conibear? That's too funny.
EyeBoy
10-10-2002, 07:14 PM
Eric;
Whatta chance to exercise your tactical skills. Put on your cammies, a little war paint on the face, lock your favorite social work toad stabber between your teeth, and your set. Hang in the rafters over their game trail, then drop on their little back when one goes by. The rest is to gruesome for me to elaborate further. If all else fails have Kooser come up and get em, he can use them in his milk can feast.
Tom
dkooser
10-10-2002, 07:46 PM
I've eaten just about everything known to man, including a few treerats but they wont be coming close to my palate anymore. As a kid they were fun to hunt but last year I grew out of that.
WAeyes
10-10-2002, 08:28 PM
Awwww, don't hurt those little rats with fuzzy tails ;)
Daveb
10-10-2002, 09:01 PM
Call Greenskeeper Carl from Bushwood. License to kill gophers.
shocked
10-10-2002, 09:32 PM
I cannot believe how many backwoods hillbillies have presented themselves on this thread. Why shoot the poor defenceless squirrel?? Why don't you just get up on a bloody ladder and seal your darn attic and let the little guys live??
No wonder PETA and other similar groups hate us. Just look at some of these answers and suggestions. One hillbilly even advised drowning them in a trash can. I am appalled at the mentality of some of you hicks. Once again...seal your stupid attic correctly you lazy bumpkin, and leave the squirrels alone. They have as much right to be here as you knuckleheads. Life, Liberty and Freedom to all....including the squirrel.
I cannot beleive the kill, kill mentality. Only in America I guess. God Bless America.
EricCO
10-10-2002, 10:31 PM
>I cannot believe how many backwoods hillbillies have
>presented themselves on this thread. Why shoot the poor
>defenceless squirrel?? Why don't you just get up on a bloody
>ladder and seal your darn attic and let the little guys
>live??
>No wonder PETA and other similar groups hate us. Just look
>at some of these answers and suggestions. One hillbilly even
>advised drowning them in a trash can. I am appalled at the
>mentality of some of you hicks. Once again...seal your
>stupid attic correctly you lazy bumpkin, and leave the
>squirrels alone. They have as much right to be here as you
>knuckleheads. Life, Liberty and Freedom to all....including
>the squirrel.
>I cannot beleive the kill, kill mentality. Only in America
>I guess. God Bless America.
They should live after they crapped on my boat and chewed up some wood in my garage? That's right. I sealed the attic and now they are in the eves of the garage. They chewed holes through the wall into the attic. It's over for them. They are going to be impaled on stakes in the backyard to set an example to the other wildlife in the area. The message is clear: Go to Boulder if you want live!
No one calls me bumpkin and gets to make any influence in my decisions. No one. God Bless Ginsu
LOL j/k
Wishin' for rain in the 303.
Paul H
10-11-2002, 04:20 AM
thats what we call them - lol
http://www.scarysquirrel.org/page1.html
Juls_OH
10-11-2002, 04:34 AM
Paul,
That was pretty funny. Man, they have a website for everything, don't they? lol
Eric,
Borrow some big burly squirrel killin' farm cats from a local farmer. PETA can't argue with animals doing their natural thing...;-)
Juls
I have trouble with red squirrels every fall in my shed. They seem to want to convert my boat into an aluminum condo. The live traps work the best. Put a bungee cord across the trap or the squirrel will tip the trap over when the doors of the trap close and it panics. Squirrels that could defeat a rat trap or 101 conibear have fallen prey to my live traps.
fire baller
10-11-2002, 06:19 AM
Ever see the mpeg with the guys that put nuts on one of those spring loaded clay pidgeon throwers and waited until the squirrel was sitting there munching away before pulling the launch cord?
ArtCo
10-11-2002, 06:27 AM
Shocked...you are the idiot of the day. How do you know if you sealed the squirrel out or in? Do you wait till they start gnawing through th ceiling drywall? PETA people should have to sign in on this board. Talk about a Bumkin.....Where do you live? Manhattan.
ArtCo
10-11-2002, 06:33 AM
Paul H......
You are my hero. If Shouked would only leave his e-mail address we could send this info on the hour.
I still can not stop laughing. Please don't send this again because my stomach is starting to hurt.
warm and fuzzy
10-11-2002, 06:47 AM
I bet he lives in Hollywood next to Barbra Streisand. You dont bring me flowers..........
You misread,IN back of THE trap, not back of trap.
EricCO
10-11-2002, 07:47 AM
I caught one in a trap this morning. They don't have gills like fish so he wasn't able to breathe under water. His problem. 1 down, 1 to go.
Wishin' for rain in the 303.
Thats what I do .I have two cats and they do a darn fine job of thinning out the squirrel population near my house.Pretty much every morning there will be a nice gray squirrel tail laying on the deck.Just the tail ,nothin else, I think they get them right out of their nests in the dark.Unfortunatle they do catch thier share of birds too but I geuss thats the way it goes sometimes.I'll trade a few less mice and a few less squirrels for a few less birds.
ArtCo
10-11-2002, 08:12 AM
Good work Eric,
Now if we can only find out the address of Shocked, you can send that vermin to his house so he can give it some mouth to mouth.LOL
Lomdunor
10-11-2002, 11:21 AM
Why hasn't anyone suggested RAT POISON! They are just rodents doing their rodent thing. DeCon is another poison but for mice. Warfarin is the active ingredient. They eat it and go outside to die. This thins the blood so they will bleed to death.
Shocked would call the likes of me a bumpkin--good old word. Have never seen that in print for a long time..
Killing time at work..
10-11-2002, 11:29 AM
12-gauge is more fun.....
skz
you miss every fish you don't catch.
Killing time at work....
10-11-2002, 11:57 AM
Seems like there are a variety of ways to take care of the problem:
If you shoot them, you have a bloody mess....
If you poison them, they could die in the vents (or whatever) and then you have a REALLY stinky mess.... pun intended.
Trapping and relocating? Sealing up the holes? Too much work for me.... lazy or too busy- either way, it will take more time than I am willing to invest in a fuzz problem.
I have a really accurate .22 cal and have become VERY efficent at gophers. Just my $. 02 though...
skz
But...if he's shooting them IN the attic it could make for some roof repairs :-).
EricCO
10-11-2002, 01:02 PM
Why would they go outside to die?
Wishin' for rain in the 303.
GR8WTHUNTER
10-11-2002, 01:50 PM
you didn't mention if they were red, gray, or fox squirrels. Reds are the worst of the bunch to have around the house. When sealing the openings, put steel wool in first then calk. Reds will chew through calking and get back in but won't make it through the steel.
Try to move some of your trapping/feeding out side of your house/garage also. Don't give them more of a reason to come into your house. Another good trap not mentioned is to take some 55 gal. drums, fill 75% with water. Float just enough of the foam packing peanuts to cover the water. Set a plastic lid form a butter container with shelled corn on it in the middle of the drum. Stack logs along the side of the barrels. Fish out dead rodents every couple of days. Good luck, Rich
Lomdunor
10-12-2002, 01:11 PM
Poison is the best way.
They do eat warfarin and then go outside to die(maybe the rules of the game??) Anyways they do try to return o the outside to die.
Cats--boy when they get done with the rodents they will go back to killing tweetys birds. Worst things to be in the field are "nice tame kittys". They revert to the wild at once. Small ducks,geese, coons, kill birds in the millions annually.
YRNUT
10-13-2002, 07:38 AM
I have a large woods behind my house. Never saw a squirrel while I had my lab, Duke. Duke died three years ago, now I have squirrels everywhere I look. Guess I'll have to get another dog.
Willeye
10-13-2002, 07:36 PM
When I see that the squirrel population is again out of control(about every 3 years) in my back yard I know its time for someone in the neighborhood to do his part to re-balance nature. I live on this steep hill with woods in the back. I have a pile of rocks adjacent to the steepest portion of the hill. I pour a large pile of bird seed onto the rocks. When I see the critters feeding, I reach for the pellet gun open the door slightly and let her rip. Usually the squirrel will squirm a bit , fall off the rock pile and roll down the hill deep into the woods where it will be feeding time for the coons. Now I have a coon problem; repeat the process using a .22.
SUPERTROLLER
10-16-2002, 08:36 PM
Non-Nuked post is returned to the top.
Fish_on
10-17-2002, 05:54 AM
Yeah, then when the cats eat the squirrels, you can drown the cats.
ArtCo
10-17-2002, 06:35 AM
Supertroller you are my hero.. Only one problem, if you meet up with Eric some day he will want to kiss you on the lips for for bringing this post back...Yuck
Art
EricCO
10-17-2002, 08:00 AM
Actually it was the post titled Can Squirrels Smell Death that got scrapped.
Killing tree rats in the 303.
Not so proud canuck
10-17-2002, 09:53 AM
Here is a situation that covers two of the hot topics on board this week , squirels and guns.
This week in my city Sault ste Marie Ont . Canada, police were called into to block off a quarter mile of suburban street due to a neighbor seeing a man brandishing a gun, The police responded with guns drawn as they cordoned off area for one hour to locate man.
Ends up it was an elderly man in his own back yard attempting to shoot with a air pellet gun a pesky black squirrel that was digging up his flower bulbs. Since he had moved recently from the country he thought it a normal course of action. Unfortunately he chose a weekend when the Washington sniper was all over th news and the nosey neighbor and police reacted with extra vigour :)
The man was charged with unlawfully discharging an air rifle in city limits. The newspapers and radio stations were having a slow day and made it front page coverage. Man sheepishly apologized.