GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - I'll get those pesky squirrels .............

David E. Ross · 26-04-2009, 07:29 AM posted to rec.gardens

On 4/25/2009 10:57 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 09:34:47 -0600, "SteveB"
wrote:

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"SteveB" wrote in message
...
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"SteveB" wrote in message
...
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"SteveB" wrote in message
...
I have made mouse traps out of five gallon buckets, and a tin can on a
wire stretched over the open end. Wipe peanut butter on the can, and
when the mouse steps out on it, it spins and dumps the mouse in the
water.

I have been fighting squirrels all spring. Tomorrow a king size
version goes up, and we'll see how the squirrels do. Going to get
two more for other positions on my property.

Will keep you posted.

Steve

Why?
Why what?

Why are you fighting squirrels?
Because they come into my property, and will strip an apricot tree in
half a day. They don't eat the meat, they leave that on the ground.
They take off the pits. Same thing with almonds. They eat a lot of
stuff, and also destroy a lot without eating it. They chew their way
into the shed and plow through a bag of feed, eat some, and urinate and
defecate in the rest of the bag while they're in there. We have
hantavirus here, and so they bring that with them.

Other than that, I guess they're pretty okay.

Steve

Is there a reason you haven't tried a Havahart trap? You'll obviously have
to dispatch the squirrels somehow after you trap them, but there are lots
of imaginative ways to do that.
I used a Tin Cat for the mice, but you have to handle them too much. I just
tossed the Tin Cat in a 5 gallon bucket of water for three minutes. Now I
take them out with a large metal spoon and fling them like a lacrosse toss
into the chasm that borders our property for the raptors to have free lunch.
Setting and resetting HavAHarts every day is a pain, not to mention cost
times three or six.

Steve

HavaHarts probably require that you have a heart, at least one that
finds room for other species. Squirrels are fun loving creatures - a
bit opportunistic but then who isn't?

I believe that humans are probably smarter than squirrels and that
humans can deal with problems with squirrels without killing them.
Perhaps I'm wrong.

Kate

I use a HavaHart at home. When I catch a squirrel, I take the trap down
to a state park where there are plenty of hungry coyotes, hawks, and
owls and probably some snakes.

Next, I'll have to buy a larger HavaHart to catch raccoons. Raccoons
stripped my grape vines of 3/4 of a year's crop. The law does not allow
me to relocate raccoons, so I'll let the county's animal control service
dispose of them. They will probably dispose of them the same way they
dispose of 1/3 of the stray dogs they collect -- not by adoption or
relocation but by extermination.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary