On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:04:23 -0700 (PDT), sueb
wrote:

:On Oct 20, 7:24*pm, Dan Musicant ) wrote:
: On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:05:13 -0700, Dan Musicant )
: wrote:
:
: :Shooting? I have no kind of gun right now. I guess a pellet gun might be
: :in order, at least when it's growing season next year, and/or the
: :slingshot. This is war!
: :
: an
:
: Also, I have to confess I have been thinking about poison, at least if
: it's a possum that's at the root of this. The other options seem very
: iffy. I'm unlikely to encounter the possum in the act. I have a bottle
: of ethylene glycol I've had for believe it or not since about 1963! A
: pint bottle. I could maybe figure out a way to poison the critter with
: it. Here's what I figu Take a medium size squash, rupture the skin so
: that the flesh is smelled by whatever animal is doing this, and inject
: ethylene glycol into the interior. The animal would likely ingest it (I
: hear they like the sweet taste), and that would be the end of it. If
: this year is any indication, a squash whose rind is broken is the most
: likely to fall to an attack.
:
: Dan
:
:Before trying something like this, why not go for a less chemical-
:filled solution:
:- borrow a little yappy dog to run around your yard for a few days.
:- put mousetraps around the pumpkins. They won't be big enough to trap
:a squirrel or opposum, but they will startle them.
:- put motion detection lights out
:- put up a scarecrow with tinsel streamers
:- borrow a great big dog to pee around your field
:- program a light to shine into the field several times in the middle
f the night.
:
:Susan B.

I really like the creative attitude here. I don't think I can borrow a
dog, but I like the idea of the mouse traps. Also, the tinsel
scarecrows. Those are cheap and easy and might be rather effective. I'm
a little concerned that a mouse trap will snag one of the beasts, but
maybe that isn't really a problem. Thanks!

Dan

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:12:26 -0400, Norminn
wrote:

wrote:
:
:On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:39:07 -0500, Texas Bob
:wrote:
:
::I never would have thought possum would be in California, but, I did
::know Berkley was full of squirrels.
::
::Texas Bob
:
:One night about 2:00 AM in this same house around 12-15 years ago I came
:face to face with a possum in the kitchen! I looked at it, and it looked
:at me. We froze. I instinctively walked away, allowing the animal to
:react as I knew it would and retreat from the house, which it did. I
:took measures to seal off the entrance.
:
:I've only seen possums a few times here. I did see several racoons early
:one morning at dawn almost a year ago in the middle of the street two
:blocks from my house.
:
:Squirrels are extremely common here. One day this summer when I was in
:front of my house I saw maybe 1/2 a dozen or more in just a few minutes.
:They were having a convention.
:
:Dan
:
:
:What about groundhogs? They are more local. Big teeth?

I'm unaware of groundhogs in the area. Never heard of it.

Dan

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:31:22 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

said:
:
:However, yesterday I went outside and found 3 squirrels feeding on the
:remains of what I had left there of the attacked pumpkins. This made me
:think: Was it squirrels or were they just scavenging on what was left by
:another animal? One of the squirrels repeatedly looked longingly at one
:of the suspended pumpkins but didn't try to climb the trellis system,
:which is pretty flimsy, evidently too flimsy for it to attempt to climb.
:This makes me further suspect that the squirrels may have been the
:original attackers. There are a LOT of squirrels around here (Berkeley,
:CA). I wonder if squirrels could have eaten THAT much of the
umpkins,
:though. Two pounds or more of pumpkin were evidently consumed.
:
:My concern is for next year. I don't know if these animals are smart
:enough to "remember" and come back for next year's harvest.
:
:Pumpkin eaters I have known:
:
:Squirrels (especially to go after the seeds in the fall): small gnaw marks
:
:Groundhogs (will eat them at any stage): large gnaw marks
:
:Mice (rarely, and without much damage): tiny, tiny gnaw marks
:
eer will go after pumpkins, but are likely to break them apart with
:their hooves as they are mainly after the seeds and soft pulp.
:
:I'd probably finger the squirrels for this one, especially considering
:the day-time damage.
:
:You may be at the peak of a population cycle. Live trapping squirrels
:isn't too hard.

Thanks, Pat!

OK, so your take is that the brazen eating of maybe a third of two 2-lb
kabochas in mid-day (it was probably between noon and 3 PM) suggests
squirrels rather than opposum! There were also one or two small ones
attacked at the same time. It's hard to believe that one possum would do
all that. Do they go in packs or are they always solitary?

I guess I'm going to have to try squirrel repellent strategies.
Possibilities seem to be:

Live Trapping (I'd need traps and a decision what to do with them)
Tinsel scarecrows
mouse traps (to scare them away)
sling shot

There are a LOT of squirrels around here!

I even thought of throwing a wire cube (with one side open) over each
squash. That would require a lot of handiwork.

Dan

In article , DanMusicant says...

OK, so your take is that the brazen eating of maybe a third of two 2-lb
kabochas in mid-day (it was probably between noon and 3 PM) suggests
squirrels rather than opposum! There were also one or two small ones
attacked at the same time. It's hard to believe that one possum would do
all that. Do they go in packs or are they always solitary?

Possums are definitely nocturnal and (other than mothers with babies)
they are pretty much solitary.

On the other hand, I've seen as many as two dozen squirrels in my yard
at one time (not the current house, thankfully!). This was the end of
a population boom; there was an epidemic of what looked like mange and
the population crashed rather quickly. Mangey squirrels: not a pretty
sight.

I guess I'm going to have to try squirrel repellent strategies.
Possibilities seem to be:

Live Trapping (I'd need traps and a decision what to do with them)
Tinsel scarecrows
mouse traps (to scare them away)
sling shot

There are a LOT of squirrels around here!

Hot pepper spray as a repellent might help.

I even thought of throwing a wire cube (with one side open) over each
squash. That would require a lot of handiwork.

Circles are easier. 8^)

Dan

Pat in Plymouth MI (testing out a new news server)

Dan Musicant wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:31:22 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

said:

However, yesterday I went outside and found 3 squirrels feeding on
the remains of what I had left there of the attacked pumpkins.
This
made me think: Was it squirrels or were they just scavenging on
what was left by another animal? One of the squirrels repeatedly
looked longingly at one of the suspended pumpkins but didn't try
to
climb the trellis system, which is pretty flimsy, evidently too
flimsy for it to attempt to climb. This makes me further suspect
that the squirrels may have been the original attackers. There are
a LOT of squirrels around here (Berkeley, CA). I wonder if
squirrels could have eaten THAT much of the
pumpkins,
though. Two pounds or more of pumpkin were evidently consumed.

My concern is for next year. I don't know if these animals are
smart
enough to "remember" and come back for next year's harvest.

Pumpkin eaters I have known:

Squirrels (especially to go after the seeds in the fall): small
gnaw
marks

Groundhogs (will eat them at any stage): large gnaw marks

Mice (rarely, and without much damage): tiny, tiny gnaw marks

Deer will go after pumpkins, but are likely to break them apart
with
their hooves as they are mainly after the seeds and soft pulp.

I'd probably finger the squirrels for this one, especially
considering the day-time damage.

You may be at the peak of a population cycle. Live trapping
squirrels isn't too hard.

Thanks, Pat!

OK, so your take is that the brazen eating of maybe a third of two
2-lb kabochas in mid-day (it was probably between noon and 3 PM)
suggests squirrels rather than opposum! There were also one or two
small ones attacked at the same time. It's hard to believe that one
possum would do all that. Do they go in packs or are they always
solitary?

I guess I'm going to have to try squirrel repellent strategies.
Possibilities seem to be:

Live Trapping (I'd need traps and a decision what to do with them)
Tinsel scarecrows
mouse traps (to scare them away)
sling shot

There are a LOT of squirrels around here!

I even thought of throwing a wire cube (with one side open) over
each
squash. That would require a lot of handiwork.

The proper choice of cat will do the job just fine. There used to be
a semi-feral black cat that hung around my parents' house that loved
squirrel. If we'd been away for a while we'd often find a half a
dozen squirrel tails lined up in a neat row on the front porch.

The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough the
first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the effort.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

J. Clarke wrote:
Dan Musicant wrote:

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:31:22 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:


said:


However, yesterday I went outside and found 3 squirrels feeding on
the remains of what I had left there of the attacked pumpkins.
This
made me think: Was it squirrels or were they just scavenging on
what was left by another animal? One of the squirrels repeatedly
looked longingly at one of the suspended pumpkins but didn't try
to
climb the trellis system, which is pretty flimsy, evidently too
flimsy for it to attempt to climb. This makes me further suspect
that the squirrels may have been the original attackers. There are
a LOT of squirrels around here (Berkeley, CA). I wonder if
squirrels could have eaten THAT much of the

pumpkins,

though. Two pounds or more of pumpkin were evidently consumed.

My concern is for next year. I don't know if these animals are
smart
enough to "remember" and come back for next year's harvest.

Pumpkin eaters I have known:

Squirrels (especially to go after the seeds in the fall): small
gnaw
marks

Groundhogs (will eat them at any stage): large gnaw marks

Mice (rarely, and without much damage): tiny, tiny gnaw marks

Deer will go after pumpkins, but are likely to break them apart
with
their hooves as they are mainly after the seeds and soft pulp.

I'd probably finger the squirrels for this one, especially
considering the day-time damage.

You may be at the peak of a population cycle. Live trapping
squirrels isn't too hard.

Thanks, Pat!

OK, so your take is that the brazen eating of maybe a third of two
2-lb kabochas in mid-day (it was probably between noon and 3 PM)
suggests squirrels rather than opposum! There were also one or two
small ones attacked at the same time. It's hard to believe that one
possum would do all that. Do they go in packs or are they always
solitary?

I guess I'm going to have to try squirrel repellent strategies.
Possibilities seem to be:

Live Trapping (I'd need traps and a decision what to do with them)
Tinsel scarecrows
mouse traps (to scare them away)
sling shot

There are a LOT of squirrels around here!

I even thought of throwing a wire cube (with one side open) over
each
squash. That would require a lot of handiwork.


The proper choice of cat will do the job just fine. There used to be
a semi-feral black cat that hung around my parents' house that loved
squirrel. If we'd been away for a while we'd often find a half a
dozen squirrel tails lined up in a neat row on the front porch.

The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough the
first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the effort.

Mine brings in squirrels frequently. A couple weeds ago he brought in a
full sized seagull, quite a step up from finches and starlings.

Boden wrote:
J. Clarke wrote:
Dan Musicant wrote:

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:31:22 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:


said:


However, yesterday I went outside and found 3 squirrels feeding
on
the remains of what I had left there of the attacked pumpkins.
This
made me think: Was it squirrels or were they just scavenging on
what was left by another animal? One of the squirrels repeatedly
looked longingly at one of the suspended pumpkins but didn't try
to
climb the trellis system, which is pretty flimsy, evidently too
flimsy for it to attempt to climb. This makes me further suspect
that the squirrels may have been the original attackers. There
are
a LOT of squirrels around here (Berkeley, CA). I wonder if
squirrels could have eaten THAT much of the

pumpkins,

though. Two pounds or more of pumpkin were evidently consumed.

My concern is for next year. I don't know if these animals are
smart
enough to "remember" and come back for next year's harvest.

Pumpkin eaters I have known:

Squirrels (especially to go after the seeds in the fall): small
gnaw
marks

Groundhogs (will eat them at any stage): large gnaw marks

Mice (rarely, and without much damage): tiny, tiny gnaw marks

Deer will go after pumpkins, but are likely to break them apart
with
their hooves as they are mainly after the seeds and soft pulp.

I'd probably finger the squirrels for this one, especially
considering the day-time damage.

You may be at the peak of a population cycle. Live trapping
squirrels isn't too hard.

Thanks, Pat!

OK, so your take is that the brazen eating of maybe a third of two
2-lb kabochas in mid-day (it was probably between noon and 3 PM)
suggests squirrels rather than opposum! There were also one or two
small ones attacked at the same time. It's hard to believe that
one
possum would do all that. Do they go in packs or are they always
solitary?

I guess I'm going to have to try squirrel repellent strategies.
Possibilities seem to be:

Live Trapping (I'd need traps and a decision what to do with them)
Tinsel scarecrows
mouse traps (to scare them away)
sling shot

There are a LOT of squirrels around here!

I even thought of throwing a wire cube (with one side open) over
each
squash. That would require a lot of handiwork.


The proper choice of cat will do the job just fine. There used to
be
a semi-feral black cat that hung around my parents' house that
loved
squirrel. If we'd been away for a while we'd often find a half a
dozen squirrel tails lined up in a neat row on the front porch.

The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough the
first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the effort.

Mine brings in squirrels frequently. A couple weeds ago he brought
in a full sized seagull, quite a step up from finches and starlings.

Geez, that's a tough cat.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:59:28 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

an Musicant wrote:
: On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:31:22 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
: wrote:
:
: said:
:
: However, yesterday I went outside and found 3 squirrels feeding on
: the remains of what I had left there of the attacked pumpkins.
: This
: made me think: Was it squirrels or were they just scavenging on
: what was left by another animal? One of the squirrels repeatedly
: looked longingly at one of the suspended pumpkins but didn't try
: to
: climb the trellis system, which is pretty flimsy, evidently too
: flimsy for it to attempt to climb. This makes me further suspect
: that the squirrels may have been the original attackers. There are
: a LOT of squirrels around here (Berkeley, CA). I wonder if
: squirrels could have eaten THAT much of the
: pumpkins,
: though. Two pounds or more of pumpkin were evidently consumed.
:
: My concern is for next year. I don't know if these animals are
: smart
: enough to "remember" and come back for next year's harvest.
:
: Pumpkin eaters I have known:
:
: Squirrels (especially to go after the seeds in the fall): small
: gnaw
: marks
:
: Groundhogs (will eat them at any stage): large gnaw marks
:
: Mice (rarely, and without much damage): tiny, tiny gnaw marks
:
: Deer will go after pumpkins, but are likely to break them apart
: with
: their hooves as they are mainly after the seeds and soft pulp.
:
: I'd probably finger the squirrels for this one, especially
: considering the day-time damage.
:
: You may be at the peak of a population cycle. Live trapping
: squirrels isn't too hard.
:
: Thanks, Pat!
:
: OK, so your take is that the brazen eating of maybe a third of two
: 2-lb kabochas in mid-day (it was probably between noon and 3 PM)
: suggests squirrels rather than opposum! There were also one or two
: small ones attacked at the same time. It's hard to believe that one
: possum would do all that. Do they go in packs or are they always
: solitary?
:
: I guess I'm going to have to try squirrel repellent strategies.
: Possibilities seem to be:
:
: Live Trapping (I'd need traps and a decision what to do with them)
: Tinsel scarecrows
: mouse traps (to scare them away)
: sling shot
:
: There are a LOT of squirrels around here!
:
: I even thought of throwing a wire cube (with one side open) over
: each
: squash. That would require a lot of handiwork.
:
:The proper choice of cat will do the job just fine. There used to be
:a semi-feral black cat that hung around my parents' house that loved
:squirrel. If we'd been away for a while we'd often find a half a
:dozen squirrel tails lined up in a neat row on the front porch.

That is awesome! Davey Crockett the semi-feral house-cat! I do love
cats.
:
:The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
:catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough the
:first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the effort.

Training a cat would be darn near impossible, I guess.

Dan

Dan Musicant wrote:
On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:59:28 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

Dan Musicant wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:31:22 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

said:

However, yesterday I went outside and found 3 squirrels feeding
on
the remains of what I had left there of the attacked pumpkins.
This
made me think: Was it squirrels or were they just scavenging on
what was left by another animal? One of the squirrels repeatedly
looked longingly at one of the suspended pumpkins but didn't try
to
climb the trellis system, which is pretty flimsy, evidently too
flimsy for it to attempt to climb. This makes me further suspect
that the squirrels may have been the original attackers. There
are
a LOT of squirrels around here (Berkeley, CA). I wonder if
squirrels could have eaten THAT much of the
pumpkins,
though. Two pounds or more of pumpkin were evidently consumed.

My concern is for next year. I don't know if these animals are
smart
enough to "remember" and come back for next year's harvest.

Pumpkin eaters I have known:

Squirrels (especially to go after the seeds in the fall): small
gnaw
marks

Groundhogs (will eat them at any stage): large gnaw marks

Mice (rarely, and without much damage): tiny, tiny gnaw marks

Deer will go after pumpkins, but are likely to break them apart
with
their hooves as they are mainly after the seeds and soft pulp.

I'd probably finger the squirrels for this one, especially
considering the day-time damage.

You may be at the peak of a population cycle. Live trapping
squirrels isn't too hard.

Thanks, Pat!

OK, so your take is that the brazen eating of maybe a third of two
2-lb kabochas in mid-day (it was probably between noon and 3 PM)
suggests squirrels rather than opposum! There were also one or two
small ones attacked at the same time. It's hard to believe that
one
possum would do all that. Do they go in packs or are they always
solitary?

I guess I'm going to have to try squirrel repellent strategies.
Possibilities seem to be:

Live Trapping (I'd need traps and a decision what to do with them)
Tinsel scarecrows
mouse traps (to scare them away)
sling shot

There are a LOT of squirrels around here!

I even thought of throwing a wire cube (with one side open) over
each
squash. That would require a lot of handiwork.

The proper choice of cat will do the job just fine. There used to
be
a semi-feral black cat that hung around my parents' house that
loved
squirrel. If we'd been away for a while we'd often find a half a
dozen squirrel tails lined up in a neat row on the front porch.

That is awesome! Davey Crockett the semi-feral house-cat! I do love
cats.

The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough the
first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the effort.

Training a cat would be darn near impossible, I guess.

First you'd have to be able to catch a squirrel with your teeth :-)


--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

:The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
:catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough
:the first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the
:effort.

Training a cat would be darn near impossible, I guess.
Dan

Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close and
personal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard. The
cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with her and
kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up (though she
never harmed a pet rabbit).
After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild
rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after that.

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:32:00 -0500, Bert Byfield
wrote:

::The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
::catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough
::the first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the
::effort.
:
: Training a cat would be darn near impossible, I guess.
: Dan
:
: Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close and
ersonal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard. The
:cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with her and
:kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up (though she
:never harmed a pet rabbit).
: After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild
:rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after that.

Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are easy to
find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I suppose a tom
cat would be better, because they're bigger.

Dan

: Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close
: and
ersonal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard.
:The cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with
:her and kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up
though she never harmed a pet rabbit).
:After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild
:rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after
:that.

Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are
easy to find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I
suppose a tom cat would be better, because they're bigger. Dan

Dead squirrels might give an idea to a cat. Unfixed male cats are the
most butch. The only cat I ever had (I am 65) that killed a rat was an
unfixed male. I woke up to find a trophy of half a rat.

On Oct 22, 11:43*pm, Dan Musicant ) wrote:
On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:32:00 -0500, Bert Byfield

wrote:

::The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
::catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough
::the first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the
::effort.
:
: Training a cat would be darn near impossible, I guess.
: Dan
:
: * Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close and
ersonal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard. The
:cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with her and
:kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up (though she
:never harmed a pet rabbit).
: * After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild
:rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after that.

Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are easy to
find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I suppose a tom
cat would be better, because they're bigger.

Dan

Use a pump up pellet rifle to shoot one in your yard.
That way it is warm, and maybe even still wiggling when the cat gets
it.
Tie a string to it if it is not moving on it's own power.

A moma cat with kittens will tend to be less picky about what it eats,
and the kittens will chase anything that moves when they are hungry.
A tom cat is going to be bigger, and a good one will hunt the
neighborhood dogs as well.

Try going out into the country during kitten season and ask a farmer
for a kitten that it up and running on it's own.

BTW
Squirrel tastes like chicken if cooked like chicken.
;-)

BTW again
If you put small block of wood on the mouse trap so it will not close
all the way it will just snap and swat but not get packed off by
something to big for it, and a rat trap will take a squirrel.
You can tie it to a stake if you want so that nothing can drag it off.

You can also tape a wire or something like that to the swatter of the
trap and it will swing around better, making it freak them out more.

Wire cones sounds like a pretty good idea if you are in a town that
loves squirrels but hates cats.

What does an electric fence charger cost around there?
That would be fun watching a squirrel hit that.
;-)

On Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:01:47 -0500, Bert Byfield
wrote:

:: Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close
:: and
:ersonal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard.
::The cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with
::her and kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up
:though she never harmed a pet rabbit).
::After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild
::rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after
::that.
:
: Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are
: easy to find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I
: suppose a tom cat would be better, because they're bigger. Dan
:
ead squirrels might give an idea to a cat. Unfixed male cats are the
:most butch. The only cat I ever had (I am 65) that killed a rat was an
:unfixed male. I woke up to find a trophy of half a rat.

I am also 65! Betcha you're at least a little confused about Medicare. I
spent a lot of time trying to figure out all the complexities and still
figure I barely have the lay of the land, and I'm probably wrong about a
lot of ideas I have about it.

I'm not sure they'll let me have an unfixed male cat in Berkeley, at
least one that gets out. Of course, maybe I'll be the only person who
knows it's unfixed.

My last girlfriend's male cat used to bring in dead or dieing birds. She
was pretty upset when that happened. Mice too, I think. My sister's cat
brought in a dead mouse a few days ago and freaked her out at 1:30 AM.

I seem to be on top of the rat problem here. I keep traps in the attic,
where I must have caught around 25 of them, but none in the last 2-3
years, I think. I used to hear them scurrying around in the attic, and
after I had my roof replaced, I cleaned out the attic good and proper,
including every dropping. Since then, a small flood in the attic (broken
vent pipe), brought up the urine smell from the wood up there and it's
still a problem in hot weather. I'm going to have to do something about
that.

Dan

On Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:56:27 -0700 (PDT), CanopyCo
wrote:

:On Oct 22, 11:43*pm, Dan Musicant ) wrote:
: On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:32:00 -0500, Bert Byfield
:
: wrote:
:
: ::The trouble is finding the right cat--most can't figure out how to
: ::catch squirrels and the ones who can usually get beat up enough
: ::the first time that they decide that squirrels aren't worth the
: ::effort.
: :
: : Training a cat would be darn near impossible, I guess.
: : Dan
: :
: : * Yes, but I had a cat once who learned about rabbits up close and
: ersonal, when a daughter kept pet rabbits in the house and yard. The
: :cat learned that rabbits are 1) awful (one was in love with her and
: :kept jumping her with passion), and 2) easy to beat up (though she
: :never harmed a pet rabbit).
: : * After a while the cat started showing up with battered dead wild
: :rabbits she had caught, and it was easier to keep a garden after that.
:
: Well, I could get a cat and deliver it dead squirrels, which are easy to
: find on the local streets. Maybe it would get the idea? I suppose a tom
: cat would be better, because they're bigger.
:
: Dan
:
:Use a pump up pellet rifle to shoot one in your yard.
:That way it is warm, and maybe even still wiggling when the cat gets
:it.
:Tie a string to it if it is not moving on it's own power.

Good idea!
:
:A moma cat with kittens will tend to be less picky about what it eats,
:and the kittens will chase anything that moves when they are hungry.
:A tom cat is going to be bigger, and a good one will hunt the
:neighborhood dogs as well.

Not too many unleashed dogs around here. I think it might be a law. I
haven't seen one in a while.
:
:Try going out into the country during kitten season and ask a farmer
:for a kitten that it up and running on it's own.

That may be the only way I can get an unfixed male. If I get it at the
local animal shelter, they may insist on fixing it before they give it
to me!
:
:BTW
:Squirrel tastes like chicken if cooked like chicken.
:;-)

Mmm, squirrel fricasee, sweet & sour squirrel,... yum!!
:
:BTW again
:If you put small block of wood on the mouse trap so it will not close
:all the way it will just snap and swat but not get packed off by
:something to big for it, and a rat trap will take a squirrel.

I have a couple mouse traps, and 6-8 rat traps.

:You can tie it to a stake if you want so that nothing can drag it off.

Great idea!
:
:You can also tape a wire or something like that to the swatter of the
:trap and it will swing around better, making it freak them out more.
:
:Wire cones sounds like a pretty good idea if you are in a town that
:loves squirrels but hates cats.

Cones! Yeah, that's better than cubes, way easier.
:
:What does an electric fence charger cost around there?
:That would be fun watching a squirrel hit that.
:;-)

That might be a real good idea. If squirrels get shocked in my yard they
might stay out. I could even set up blind shocking fences and move them
around until they just stay out. I have no idea where to get one or how
much it would cost. I imagine I could maybe make them myself. House
current would be too intense, and probably not safe. I guess the idea is
a transformer to step down the voltage to shock but not kill or have
danger of fire.

Dan