not for squirrels it doesnt. an enclosed structure with hardware cloth works for
squirrels. maybe...............

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:20:35 -0400, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

Netting works. But, it requires more than a minute to apply and more than a
minute to remove for harvesting fruit. Therefore, it is not useful to many
people.

"Plague is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. In 2006, a
total of 13 human plague cases have been reported among residents of four states: New
Mexico (seven cases), Colorado (three cases), California (two cases), and Texas (one
case). This is the largest number of cases reported in a single year in the United
States since 1994."

to make matters worse multidrug resistant plague bacteria have been found in the US.
INgrid

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:51:17 -0700, "David E. Ross" wrote:
Plague among humans is rare but not unknown in southern California.

It seems that the newspapers carry an article at least once each year,
warning people to avoid contact with squirrels and other small mammals.
This warning is especially strong when the animal appears ill.
However, such a warning could also apply to avoiding rabies as much as
avoiding plague. When the warning mentions dead animals, then plague is
usually the concern.

when it comes to hantavirus it is both the feces and dried urine as well as the dead
dried bodies that can pass disease. It isnt up to us to decide the risk factor for
others. I dont mind snakes, but then I live where there are no poisonous snakes at
all and grew up here. people down south have a much different view and I have to
respect their dislike.

sick animals dont always "act oddly". happily, rodents dont pass rabies. but even
mice scurrying around in the back yard can spread the ticks of lyme disease up in our
neck of the north so we dont leave food around that would draw them, and discourage
people from putting out bird feeders that would draw them in.

INgrid

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:25:31 -0500, wrote:
We get a few cases and a couple of deaths state wide a year from bird
flu - lots more people die in car accidents. I can't see condemning
the species squirrel (or bird) over a remote possibility. Same goes
for rabies. Obviously, if an animal is acting oddly, don't engage it
but the media seems to enjoy public hysteria, imo.

Kate

you dont understand reproduction? squirrels crank out more than one litter per years
and after a while there are simply too many squirrels for the amount of "wild" food
and the amount of natural living spaces. then they begin eating their way into
houses (made of wood much like trees) and eating everything in sight. at some point
the population explosion has to be thinned out to reasonable levels. in my case it
is NOT MY HOUSE, NOT MY FRUIT TREES.

Ingrid


If they had a better food source, would they harm the mulberry?

Kate

I have a bird feeder. It's called a lawn. Got ready to go out to the garden
this morning, but when I looked out the front window, there were 218 billion
birds having some sort of feast on the lawn. Maybe I'm exaggerating and it
was only 183 million. More than I've ever seen on my lawn at one time. I
decided to read the newspaper for 1/2 hour until they're done.

I don't understand the fascination with bird feeders. I don't live in a
wildlife sanctuary. I'm in a "regular neighborhood". There's no shortage of
birds. Friends who have feeders don't seem to attract anything more exotic
than what I see in my yard. This is upstate NY. What do some people hope to
attract with their feeders? Cockatiels?


wrote in message
...
when it comes to hantavirus it is both the feces and dried urine as well
as the dead
dried bodies that can pass disease. It isnt up to us to decide the risk
factor for
others. I dont mind snakes, but then I live where there are no poisonous
snakes at
all and grew up here. people down south have a much different view and I
have to
respect their dislike.

sick animals dont always "act oddly". happily, rodents dont pass rabies.
but even
mice scurrying around in the back yard can spread the ticks of lyme
disease up in our
neck of the north so we dont leave food around that would draw them, and
discourage
people from putting out bird feeders that would draw them in.

INgrid

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:25:31 -0500, wrote:
We get a few cases and a couple of deaths state wide a year from bird
flu - lots more people die in car accidents. I can't see condemning
the species squirrel (or bird) over a remote possibility. Same goes
for rabies. Obviously, if an animal is acting oddly, don't engage it
but the media seems to enjoy public hysteria, imo.

Kate

we arent allowed to "rehome" any wild animals. I have a big vat of water. it is
fast. Ingrid

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:29:06 -0700, "David E. Ross" wrote:
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.

it isnt smarts... it is time. squirrels have all day to figure out "work arounds",
humans need to go to real work.

the problem is the squirrels dont have enough brains to figure out that some yards
and fruit trees are "death".


On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:57:05 -0500, wrote:
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.

and also kills song birds. no thank you, I will deal with the vermin myself.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:07:09 -0400, John McGaw wrote:
An "inside cat" is not what you want for this job. That's why I specified a
"barn cat". The typical cat which hangs around the barn on a working farm
can be a pretty fearsome animal and is more wild than domesticated. Not the
sort which will come when you call "kitty, kitty" unless you or something
you are holding seems edible.

squirrels eat bird eggs.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:01:05 -0400, Phisherman wrote:

Your best bet is the Hav-A-hart trap and peanut butter. I can catch
4 or 5 per day, and after two weeks, the population is greatly reduced
for 6-8 months. After that I start catching them again. I have seen
jays divebomb squirrels to drive them off, but there are few predators
here. Feeding squirrels will only encourage them to raise families.

any chance of a picture?



On Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:24:20 -0600, "SteveB" wrote:

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

On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:31:09 -0500, wrote:

you dont understand reproduction? squirrels crank out more than one litter per years
and after a while there are simply too many squirrels for the amount of "wild" food
and the amount of natural living spaces. then they begin eating their way into
houses (made of wood much like trees) and eating everything in sight. at some point
the population explosion has to be thinned out to reasonable levels. in my case it
is NOT MY HOUSE, NOT MY FRUIT TREES.

Ingrid

I do understand reproduction. I also understand loss of habitat,
human overpopulation and caring for the world in general, not just my
species. Obviously you see things differently. IMO, we humans are the
responsible ones if nature is unbalanced and it's up to us to come up
with responsible solutions. My idea of responsible doesn't involve
extermination.

Kate - but then I enjoy squirrels


If they had a better food source, would they harm the mulberry?

Kate

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
I have a bird feeder. It's called a lawn. Got ready to go out to the garden
this morning, but when I looked out the front window, there were 218
billion birds having some sort of feast on the lawn. Maybe I'm exaggerating
and it was only 183 million. More than I've ever seen on my lawn at one
time. I decided to read the newspaper for 1/2 hour until they're done.

I don't understand the fascination with bird feeders. I don't live in a
wildlife sanctuary. I'm in a "regular neighborhood". There's no shortage
of birds. Friends who have feeders don't seem to attract anything more
exotic than what I see in my yard. This is upstate NY. What do some people
hope to attract with their feeders? Cockatiels?


When the first robins arrive my lawn looks invaded by zillions of worm
hunters. When I mow masses of swallows swarm all about my tractor. The
only bird feeding I do is a few slices of bread for the pair of Canada geese
that come to my deck three times a day, and very occasionally wild turkeys
come by for a snack... they like dry cat food. There is no need for bird
feeders in rural areas. Even in winter birds find plenty of food, and even
at temps below zero water still flows in culverts under roadways where deer
hoofs break up surface ice where they exit from below ground and there are
lots of openings around beaver dams... plus there is always food and water
at all the many livestock farms. And the squirrels aren't existing on my
few peanuts alone... just yesterday I walked into my Norway spruce windbreak
to check the gauge on my 500 gallon propane tank that's hidden in there and
there hidden from view are *mountains* of cones and seed husks...squirrels
are very neat, they pile their debris very uniformly, cones to the left,
husks to the right.

wrote in message
...
you dont understand reproduction? squirrels crank out more than one
litter per years
and after a while there are simply too many squirrels for the amount of
"wild" food
and the amount of natural living spaces.

What you don't and are obviously incapable understanding is unlike humans
squirrel parents kick their offspring out of the family home as soon as they
are able to fend for themselves, they move on to other parts never again to
return to the area where they were born... squirrel parents do not support
their adult offspring.

then they begin eating their way into
houses (made of wood much like trees) and eating everything in sight.

Squirrels can only enter the homes of the pinheaded imbeciles who don't
properly maintain their homes.

at some point the population explosion has to be thinned out to reasonable
levels.

Squirrel populations do not increase past what their environment can
sustain... any extras are culled out by their natural preditors, some years
at a slightly higher rate than they reproduce... squirrel populations, as
with most mammilian wildlife, remain very stable or decrease, rarely do
mammal populations in the wild increase.

in my case it is NOT MY HOUSE, NOT MY FRUIT TREES.


Typical tenant, doesn't give a shit about other's property... and hasn't the
common sense of a rodent... I'll bet you're still sponging off your parents,
and whoever else, including the tax payers. The only reason that wildlife
can take up residence in homes is because lame brained people permit them
access.

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
I have a bird feeder. It's called a lawn. Got ready to go out to the garden
this morning, but when I looked out the front window, there were 218
billion birds having some sort of feast on the lawn. Maybe I'm exaggerating
and it was only 183 million. More than I've ever seen on my lawn at one
time. I decided to read the newspaper for 1/2 hour until they're done.

I don't understand the fascination with bird feeders. I don't live in a
wildlife sanctuary. I'm in a "regular neighborhood". There's no shortage
of birds. Friends who have feeders don't seem to attract anything more
exotic than what I see in my yard. This is upstate NY. What do some people
hope to attract with their feeders? Cockatiels?

This morning, I had lazuli buntings, canyon wrens, American goldfinches and
grosbeaks. The most color I've seen in months.

"David E. Ross" wrote

Where I live, a coyote is more likely to catch a cat (even a feral cat)
than either of them is likely to catch a squirrel.

We have coyotes come within 25 feet of our house.