I know this isn't strictly a garden issue, but they do dance around the
trees, so...

Here's the good... We have really enjoyed watching the squirrels chase each
other around the garden, up and down the trees, across the wires and
generally provide much entertainment for me, hubby and my 4yo son.

Here's the bad... A few mornings ago, we were woken at stupid o'clock (i.e.
middle of the night) by the sound of shinnanigans in the attic, right above
our heads in the bedroom. I commented that there must be animals in the
attic, it went quiet and we went back to sleep. Well, this has happened
every night/morning since and we've been getting a bit tired of being woken
up.

We figured it must be squirrels as there are so many of them around here.
And now here's the ugly... hubby came home from work yesterday with critter
poison. Being the soppy mush that I am, I got a bit upset at the thought of
poisoning the squirrels :-( But, needs must.

He investigated first and saw no signs of anything and distributed the
poison as necessary. I did some searching around the net and gather that
squirrels are a pest and saw much info on the methods of getting rid of
them. The one that got my attention was mixing the poison with peanut
butter. Seems so cruel, but I guess that's life out here in the Texas
country. I guess it's no more cruel that pouring kettles of boiling water
on the fire ants... don't tell PETA, they would have a field day!

Here's hoping for a quiet Christmas day morning...
--
Lynda

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 15:31:33 GMT, Lynda LeCompte
wrote:

I know this isn't strictly a garden issue, but they do dance around the
trees, so...

Here's the good... We have really enjoyed watching the squirrels chase each
other around the garden, up and down the trees, across the wires and
generally provide much entertainment for me, hubby and my 4yo son.

Here's the bad... A few mornings ago, we were woken at stupid o'clock (i.e.
middle of the night) by the sound of shinnanigans in the attic, right above
our heads in the bedroom. I commented that there must be animals in the
attic, it went quiet and we went back to sleep. Well, this has happened
every night/morning since and we've been getting a bit tired of being woken
up.

We figured it must be squirrels as there are so many of them around here.
And now here's the ugly... hubby came home from work yesterday with critter
poison. Being the soppy mush that I am, I got a bit upset at the thought of
poisoning the squirrels :-( But, needs must.

He investigated first and saw no signs of anything and distributed the
poison as necessary. I did some searching around the net and gather that
squirrels are a pest and saw much info on the methods of getting rid of
them. The one that got my attention was mixing the poison with peanut
butter. Seems so cruel, but I guess that's life out here in the Texas
country. I guess it's no more cruel that pouring kettles of boiling water
on the fire ants... don't tell PETA, they would have a field day!

Hope those suckers do not crawl into a hole in your house to die.
Forget PETA, the smell will cure you of the poison thing. I used to
live trap and relocate but now that a family of redtails has taken up
residence I consider them to just be a crop of hawk food.

John

By the way, PETA is bunch of loonies who only pick on women and
children.

go to lowes or home depot
a trap will cost like 20 or 30 bucks
drive them like 2 or 5 miles away

Lynda LeCompte wrote in message
news
I know this isn't strictly a garden issue, but they do dance around the
trees, so...

Here's the good... We have really enjoyed watching the squirrels chase
each
other around the garden, up and down the trees, across the wires and
generally provide much entertainment for me, hubby and my 4yo son.

Here's the bad... A few mornings ago, we were woken at stupid o'clock
(i.e.
middle of the night) by the sound of shinnanigans in the attic, right
above
our heads in the bedroom. I commented that there must be animals in the
attic, it went quiet and we went back to sleep. Well, this has happened
every night/morning since and we've been getting a bit tired of being
woken
up.

We figured it must be squirrels as there are so many of them around here.
And now here's the ugly... hubby came home from work yesterday with
critter
poison. Being the soppy mush that I am, I got a bit upset at the thought
of
poisoning the squirrels :-( But, needs must.

He investigated first and saw no signs of anything and distributed the
poison as necessary. I did some searching around the net and gather that
squirrels are a pest and saw much info on the methods of getting rid of
them. The one that got my attention was mixing the poison with peanut
butter. Seems so cruel, but I guess that's life out here in the Texas
country. I guess it's no more cruel that pouring kettles of boiling water
on the fire ants... don't tell PETA, they would have a field day!

Here's hoping for a quiet Christmas day morning...
--
Lynda

For some inexplicable reasons, "Sammy'" wrote:

:go to lowes or home depot
:a trap will cost like 20 or 30 bucks
:drive them like 2 or 5 miles away
:
...and dump them where they will bother someone else.

This is kind to the squirrel and unkind to people (unless you actually
live 2 or 5 miles from uninhabited land.)


--
Wendy Chatley Green

"Lynda LeCompte" wrote in message
news
We figured it must be squirrels as there are so many of them around here.
And now here's the ugly... hubby came home from work yesterday with
critter
poison. Being the soppy mush that I am, I got a bit upset at the thought
of
poisoning the squirrels :-( But, needs must.

You will be even more upset if it dies in a corner of the attic or down
behind some wall. The smell will overwhelm you, and force you to tear things
apart to find the rotting carcass. There is no guarantee they will die
outside or where you can reach the body. Poisoning them is a very risky way
to go.

Much better to trap them and let them go a few miles away. Or, better yet,
just seal up where they're coming in. Then you can enjoy them without the
bother.

JWB

In article ,
says...
We figured it must be squirrels as there are so many of them around here.
And now here's the ugly... hubby came home from work yesterday with critter
poison. Being the soppy mush that I am, I got a bit upset at the thought of
poisoning the squirrels :-( But, needs must.



A general rule of thumb is if you are hearing the noises at night it usually
is rats, which are as common or more common than the squirrels you see
around. If the noise is more daylight time, probably squirrels. But there can
be exceptions to those rules. Squirrels chew open their entrances where rats
will tend to squeeze down so squirrel holes many times, are easy to find.
Squirrels have different tastes than rats and usually won't feed on the rat
bait, though sometimes they do. Mixing rat bait with peanut butter will
improve the chance of getting squirrels to feed. Squirrels usually will not
feed inside a bait protector which is needed to protect the bait that is used
in outside situations, so now birds, dogs, cats and many other non target
animals are at risk, attracted to the peanut butter, if the bait is scattered
about the yard. Try the live trap route, you will probably catch many
squirrels to get the few that may be getting into you attic. If you use the
bait, only use it in the attic. After a couple of weeks fix the area where
they are getting inside.
--

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

I know this isn't strictly a garden issue, but they do dance around the
trees, so...
BRBR

I don't mind squirrels but then I don't have to share the house with them.
Last morning, c. 3 PM I was descending the stairs barefoot holding a tiny
flashlight when I saw a Norway rat ascending the stairs, same way. The rest of
the night I kept most of the lights on upstairs, since rats dislike light.
Then I googled for destruction methods and went out for poison. Only problem
here is if the critter goes and dies in an inaccessable spot.
zemedelec

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 15:31:33 GMT, Lynda LeCompte
wrote:

I know this isn't strictly a garden issue, but they do dance around the
trees, so...

Here's the good... We have really enjoyed watching the squirrels chase each
other around the garden, up and down the trees, across the wires and
generally provide much entertainment for me, hubby and my 4yo son.

Here's the bad... A few mornings ago, we were woken at stupid o'clock (i.e.
middle of the night) by the sound of shinnanigans in the attic, right above
our heads in the bedroom. I commented that there must be animals in the
attic, it went quiet and we went back to sleep. Well, this has happened
every night/morning since and we've been getting a bit tired of being woken
up.

We figured it must be squirrels as there are so many of them around here.
And now here's the ugly... hubby came home from work yesterday with critter
poison. Being the soppy mush that I am, I got a bit upset at the thought of
poisoning the squirrels :-( But, needs must.

He investigated first and saw no signs of anything and distributed the
poison as necessary. I did some searching around the net and gather that
squirrels are a pest and saw much info on the methods of getting rid of
them. The one that got my attention was mixing the poison with peanut
butter. Seems so cruel, but I guess that's life out here in the Texas
country. I guess it's no more cruel that pouring kettles of boiling water
on the fire ants... don't tell PETA, they would have a field day!

Here's hoping for a quiet Christmas day morning...

honey, don't worry about PETA, my friend's house BURNT to the ground
from wires that were chewed up in the attic by
squirrels....................the wires shorted out and ignited the
wood in the attic over a little time. By the way, they chewed the 220
wires that powered her dryer..............
madgardener

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 14:05:05 -0500, Wendy Chatley Green
wrote:

For some inexplicable reasons, "Sammy'" wrote:

:go to lowes or home depot
:a trap will cost like 20 or 30 bucks
:drive them like 2 or 5 miles away
lets get real here, the introduced red squirrels are lazier than the
gray squirrels and don't bury their gathered nuts. Gray squirrels are
responsible for the forestation of our planet where they reside. Red
squirrels don't bury their booty. They just horde it in trees. And
they're driving out the gray squirrel because they're more aggressive
than the gray. And to be effective, you need to drive them TEN or
FIFTEEN miles away.......2-5 is a short jaunt for them...........
:
...and dump them where they will bother someone else.

better to dump them where they will "bother someone else" than cause
irrepairable damage to the wiring in the attic to the house or phone
lines or whatever. And if you do it correctly, release them in a
wilder place so that Nature will be a better reality for them.

This is kind to the squirrel and unkind to people (unless you actually
live 2 or 5 miles from uninhabited land.)

I agree, I'd release them in a wilder spot rather than just a few
miles away.

On 24 Dec 2003 19:30:47 GMT, pamfree (Zemedelec)
wrote:

I know this isn't strictly a garden issue, but they do dance around the
trees, so...
BRBR

I don't mind squirrels but then I don't have to share the house with them.
Last morning, c. 3 PM I was descending the stairs barefoot holding a tiny
flashlight when I saw a Norway rat ascending the stairs, same way. The rest of
the night I kept most of the lights on upstairs, since rats dislike light.
Then I googled for destruction methods and went out for poison. Only problem
here is if the critter goes and dies in an inaccessable spot.
zemedelec
time for the rat bait and peanut butter. I will NOT tolerate
rats.........nasty, disease spreading vermin....... A trap would get
them too............rats are VERY smart and learn after one exposure.
I'd say trap them with something tasty like dogfood smeared in peanut
butter in a bowl yumm yummm. Once they get caught, I'd even say drown
the bastages..............or find some lab that needs subjects g

madgardener who has to deal with WOODS rats sometimes that the cat's
bring in, but nothing like the Norway rats and the great nasty white
ones we sometimes had in Nashville near dumpsters and older, rougher
neighborhoods.

Ok, first of all -- you need to figure out where these buggers are gaining
entry. Trap, poison, exorcise, whatever -- until you figure out their point
of entry they will continue to be an ongoing problem.

Secondly, you need to identify just what your problem IS rather than making
an assumption. Is it squirrels or perhaps rats or maybe even bats, cats,
birds, racoons, mice or who knows what? You should be able to make this
determination by first an inspection and then a trap, as well as once you've
found the entry point. If the activity in the attic is consistently
occurring, you can also try to videotape it and see what you get.

Once you know what you're dealing with and how they're getting in, THEN you
can actually deal with the problem. Plug their entry point then set out
some traps, see if you catch anything. If you have rats then pick up the
snap traps (good ole Victor Pest) and coat them with peanut butter -- set
them all about the attic, especially along the walls. You can use poison as
well but at least with snap traps they won't be going off in a corner to
die.

Another item -- if you have rats, then the live catch and release bit is for
the naive. It flat don't work. By now they've bred and had at least 1 full
litter which has probably matured and started breeding as well (assuming the
time of the year and weather is similar there as it is here). One year we
had a rat problem and did not realize it until they had set up a happy,
happy home -- when all was said and done, I stopped counting the dead at 72.

If it really is squirrels, then blocking their way in will resolve the issue
fairly quickly. Same goes for bats or other nocturnal types -- just be sure
to do the blocking when they're gone.

Good luck.

James

"JWB" wrote in message . ..

You will be even more upset if it dies in a corner of the attic or down
behind some wall. The smell will overwhelm you, and force you to tear things
apart to find the rotting carcass. There is no guarantee they will die
outside or where you can reach the body. Poisoning them is a very risky way
to go.

Here's my rat poison story. I saw two mice indoors, which refused to
enter the traps, no matter the bait, so I put out Warfarin bars which
were gobbled down two nights in a row. Considering the huge amount
they ate, I knew they were done for. Now to find them. I looked
everywhere for a couple days without luck and assumed I got lucky and
they went outside to die.

A couple weeks later, I put on a jacket I had not worn in a while, and
stuck my hand in the pocket and felt something fuzzy and instantly
knew what had happened. I took the jacket outdoors and dumped the
dead mouse. As I was walking back I had this nagging thought to check
the other pocket. Sure enough, the other mouse was there as well.

"Chuck C" wrote in message
om...
"JWB" wrote in message
. ..

You will be even more upset if it dies in a corner of the attic or down
behind some wall. The smell will overwhelm you, and force you to tear
things
apart to find the rotting carcass. There is no guarantee they will die
outside or where you can reach the body. Poisoning them is a very risky
way
to go.

Here's my rat poison story. I saw two mice indoors, which refused to
enter the traps, no matter the bait, so I put out Warfarin bars which
were gobbled down two nights in a row. Considering the huge amount
they ate, I knew they were done for. Now to find them. I looked
everywhere for a couple days without luck and assumed I got lucky and
they went outside to die.

A couple weeks later, I put on a jacket I had not worn in a while, and
stuck my hand in the pocket and felt something fuzzy and instantly
knew what had happened. I took the jacket outdoors and dumped the
dead mouse. As I was walking back I had this nagging thought to check
the other pocket. Sure enough, the other mouse was there as well.

heh heh... that's funny. I had one die behind a wall. Actually, it was less
of a wall, and more like paneling nailed to studs in the laundry room. Made
it easy to remove. But the smell... wow, was it bad. I never poisoned again.

Peanut butter seems to be the bait of choice for traps.

Now then... having read all of the responses, I realise that we probably
didn't give this much thought before we tackled it. I guess that's the
culmination of being tired and aggravated through lack of sleep thanks to
the critters :-/

The good news is that we didn't hear anything this morning. Doesn't
necessarily mean that our unwelcome visitors are dead though. Hubby will go
and investigate and make sure there are no dead bodies around, although he
explained that the poison makes them thirsty and that they would usually go
and find water before they actually died. Unfortunately, the attic tapers
off into an unaccessable area and bottom dollar says that's where the
critters will curl up and die if anywhere.

There are no obvious entry points that we can find, and we are considering
the fact that it could well be rats and not squirrels up there.

All of the wise words are appreciated. Y'all make a lot of sense and we
shall be better prepared for the next onslaught... as I'm sure there will
be one!

And, um... I shall be putting my hands in my pockets very cautiously ;-)
--
Lynda

mine wont touch PB, they want bird seed. At night I get to watch the mice doing these
incredible acrobatics while they try to launch themselves toward the bird cage which
is up on the wall. Well at least I am keeping total numbers down this year. Ingrid

"JWB" wrote:
Peanut butter seems to be the bait of choice for traps.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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