On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 00:59:01 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

I have a family of 4-5 black squirrels that are damaging our flower beds,

There are "tree squirrels" and "ground squirrels" in Austin. The type
of squirrel that has a predominately black fore-front and does not
inhabit trees is a Rock Squirrel. It is about the same size as the
Fox Squirrel - a type of tree squirrel. Rock Squirrels are really
only big ground squirrels and are more closely related to the littler
ground squirrels that dig holes and used to be common at Zilker Park.

You can probably discourage them by removing or interfering with their
habitat - removing piles of loose rocks, closing underground voids in
rocks, etc.. If you do catch and release them make sure you are
matching this type of habitat in which to release them.

Rock Squirrels on the easternmost edge of their range here in Austin
and I would recommend a little more tolerance of their presence and
damage than the ubiquitous Fox Squirrel.

Rusty Mase

In article ,
Victor Martinez wrote:

Joe Doe wrote:
are also reservoirs of other diseases. I do not think it makes sense to
encourage them in a highly urban area.

You do realize they were here before it was an urban area, right?


So were roaches, rats, mice, flies, mosquitoes and other vermin that
most people take a stand against.

I do not go out to destroy everything in nature. When something in
nature, decides to occupy the space under my pier and beam house, or up
in my attic I take a stand. The stand is based on the known disease
risk and secondary damage caused to wiring, ducts etc. etc.


Roland

In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

Havahart traps, hands down, are the best and most commonly used.
Don't get the squirrel trap, get the next size up. Squirrels are smarter
than the trap makers give them credit for.


Thanks for the info.
I found Havahart traps on the web.
Are there any local stores that carry them?
I went to Home Depot and Petco web sites, but could not find them.

Try Buck Moore's feed store. Even if they don't have the havahart, it's
worth a visit and they can suggest something else:

5237 N. Lamar, 451-3469

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 00:59:01 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

I have a family of 4-5 black squirrels that are damaging our flower beds,

There are "tree squirrels" and "ground squirrels" in Austin. The type
of squirrel that has a predominately black fore-front and does not
inhabit trees is a Rock Squirrel. It is about the same size as the
Fox Squirrel - a type of tree squirrel. Rock Squirrels are really
only big ground squirrels and are more closely related to the littler
ground squirrels that dig holes and used to be common at Zilker Park.

You can probably discourage them by removing or interfering with their
habitat - removing piles of loose rocks, closing underground voids in
rocks, etc.. If you do catch and release them make sure you are
matching this type of habitat in which to release them.

Rock Squirrels on the easternmost edge of their range here in Austin
and I would recommend a little more tolerance of their presence and
damage than the ubiquitous Fox Squirrel.

Rusty Mase

Rusty,
You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in our
yard.
Most of them indeed have black fore-front, while few are mostly black.
They do live in a hole under a huge boulder.
My wife whose flower garden and pots have been damaged wants them out.
I want to keep them in our yard but off her flowers.
I even toyed with building a squirrel gauntlet/Olympics (as seen on TV)
in our backyard for entertainment. (Of course, it was shot down.)

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful flowers?
Since I have not seen any hint that they may invade our house (and does not
appear to be in their nature to do so based on your description),
I wish I could find a way to keep them around.
It all depends, however, on their ability to stay away from my wife's
flowers.

In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 00:59:01 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

I have a family of 4-5 black squirrels that are damaging our flower beds,

There are "tree squirrels" and "ground squirrels" in Austin. The type
of squirrel that has a predominately black fore-front and does not
inhabit trees is a Rock Squirrel. It is about the same size as the
Fox Squirrel - a type of tree squirrel. Rock Squirrels are really
only big ground squirrels and are more closely related to the littler
ground squirrels that dig holes and used to be common at Zilker Park.

You can probably discourage them by removing or interfering with their
habitat - removing piles of loose rocks, closing underground voids in
rocks, etc.. If you do catch and release them make sure you are
matching this type of habitat in which to release them.

Rock Squirrels on the easternmost edge of their range here in Austin
and I would recommend a little more tolerance of their presence and
damage than the ubiquitous Fox Squirrel.

Rusty Mase

Rusty,
You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in our
yard.
Most of them indeed have black fore-front, while few are mostly black.
They do live in a hole under a huge boulder.
My wife whose flower garden and pots have been damaged wants them out.
I want to keep them in our yard but off her flowers.
I even toyed with building a squirrel gauntlet/Olympics (as seen on TV)
in our backyard for entertainment. (Of course, it was shot down.)

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful flowers?
Since I have not seen any hint that they may invade our house (and does not
appear to be in their nature to do so based on your description),
I wish I could find a way to keep them around.
It all depends, however, on their ability to stay away from my wife's
flowers.



Are they actually eating the flowers or digging up the bulbs?
If they are just going after the bulbs and rhizomes, there IS a way to
keep them from being able to dig them up. :-)
Let me know and I'll post more.....

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 05:53:43 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in our
yard.

Not so far but there are a number of families in my neighborhood. I
need to augment some rock piles to entice them in but as they are
already around so I am not too concerned at the moment.

We have a squirrel here that behaves mostly like a Prairie Dog but can
also function if need be as a tree squirrel. Burrows under rocks and
boulders and stores food in its burrow. Eats just about everything
possible, even meat accordingly to the book I have. So you might try
feeding them to draw them away from your flower beds. You might even
put up a small non-obtrusive fence just to direct them away from the
flower beds to a feeding location somewhere else.

They finish having young by August so you could "run them off"
sometime after that. According to my book they are not colonial so
you probably just have the single family. So I am unsure of the
effects of feeding them. Just as an experiment you might throw some
sunflower seeds and fruit sections around on the opposite side of
their burrow from your beds. Maybe they would occupy their time
locating those instead of digging around in the beds.

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful flowers?

No clue, here, but you could play around with alternate food sources
and report back to us on any successes.

Rusty Mase
Paisano Industries LLP
www.paisano.com

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 05:53:43 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in our
yard.

Not so far but there are a number of families in my neighborhood. I
need to augment some rock piles to entice them in but as they are
already around so I am not too concerned at the moment.

We have a squirrel here that behaves mostly like a Prairie Dog but can
also function if need be as a tree squirrel. Burrows under rocks and
boulders and stores food in its burrow. Eats just about everything
possible, even meat accordingly to the book I have. So you might try
feeding them to draw them away from your flower beds. You might even
put up a small non-obtrusive fence just to direct them away from the
flower beds to a feeding location somewhere else.

They finish having young by August so you could "run them off"
sometime after that. According to my book they are not colonial so
you probably just have the single family. So I am unsure of the
effects of feeding them. Just as an experiment you might throw some
sunflower seeds and fruit sections around on the opposite side of
their burrow from your beds. Maybe they would occupy their time
locating those instead of digging around in the beds.

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful
flowers?

No clue, here, but you could play around with alternate food sources
and report back to us on any successes.

Rusty Mase
Paisano Industries LLP
www.paisano.com

You sound like you want them in your yard, Rusty. Take ours. :-)

Our guests (or pests) appear to be a single family.
We saw the young few months ago.
I bought a Havahart trap from the Tractor Supply. (Thank you, Katra.)
Few days before I bought it, my wife put some fox urine around her flower
bed,
and we haven't seen them since. The trap has gone 2 days untouched.
Since we see them more often on weekends (as we spend more time at home),
I am not sure if it is an effect of fox urine or just coincidence.

If fox urine works, I rather chase them away with it (as a family) than
relocating them one at a time. Someone stated earlier here that
relocated animals get attacked by resident ones and often get killed.

Is it possible that they just picked up and left (not due to fox urine)?
Time to move on??
Or is it against their natural tendency?

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 00:59:01 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

I have a family of 4-5 black squirrels that are damaging our flower
beds,

There are "tree squirrels" and "ground squirrels" in Austin. The type
of squirrel that has a predominately black fore-front and does not
inhabit trees is a Rock Squirrel. It is about the same size as the
Fox Squirrel - a type of tree squirrel. Rock Squirrels are really
only big ground squirrels and are more closely related to the littler
ground squirrels that dig holes and used to be common at Zilker Park.

You can probably discourage them by removing or interfering with their
habitat - removing piles of loose rocks, closing underground voids in
rocks, etc.. If you do catch and release them make sure you are
matching this type of habitat in which to release them.

Rock Squirrels on the easternmost edge of their range here in Austin
and I would recommend a little more tolerance of their presence and
damage than the ubiquitous Fox Squirrel.

Rusty Mase

Rusty,
You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in our
yard.
Most of them indeed have black fore-front, while few are mostly black.
They do live in a hole under a huge boulder.
My wife whose flower garden and pots have been damaged wants them out.
I want to keep them in our yard but off her flowers.
I even toyed with building a squirrel gauntlet/Olympics (as seen on TV)
in our backyard for entertainment. (Of course, it was shot down.)

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful
flowers?
Since I have not seen any hint that they may invade our house (and does
not
appear to be in their nature to do so based on your description),
I wish I could find a way to keep them around.
It all depends, however, on their ability to stay away from my wife's
flowers.



Are they actually eating the flowers or digging up the bulbs?
If they are just going after the bulbs and rhizomes, there IS a way to
keep them from being able to dig them up. :-)
Let me know and I'll post more.....

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ude=0&user id
=katra

Found a good deal on Havahart trap at the Tractor Supply. Thanks.
They had the best price ( by more than $10).

Yes, they are actually eating the flowers (in the garden and pots)
and digging/turning pot soil (not bulbs).

In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 05:53:43 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in our
yard.

Not so far but there are a number of families in my neighborhood. I
need to augment some rock piles to entice them in but as they are
already around so I am not too concerned at the moment.

We have a squirrel here that behaves mostly like a Prairie Dog but can
also function if need be as a tree squirrel. Burrows under rocks and
boulders and stores food in its burrow. Eats just about everything
possible, even meat accordingly to the book I have. So you might try
feeding them to draw them away from your flower beds. You might even
put up a small non-obtrusive fence just to direct them away from the
flower beds to a feeding location somewhere else.

They finish having young by August so you could "run them off"
sometime after that. According to my book they are not colonial so
you probably just have the single family. So I am unsure of the
effects of feeding them. Just as an experiment you might throw some
sunflower seeds and fruit sections around on the opposite side of
their burrow from your beds. Maybe they would occupy their time
locating those instead of digging around in the beds.

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful
flowers?

No clue, here, but you could play around with alternate food sources
and report back to us on any successes.

Rusty Mase
Paisano Industries LLP
www.paisano.com

You sound like you want them in your yard, Rusty. Take ours. :-)

Our guests (or pests) appear to be a single family.
We saw the young few months ago.
I bought a Havahart trap from the Tractor Supply. (Thank you, Katra.)

Welcome! :-)

Few days before I bought it, my wife put some fox urine around her flower
bed,
and we haven't seen them since. The trap has gone 2 days untouched.
Since we see them more often on weekends (as we spend more time at home),
I am not sure if it is an effect of fox urine or just coincidence.

If fox urine works, I rather chase them away with it (as a family) than
relocating them one at a time. Someone stated earlier here that
relocated animals get attacked by resident ones and often get killed.

Is it possible that they just picked up and left (not due to fox urine)?
Time to move on??
Or is it against their natural tendency?

Fox urine! Where did you get that???
I wonder if it'd keep squirrels off of my bird feeders? G

K.




--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 00:59:01 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

I have a family of 4-5 black squirrels that are damaging our flower
beds,

There are "tree squirrels" and "ground squirrels" in Austin. The type
of squirrel that has a predominately black fore-front and does not
inhabit trees is a Rock Squirrel. It is about the same size as the
Fox Squirrel - a type of tree squirrel. Rock Squirrels are really
only big ground squirrels and are more closely related to the littler
ground squirrels that dig holes and used to be common at Zilker Park.

You can probably discourage them by removing or interfering with their
habitat - removing piles of loose rocks, closing underground voids in
rocks, etc.. If you do catch and release them make sure you are
matching this type of habitat in which to release them.

Rock Squirrels on the easternmost edge of their range here in Austin
and I would recommend a little more tolerance of their presence and
damage than the ubiquitous Fox Squirrel.

Rusty Mase

Rusty,
You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in our
yard.
Most of them indeed have black fore-front, while few are mostly black.
They do live in a hole under a huge boulder.
My wife whose flower garden and pots have been damaged wants them out.
I want to keep them in our yard but off her flowers.
I even toyed with building a squirrel gauntlet/Olympics (as seen on TV)
in our backyard for entertainment. (Of course, it was shot down.)

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful
flowers?
Since I have not seen any hint that they may invade our house (and does
not
appear to be in their nature to do so based on your description),
I wish I could find a way to keep them around.
It all depends, however, on their ability to stay away from my wife's
flowers.



Are they actually eating the flowers or digging up the bulbs?
If they are just going after the bulbs and rhizomes, there IS a way to
keep them from being able to dig them up. :-)
Let me know and I'll post more.....

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ude=0&user id
=katra

Found a good deal on Havahart trap at the Tractor Supply. Thanks.
They had the best price ( by more than $10).

Cool. :-)
Tractor supply has a lot of neat stuff.


Yes, they are actually eating the flowers (in the garden and pots)
and digging/turning pot soil (not bulbs).

Hmmmm... What I was going to suggest was chicken wire. The 1" mesh.
You can plant bulbs, seeds, etc. in the ground and then cover the soil
with chicken wire, then with a little mulch to make it invisible. The
flowers and stuff come up thru the wire, and the wire under the mulch
prevents any animals digging up the bulbs.

This also helps to prevent dogs and cats from digging up your garden.

For protecting the above ground plants if they are eating flowers, a low
hotwire setup can drive off just about anything.

K.




--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

I may be interested in the relocation, I live in San Antonio. wonder if they
would make it down here? I do not see why not but I am just squirrelly, not
a squirrel expert.

"Jay Casey" wrote in message
news
I have a family of 4-5 black squirrels that are damaging our flower beds,
pots,
and bird feeders. I have put up with them for a couple of years, but
decided
that they have to go now.

I would like to solicit your feedback on trapping and releasing them.
- What are some good "humane" traps? Manufacturer and model #?
- Can I release them any where out in the country side, or is there
governing laws and regulations regarding releasing trapped animals?
- After capturing the first one, would other squirrels figure it out and
avoid it?
They shocked me on some occasions with their intelligence and ingenuity.
- Any general tips and hints on trapping squirrels?

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 05:53:43 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in
our
yard.

Not so far but there are a number of families in my neighborhood. I
need to augment some rock piles to entice them in but as they are
already around so I am not too concerned at the moment.

We have a squirrel here that behaves mostly like a Prairie Dog but can
also function if need be as a tree squirrel. Burrows under rocks and
boulders and stores food in its burrow. Eats just about everything
possible, even meat accordingly to the book I have. So you might try
feeding them to draw them away from your flower beds. You might even
put up a small non-obtrusive fence just to direct them away from the
flower beds to a feeding location somewhere else.

They finish having young by August so you could "run them off"
sometime after that. According to my book they are not colonial so
you probably just have the single family. So I am unsure of the
effects of feeding them. Just as an experiment you might throw some
sunflower seeds and fruit sections around on the opposite side of
their burrow from your beds. Maybe they would occupy their time
locating those instead of digging around in the beds.

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful
flowers?

No clue, here, but you could play around with alternate food sources
and report back to us on any successes.

Rusty Mase
Paisano Industries LLP
www.paisano.com

You sound like you want them in your yard, Rusty. Take ours. :-)

Our guests (or pests) appear to be a single family.
We saw the young few months ago.
I bought a Havahart trap from the Tractor Supply. (Thank you, Katra.)

Welcome! :-)

Few days before I bought it, my wife put some fox urine around her
flower
bed,
and we haven't seen them since. The trap has gone 2 days untouched.
Since we see them more often on weekends (as we spend more time at
home),
I am not sure if it is an effect of fox urine or just coincidence.

If fox urine works, I rather chase them away with it (as a family) than
relocating them one at a time. Someone stated earlier here that
relocated animals get attacked by resident ones and often get killed.

Is it possible that they just picked up and left (not due to fox urine)?
Time to move on??
Or is it against their natural tendency?

Fox urine! Where did you get that???
I wonder if it'd keep squirrels off of my bird feeders? G

She found it on the web (don't know exactly where).
I also saw an ad for fox urine in granular form on the web.
We were out of town this weekend. So we don't know if those squirrels
made any visit but we didn't see any such sign when we returned.
We really haven't seen them since she used the fox urine.
I am really curious if it actually works.
With school starting and my wife going back to work full-time,
it will be more difficult to observed them live, unless they do more
damages.

Haven't trapped them yet, and I don't want to drive that far down. :-)

"hello" wrote in message
.. .
I may be interested in the relocation, I live in San Antonio. wonder if
they
would make it down here? I do not see why not but I am just squirrelly,
not
a squirrel expert.

"Jay Casey" wrote in message
news
I have a family of 4-5 black squirrels that are damaging our flower
beds,
pots,
and bird feeders. I have put up with them for a couple of years, but
decided
that they have to go now.

I would like to solicit your feedback on trapping and releasing them.
- What are some good "humane" traps? Manufacturer and model #?
- Can I release them any where out in the country side, or is there
governing laws and regulations regarding releasing trapped animals?
- After capturing the first one, would other squirrels figure it out and
avoid it?
They shocked me on some occasions with their intelligence and
ingenuity.
- Any general tips and hints on trapping squirrels?

In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Jay Casey" wrote:

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 05:53:43 GMT, "Jay Casey"
wrote:

You described these squirrels perfectly as if you have seen them in
our
yard.

Not so far but there are a number of families in my neighborhood. I
need to augment some rock piles to entice them in but as they are
already around so I am not too concerned at the moment.

We have a squirrel here that behaves mostly like a Prairie Dog but can
also function if need be as a tree squirrel. Burrows under rocks and
boulders and stores food in its burrow. Eats just about everything
possible, even meat accordingly to the book I have. So you might try
feeding them to draw them away from your flower beds. You might even
put up a small non-obtrusive fence just to direct them away from the
flower beds to a feeding location somewhere else.

They finish having young by August so you could "run them off"
sometime after that. According to my book they are not colonial so
you probably just have the single family. So I am unsure of the
effects of feeding them. Just as an experiment you might throw some
sunflower seeds and fruit sections around on the opposite side of
their burrow from your beds. Maybe they would occupy their time
locating those instead of digging around in the beds.

If I feed & water them, would they stay off her flowers,
or will they be unable to overcome their appetite for her beautiful
flowers?

No clue, here, but you could play around with alternate food sources
and report back to us on any successes.

Rusty Mase
Paisano Industries LLP
www.paisano.com

You sound like you want them in your yard, Rusty. Take ours. :-)

Our guests (or pests) appear to be a single family.
We saw the young few months ago.
I bought a Havahart trap from the Tractor Supply. (Thank you, Katra.)

Welcome! :-)

Few days before I bought it, my wife put some fox urine around her
flower
bed,
and we haven't seen them since. The trap has gone 2 days untouched.
Since we see them more often on weekends (as we spend more time at
home),
I am not sure if it is an effect of fox urine or just coincidence.

If fox urine works, I rather chase them away with it (as a family) than
relocating them one at a time. Someone stated earlier here that
relocated animals get attacked by resident ones and often get killed.

Is it possible that they just picked up and left (not due to fox urine)?
Time to move on??
Or is it against their natural tendency?

Fox urine! Where did you get that???
I wonder if it'd keep squirrels off of my bird feeders? G

She found it on the web (don't know exactly where).
I also saw an ad for fox urine in granular form on the web.
We were out of town this weekend. So we don't know if those squirrels
made any visit but we didn't see any such sign when we returned.
We really haven't seen them since she used the fox urine.
I am really curious if it actually works.

Sounds like it...
Squirrels are normally creatures of habit.

With school starting and my wife going back to work full-time,
it will be more difficult to observed them live, unless they do more
damages.

Cool! Do keep us posted please?
What did the fox uring cost and how long is it good for?

K.




--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

Cool! Do keep us posted please?
What did the fox uring cost and how long is it good for?

K.

I wonder if people urine would work? That's a lot easier to get - just send
husband out in the morning....

Cindy