First there was one, now there's four & they are making a right mess in the
garden & chasing away blackbirds from the garden who are doing a great job
in keeping insects & slugs under control. One of the blasted squirrel
attacked a wood pigeon, i saw a plume of feathers flying & the pigeon had a
nasty head wound. Are squirrels normally this aggressive? and is there any
way of controlling the squirrels(grey) short of shooting them! As far as i
know... these are not crack cocaine addicted squirrles like the ones
reported in the news but they are still a real menace!

Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

--
..

In article , "garden virgin" - writes:
| Xref: gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk uk.rec.gardening:351538
|
| First there was one, now there's four & they are making a right mess in the
| garden & chasing away blackbirds from the garden who are doing a great job
| in keeping insects & slugs under control. One of the blasted squirrel
| attacked a wood pigeon, i saw a plume of feathers flying & the pigeon had a
| nasty head wound. Are squirrels normally this aggressive? and is there any
| way of controlling the squirrels(grey) short of shooting them! As far as i
| know... these are not crack cocaine addicted squirrles like the ones
| reported in the news but they are still a real menace!
|
| Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
| appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
| them, that way i'd know when they're around.

Nah. Make them into a casserole. The answers to your questions are,
yes, they are usually that aggressive and, no, there is no way of
controlling them short of shooting them. It is possible that beech
martens would do the job, but importing them into the UK is illegal.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"garden virgin" - wrote in message
...
First there was one, now there's four & they are making a right mess in
the garden & chasing away blackbirds from the garden who are doing a great
job in keeping insects & slugs under control. One of the blasted squirrel
attacked a wood pigeon, i saw a plume of feathers flying & the pigeon had
a nasty head wound. Are squirrels normally this aggressive? and is there
any way of controlling the squirrels(grey) short of shooting them! As far
as i know... these are not crack cocaine addicted squirrles like the ones
reported in the news but they are still a real menace!

Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

Buy a rat/mink trap from Mole valley farmers at Bridgewater, set it, catch
the buggers, dispose of them, leave the bodies for the foxes.

Alan


--
.

I had two cheap plastic based nut feeders for birds hung in a hawthorn bush
and a grey squirrel gnawed off the base of one to get at the nuts. I
replaced that feeder with a metal one. The squirrel then attacked the second
plastic feeder. I smeared the base with butter then vasilene mixed with
chilli powder (cheap from an Asian supplier). The squirrel sampled it,
recoiled, tried again, washed itself vigorously, then went off and hasn't
been seen since.
There are not many grey squirrels in Devon where we live, unlike
Cheshire-maybe they favour more open country-there's something different. In
any event it had other places to chose away from our garden.
The chilli did not affect the birds and it does seem to be a way of keeping
squirrels from particular targets such as bird tables or feeders.
Regards
David T
"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

"garden virgin" - wrote in message
...
First there was one, now there's four & they are making a right mess in
the garden & chasing away blackbirds from the garden who are doing a
great job in keeping insects & slugs under control. One of the blasted
squirrel attacked a wood pigeon, i saw a plume of feathers flying & the
pigeon had a nasty head wound. Are squirrels normally this aggressive?
and is there any way of controlling the squirrels(grey) short of shooting
them! As far as i know... these are not crack cocaine addicted squirrles
like the ones reported in the news but they are still a real menace!

Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

Buy a rat/mink trap from Mole valley farmers at Bridgewater, set it, catch
the buggers, dispose of them, leave the bodies for the foxes.

Alan


--
.

Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

I used to love seeing squirrels until I had a two-month running fight,
trying to get several humanely out of the loft of a bungalow I moved into,
and which they were "wrecking".

After two months my tactics had to change, and there were a few less around.

If I see one now, they'd better keep long distance from me....

Greatest laugh recently was in a London restaurant seeing on the menu,
"Stuffed Squirrel". I didn't sample it, but hope it becomes popular.

They're just cute looking, evil rats!!

garden virgin wrote:
First there was one, now there's four & they are making a right mess in the
garden & chasing away blackbirds from the garden who are doing a great job
in keeping insects & slugs under control. One of the blasted squirrel
attacked a wood pigeon, i saw a plume of feathers flying & the pigeon had a
nasty head wound. Are squirrels normally this aggressive?

Yes, they're at least as bad as c a t s (sorry!) at the right time of
the year. They will do for your garden birds, dig up your bulbs, and
jag up your lawn to plant/dig up hazelnuts, etc.


and is there any
way of controlling the squirrels(grey) short of shooting them! As far as i
know... these are not crack cocaine addicted squirrles like the ones
reported in the news but they are still a real menace!

Unfortunately, they are a real menace. I pity the chap who mentioned
the loft of his house. An air rifle is OK, but better is a Fenn trap
Mk IV, *in a suitable tunnel* (which you can make or buy) - mind your
fingers when setting these, and use the safety catch (make sure you
take the catch "off" after setting!!), and anchor the trap properly.


Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

I don't think you can stop them. An alternative to a Fenn trap is a
live catch trap, made of sturdy wire... however, if you don't want to
kill the squirrel, you'll have to take it away and release it, which
is technically illegal, and possibly dangerous to yourself. Do not
try and touch, or get your fingers or other bits *anywhere near* a
squirrel that you think may still be alive to any degree.

"david taylor" wrote in message
...
I had two cheap plastic based nut feeders for birds hung in a hawthorn bush
and a grey squirrel gnawed off the base of one to get at the nuts. I
replaced that feeder with a metal one. The squirrel then attacked the
second plastic feeder.

I had a plastic bird feeder that the squirrels gnawed off in a few days, so
i bought a metal feeder with a metal wire cage around it, they clung on to
the wire cage & are constantly at it, so i hung the feeder higher & on a
thin branch that i thought wouldn't support both their weight & secured the
hook on the feeder with twine to the branch so strong gusts of wind wouldn't
bring it down. The squirrels gnawed off the twine & the feeder fell,
scattering the seeds all over the garden. Score - Squirrel 2, GV 0 : (

I smeared the base with butter then vasilene mixed with chilli powder
(cheap from an Asian supplier). The squirrel sampled it, recoiled, tried
again, washed itself vigorously, then went off and hasn't been seen
since.

I like the sound of that... flicking through my take-away menu & considering
a vindaloo or phal... finally an excuse to order one of these for dinner!
: )

The chilli did not affect the birds and it does seem to be a way of
keeping squirrels from particular targets such as bird tables or feeders.

Thanks, i think i have sone habernero chilli stashed at the back of the
larder.

GV.

"Neil" wrote in message
...
Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

I used to love seeing squirrels until I had a two-month running fight,
trying to get several humanely out of the loft of a bungalow I moved into,
and which they were "wrecking".

My neighbour once told me they found a squirrel in their kitchen, molesting
a coconut! i'm not joking.

Greatest laugh recently was in a London restaurant seeing on the menu,
"Stuffed Squirrel". I didn't sample it, but hope it becomes popular.

They're just cute looking, evil rats!!

skinny little things, you'll need a few for a decent meal... but i wouldn't
eat a tree rat unless i was really desperate.

GV.

garden virgin wrote:
My neighbour once told me they found a squirrel in their kitchen, molesting
a coconut! i'm not joking.

LOL!

My friend in France once heard some noise whilst she was in bed,
sniffing noises and grunts. She looked at her digital clock but
couldn't see the numbers, so she put the light on and found a hedgehog
on her clock!

Ysgrifennodd "david taylor" mewn neges
...
I had two cheap plastic based nut feeders for birds hung in a hawthorn bush
and a grey squirrel gnawed off the base of one to get at the nuts. I
replaced that feeder with a metal one. The squirrel then attacked the
second plastic feeder. I smeared the base with butter then vasilene mixed
with chilli powder (cheap from an Asian supplier). The squirrel sampled it,
recoiled, tried again, washed itself vigorously, then went off and hasn't
been seen since.
There are not many grey squirrels in Devon where we live, unlike
Cheshire-maybe they favour more open country-there's something different.
In any event it had other places to chose away from our garden.
The chilli did not affect the birds and it does seem to be a way of
keeping squirrels from particular targets such as bird tables or feeders.
Regards
David T

Apparently, birds can't, or don't notice the heat from chillies. I used to
have a parrot who loved eating chillies a couple of times a week.

T Dave R

"Dafydd Ap Arwyn" wrote in message
...

Ysgrifennodd "david taylor" mewn neges
...
I had two cheap plastic based nut feeders for birds hung in a hawthorn
bush and a grey squirrel gnawed off the base of one to get at the nuts. I
replaced that feeder with a metal one. The squirrel then attacked the
second plastic feeder. I smeared the base with butter then vasilene mixed
with chilli powder (cheap from an Asian supplier). The squirrel sampled
it, recoiled, tried again, washed itself vigorously, then went off and
hasn't been seen since.
There are not many grey squirrels in Devon where we live, unlike
Cheshire-maybe they favour more open country-there's something different.
In any event it had other places to chose away from our garden.
The chilli did not affect the birds and it does seem to be a way of
keeping squirrels from particular targets such as bird tables or feeders.
Regards
David T

Apparently, birds can't, or don't notice the heat from chillies. I used to
have a parrot who loved eating chillies a couple of times a week.

T Dave R

It now seems i have *Indian* squirrels... the chilli powder & vasaline slime
on the feeder didn't work. I've found my stash of dried habernero chillis &
i have procured a few fresh Jamaican scotch bonnet chilli peppers which i am
going to combine & simmer & make chilli oil with the lard & smear that all
over the feeder when the lard cools. Lets hope the squirrels don't find the
beer i've left for the slugs & snails tonight or i'll have to ask my council
to issue ASBOs.

gv.

"garden virgin" - wrote in message
...
First there was one, now there's four & they are making a right mess in
the garden & chasing away blackbirds from the garden who are doing a great
job in keeping insects & slugs under control. One of the blasted squirrel
attacked a wood pigeon, i saw a plume of feathers flying & the pigeon had
a nasty head wound. Are squirrels normally this aggressive? and is there
any way of controlling the squirrels(grey) short of shooting them! As far
as i know... these are not crack cocaine addicted squirrles like the ones
reported in the news but they are still a real menace!

Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

High power air rifle.

"garden virgin" - wrote:

First there was one, now there's four & they are making a right mess in
the garden & chasing away blackbirds from the garden who are doing a great
job in keeping insects & slugs under control. One of the blasted squirrel
attacked a wood pigeon, i saw a plume of feathers flying & the pigeon had
a nasty head wound. Are squirrels normally this aggressive? and is there
any way of controlling the squirrels(grey) short of shooting them! As far
as i know... these are not crack cocaine addicted squirrles like the ones
reported in the news but they are still a real menace!

Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

The simple answer is shoot them torturing them with chillies or trapping
them causes stress to them a quick blast with an air rifle and you get a
clean kill. They are eaten and served up in restaurants as flightless
partridge to jazz the name up. Personally i put up with the odd one that
shows up but my cat tends to keep the bugger away and being bright white
the cat never gets a shot at the birds so the birds stay happy too.

"gary croft" wrote in message
...
"garden virgin" - wrote:

First there was one, now there's four & they are making a right mess in
the garden & chasing away blackbirds from the garden who are doing a
great
job in keeping insects & slugs under control. One of the blasted squirrel
attacked a wood pigeon, i saw a plume of feathers flying & the pigeon had
a nasty head wound. Are squirrels normally this aggressive? and is there
any way of controlling the squirrels(grey) short of shooting them! As far
as i know... these are not crack cocaine addicted squirrles like the ones
reported in the news but they are still a real menace!

Any advice on how to keep them out of the garden would be greatly
appreciated, i'm tempted to catch/trap them & put collars with bells on
them, that way i'd know when they're around.

The simple answer is shoot them torturing them with chillies or trapping
them causes stress to them

The thought that catching them causes them stress really breaks my heart, I
don't think, the more stress they suffer the better, makes up for the stress
they cause me.

Alan

"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

"gary croft" wrote in message
...
"garden virgin" - wrote:
snip


The simple answer is shoot them torturing them with chillies or trapping
them causes stress to them

The thought that catching them causes them stress really breaks my heart,
I
don't think, the more stress they suffer the better, makes up for the
stress
they cause me.


So, you think the fact these creatures wind you up gives you the right to be
deliberately cruel to them?