Srt8madness
Omono
Funny you mention that - I had a fox den next to my house as well. After I would dispatch a squirrel, I'd toss it outside the den. They were always gone the next day.
Squirrels are destroying my Chinese elm!
- Thread starter Bonsai_Daniel
- Start date
Michael P
Omono
In suburbs like the one I live in we create an artificially rich and predator free environment for squirrels. At any time I can see 5 to 6 squirrels in my front yard. Dogs keep them out of the back where the bonsai are. Two blocks away is a natural greenbelt. I can walk for hours there without seeing a single squirrel. And then we wonder why they are chewing holes in our houses.
RobGA
Mame
Best solution, I ever had was a cat. We called him Jessie the killer cat. He stayed inside at night but during the day he was an absolute terror to chipmunks and squirrels. He would leave us decapitated squirrel bodies on our front step. He started out killing birds which we hated, but my daughter got a sun conure and it bonded with Jessie. The cat never killed another bird after that. Had two other cats and they never killed anything. Unfortunately not all cats are rodent killers, so there’s no guarantee if you get one. Don’t have any cats now and so far haven’t damaged any trees. If they do, I believe a pellet gun is in my future.
I've always had a problem with squirrels digging in /chewing on my trees. But we have an outside cat now that is a stone cold killer. How do I know? She leaves the tails outside the door as a gift for us.
shohin_branches
Chumono
Rat traps
Coppersdad
Mame
The trick with rat traps is to screw them down to an immovable surface in case one of your victims is a "Hulk" of a squirrel. It also helps to move the trap to a new location after each capture. Changing and varying the type of bait often, also helps.
I admit the little buggers become wary after a while but it is a lo tech solution...
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
I tried rat traps. My squirrels flipped the traps to trip them, then ate the bait. I should have screwed them down.
Gabler
Masterpiece
I tried them. The squirrels could get out and run away.
shohin_branches
Chumono
Yeah you have to secure them. I zip tie them to the bench when trapping squirrels and I always adjust new traps with a pliers to make them trip more easily. Just a slight squeeze on the trigger tab the bar catches on. One farm I worked on we lived in a mouse infested trailer and the farmer and I had a two week contest. I beat him by five mice and taught him that peanut butter is the superior bait and how to hair trigger the trap. There's a photo somewhere of me holding one up like a prize fish.
shohin_branches
Chumono
Oh hey I found it!
I'm a human of many talents
I'm a human of many talents
A Gamo Shadow pellet gun with a scope. Always shoot from inside your house to muffle the sound and not towards the neighbors house. I always wait until they are on the ground and no up in a tree.
michaelj
Chumono
I bought an air rifle because there was this pack of three squirrels that kept raiding my garden, knocking trees off their benches and taunting my dogs.
After bagging my 36th squirrel, I realized that those three squirrels didn't keep coming back 10 times a day, they just all look like brothers.
The squirrel supply, unfortunately, is limitless.
Wulfskaar
Omono
I went out this morning to find this... my best normal Japanese Maple has been chopped clean off at the soil level. It was putting out leaves and now it's dead.
Is there any chance the stump will put out any new shoots???
Is there any chance the stump will put out any new shoots???
stubmle
Mame
I hope so, but I wouldn't bet on it. You could try rooting the "cutting" but that's a Hail Mary at this point.I went out this morning to find this... my best normal Japanese Maple has been chopped clean off at the soil level. It was putting out leaves and now it's dead.
Is there any chance the stump will put out any new shoots???
View attachment 586560
I've had issues with squirrels and rabbits myself this winter. Something ate about a third of my white hemlock, but I think it will be fine (it was really hard to find one so I'd be seriously mad if they killed it). The little bastards did manage to kill a nice dwarf weigela, and I don't even want to think about the damage they did to my peach tree or my roses bushes... They also dug up a bunch of ginkgo nuts I planted in Autumn. Next year I'm going to make some cages out of chicken wire to protect the more valuable stuff in the ground.
I think it's time I start making examples of the wildlife, at least the more pernicious ones. Shame our neighborhood cat went missing, I could really use some help. My dog is not a killer, unfortunately.
Wulfskaar
Omono
I made some wire mesh cages and "tangle-foot" to make it uncomfortable for small animals. I'm hoping that keeps them off a couple of my trees.
Desert O'Piñon
Chumono
I find a blowgun works quite well, too. It's also nearly silent.
Desert O'Piñon
Chumono
Is that sotol in the background? Those flower stalks make excellent walking sticks. They are extremely strong and lightweight. A little sanding and a light polyurethane finish, and you're good to go. They grow everywhere around here.
shohin_branches
Chumono
Yeah that was when I worked on a farm in far West Texas near Terlingua doing masonry work. I heard you can make some really nasty alcohol out of sotol too.
stubmle
Mame
I've tried it- not sure how quality the one I had was but I thought it tasted a bit like gasoline but less sweet. Doesn't smell as good either.
Desert O'Piñon
Chumono
I wouldn't have any experience with that. I quit alcohol in college when I realized I enjoyed life more as a sober human. But I don't judge anyone else for it. Jesus not only drank wine, he turned water into it. Not my place.
