Squirrels...@&$?

If you have one squirrel you have ten. I had a live trap in my veggie garden for rabbits and the darned blue jays and grackles kept getting caught.

Trap came in the mail today. Looks like the right size for a squirrel

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Go get them Jason!

Tony

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Up to 9 squirrels caught & permanently dispensed with my squirrelinator. It is nice to look out on the yard and not see any. Caught another yesterday afternoon. Made some field mods to mine. I don’t have a gun, but very happy for good people that do. Can’t set (or release) the trigger on large traps so this is perfect for me. Once caught, I cover the trap with a small tarp and stealthily carry it back to the water basin. Hoping my neighbors are not squirrel sympathizers as I had one live trap intentionally damaged beyond use.

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Have you caught multiple squirrels or just one at a time.

I caught 2 in the trap about 6 weeks ago, but since then it has been one at a time. The population is noticably reduced. It’s so much easier than anything else I’ve used which means, in my world, I’m more likely to be consistent setting it up anytime I see one appear.

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I set my 110 today , I hung it in a couple of nails on the trunk of the tree and baited it with mini marshmallows dipped in peanut butter. I set it too light the first time and accidentally tripped it while tacking the chain to the tree. Peanut butter and marshmallows shot clear out of sight , lol.

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I’ve gotten 3 so far in the squirrelinator traps. Right now one just got in and two are nearby, we will see if I get multiples. So far all are singles. I bought four traps since I have a lot of squirrels. I am really appreciating how the birds can’t eat all the bait on the squirrinator traps, its a big problem with the tube and Kania traps for me.

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@scottfsmith What are you using for bait?

I’ve noticed that bait makes a difference. They cannot resist bagels. Sometimes I also use left over PB sandwiches after the kids. That works too.

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I did notice that since I put end caps on my tube traps and just bait the far side next to the cap the squirrels have to cross over the mechanism that springs the trap and I get them every time (almost every time) I think tiny mice can crawl over the mechanism without setting it off I think that’s where the bait gets taken.

I don’t remember if squirrels disappear every year this time of the season but I see none these days. Last fall I trapped about 5-6 in a havahart trap.

I am using peanut butter plus sunflower seeds.

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How do all of you “dispose” of the squirrels once they are caught?

I use a havahart style trap, bait with peanuts plus peanut butter. I always put a couple of peanuts with just a touch of pb on them towards the front of the trap to acclimate the wary ones. And I wire a peanut coated with pb to the trip mechanism on the trap. When they grab that peanut and tug it at all the trap trips. I’ve often been able to use the same wired peanut for several squirrels.

I generally have a half-dozen or so peanuts in the back of the trap. The smarter squirrels try to get those without going in. I’ve had two fussing over it a couple of times.

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With a live trap, like I have, you fill a basin with water and dunk them a long time. Then, put them in a plastic grocery bag, tie it up and into the trash.
Caught #10 today.

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I place trap/squirrel in a snug-fitting cardboard box lined with a plastic garbage bag and use CO2 from the beer supply house to displace the oxygen in the trap. It’s very quick. The squirrel goes in the garbage in a plastic bag.

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I usually give them a little lead. Then into the garbage can

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To follow up on the squirrelinator, I have averaged two per day since I started trapping, up to 8 now total. I am definitely impressed with the traps. I caught 2 in one trap today for the first time.

One thing I learned to do was put a “line” of peanut butter on the wire that is right under the entrance, then they lick that in in in to the trap. It seems like I’m getting better results with that, there are fewer squirrels since I trapped a bunch but I am still getting them. So far the birds are eating the sunflower seeds outside the trap but the peanut butter lines and all bait in the trap middle is untouched by the birds.

8 down 40 to go for the year…

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Three up, three down (one at a time!) and yes, 40 to go …

I’ll go for a stretch without seeing them, and then two or three will start competing for tree space in our maples. Right now they’re mating and I particularly want to interrupt that cycle. They are at their most vulnerable right now as their food stores and fat are declining and they’ll be a little less cautious during mating season. So this is a good “stitch in time saves nine” kind of situation.

By the way, don’t refer to the traps as “squirrel traps”. Call them “Rat Traps” -it puts things in a more accurate perspective!

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