In my yard, the only critter that consistently eat tomatoes is chipmunks. Any other animals go for sweeter fruit.
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I have all kinds out thereâŚI evict one tenant, the next one moves inâŚit is exhaustingâŚ
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The rats in my yard have been going for the tomatoes, but now that the figs are starting to ripen, they are switching their targets. I baited a trap with a fig they had torn down, then put plastic clamshells on a couple of near ripe figs, and organza bags on others - not that I think the bags will help much, but I do not have much more at present.
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Any tricks for keeping birds from stealing all the bait? When i bait there is a chickadee that comes over about 5 ft away and stares at me like âwell hurry up. Iâm hungryâ.
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Answering my own question here⌠i found that hanging a piece of bird netting vertically from the top of the opening is keeping the birds out. At least for now. Im talking about the really thin cheap stuff that snags up real bad on everything and pops off more blueberries than the birds ever eat. Weâll see if they eventually figure it out. So far the furry critters just push it out of the way, but the birds dont know what to do with itâŚyet.
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Someone here (forget who now) suggested putting the bait under the plate (this is for tube traps). The birds canât get it there but the squirrels can still smell it and go after it. I always do that now. The birds still steal a lot of the mast I leave around the trap, but not much I can do about that. A few nights ago I also saw a fox eating the peanut butter I left by the trap. The foxes regularly patrol my yard looking for squirrels in the traps, but I didnât know they were also snitching the bait until I saw it with my own eyes.
Let us know how the bird netting works out, I am a bit concerned it may keep the squirrels away.
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Ive caught 2 in 5 days using the mesh, which is low, but catch rates have been lower than that all but the first few days of trapping over a month ago.
Before the bird netting, i had tried packing the PB into a cylinder of 1/4 inch hardware cloth. That definitely slowed the birds down but the netting seems to be working better.
Another option is a single strand of fishing line horizontally stretched across all of their landing strips on the trap. I may try that next.
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I put my 4 tube traps out this week, got 13 so far. Just walked out the back door and saw at least 5 more run up into the trees. Little buggers keep digging up everything I plant in my garden, very frustrating!
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What do you do with them after?
I was thinking the same thing
Toss them by the woods and the fox come get them at night.
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Has anyone used one of these CO2 powered traps from GoodNature? The A24 is sold in the US for rats and mice, and they make a slightly higher power one for gray squirrels but it is not sold in the US. Rats are an increasing problem in our city, so I was thinking getting one for them, but this youtube review says it works well for ground squirrels too. Might be too small for gray squirrels though. Reading through some peopleâs reviews online it sounds like it is pretty good about selecting for the target animals and not killing birds, pets, etc.
It is quite expensive so I have not pulled the trigger on it yet. My tube trap works pretty well in spring and fall for squirrels, but lately all the peanut butter gets eaten out of it by mice without triggering. So if a squirrel doesnât happen upon it within an hour or so of me setting it then it becomes useless.
I wouldnât mind catching mice in my basement with this CO2 trap too. But I figured I would see if anyone here has tried one and has something to say about it.
Good day for the tube traps. Double header. I cant remember a year that had so many squirrels in the traps. Well up around 40 to 50 so far.
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I canât legally do anything to the squirrels in my city, other than call pest control which wonât help. But when in season, this is my favorite way to take care of some squirrels that I hunt. Also, if you save the tails, meps fishing lure company will buy them from you.
https://youtu.be/u30y9MndW8Y
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Well if you havenât tried them before, I highly recommend that recipe I posted, very simple and oh so tasty. Iâve done the same with chicken, but prefer the squirrels lol. I know every one calls them tree rats, but change that to tree chicken and youâll see them in a different way lol.
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I have eaten many squirrels but wouldnt touch one coming out of my backyard. Ilive in the city and who knows what these garbage disposals may have eaten. Half of them have lesions and bald spots on their tails.
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You really need to have a good bit of free time to watch all this, but the first few minutes are worth watching even if you donât move on. But I think you shouldâŚits really funny. This is the guy who engineered the world-famous âglitter bombsâ used against porch pirates who steal packages left on peopleâs porch by delivery people. If you havenât seen the glitter bomb video it is really worth a look- very satisfying but harmless revenge on the theives.
Anyway, this is just a humorous look at how totally impossible it is to keep squirrels out of bird feeders. Funny stuff!!!
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Hey @thecityman. Watched the entire video and then looked to see who posted thisâŚand what do you know. How funny is that! Amazing squirrels indeed. Would love to have that mirror gadget that shows the fake walnut so I could trick the grandkids with it.
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Hey my friend- might have known weâd both get a kick out of it. ha And yeaâŚI thought the same thing about that mirror device being pretty cool. He said they were available for $9 - we need one of those just for kicks. BTWâŚwhen you get time I know youâd also enjoy the glitter bomb that guy made. Just put Glitter Bomb in the youtube search engine. Its just so great, Iâm sure youâd love it too! I wonât spoil it but it really makes the thieves pay for their stolen packages, and you get to see it happen.
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