A simple but SEEMINGLY effective squirrel deterrent has proven to be Tanglefoot. I had read that squirrels hate getting anything sticky on their paws, so I thought I’d give Tanglefoot a try. You would use it in the same manner as you would wrap a tree truck in metal but use Tanglefoot instead. Do not apply directly to the tree trunk. It is best to first wrap, with flagging tape or masking tape, about a two-foot section of the trunk at a height that the squirrel is unable to jump over, before smearing on the Tanglefoot. I originally mixed in some cayenne pepper into the Tanglefoot, but I now feel this extra cruel practice is unnecessary.
6 Likes
Getting sticky paws does not sound to cruel to me… even with a little hot sauce added.
Around here we shoot em, clean em, cook em, and eat em.
I don’t care much for old squirrels but a young one (1/2 to 3/4 grown) is better than chicken, and the liver taste just like chicken liver. Good Eats.
I have never had a squirrel problem here, not with them getting my fruit… but they do eat a lot of my hickory nuts and if I leave my sweet corn on the stalk too long they will get into it too.
14 Likes
we dont have the grays or fox aquirrels here only the tiny reds. i give em’ to the chickens once i give them lead poisioning. 
4 Likes
Hmmmm…do the chickens eat the lead?
1 Like
I wondered too! But then I assumed he was using a .22 or possibly a pellet gun and had retrieved the shot. Maybe not.
3 Likes
You guys need cats. These methods are disgusting.
Here is someone that really likes to mess with squirrels.
5 Likes
nope. .22 mag passes right through.
2 Likes
there’s all kinds of vids on this. hilarious! whats amazing is they land on their feet every time like a cat. theres one guy that actually designs a competence course for them to work for their food. crazy what they can do.
Disgusting to some… delicious to others…
I think it could really only be called disgusting to someone who has not tried it.
Go back a generation or two and pretty much all were thinking delicious.
18 Likes
I’d eat that!
8 Likes
Last year I’d had enough squirrel damage and started trapping them. To clean them you just skin em, gut em and cut the 5 scent glands and your good to go? Any recipes?
2 Likes
Had an awful infestation of gray squirrels, they got in all my buildings’ ceilings and the new barn. I hate to hear their little scrambling feet on the metal!
When the barn got finished after 12 years this past fall, I hired a crew of painters known to be voracious of appetite (and drinkers after hours). Steven is the crew leader and loves squirrel gravy/biscuits. He would put the crew to work at 7am and then walk the hills behind the barn. In three days he stalked and killed 18 of those little rat bstrds!
There are only two left I can tell, they will be back and so will Steven, haha.
3 Likes
I’d argue the cat will play with its prey and cause a much slower, painful death in many cases. It’s all about perspective I guess.
10 Likes
@JimmyM - there is an art to skinning a squirrel and ending up with a perfectly clean hair free skinned squirrel. It is best done with a stream of water… and a spring creek or hose pipe will do for that… basically after each cut I run my knife blade thru the water, to take off the hair, then your next cut remains clean. Skin off and a squirrel carcass that is absolutely hair free is the pride of a seasoned squirrel hunter.
Gutting is much like a deer, or rabit, just much smaller and easier. Then cut up in quarters, hind quarters front quarters and then you have the back (my favorite)…
My mom’s fried squirrel (and chicken, and quail) looked just like that picture above. Oh so good.
My wife learned how to cook it from my mom…
What you have to know is how to tell a young squirrel from a old squirrel… they REQUIRE different cooking methods.
Old squirrels are quit TUF… and you really have to either slow cook or pressure cook them to tenderize the meat to get good results. If you just put 2-3-4 old squirrel (parts) in a slow cooker for 6 hours, with some bacon fat and onions… you can then take the pieces out (meat will just sort of fall off the bones)… remove the bones and put the meat back in the slow cooker… then add in your ingredients for a stew or soup… That works well. Lots of folks slow cook or pressure cook old squirrels and make squirrel and dumplings… very good.
But now a young squirrel you can cook just like you would fried chicken… just use you favorite fried chicken recipe. They have a good recipe for that at the site where I got that picture from earlier (link below).
Now on the Old vs Young… earlier I said 1/2 to 3/4 grown squirrel… if you have a really sharp eye, you can often tell by size (somewhat) if a squirrel is really young. Young enough to not be fully grown (size wise) is best.
But another way you can tell is if it is a female and she has nursed young (and that is rather obvious by checking her belly) … call her old. A true young female (cooking wise), will not have nursed young.
And well the males… there are a couple of things that will be noticeably larger on a old male squirrel.
Don’t try to fry those males… they will be TUF.
TNHunter
11 Likes
Squirrel au-vin?
2 Likes
People always mention guns and dogs as good ways to deter squirrels, raccoons, etc… I never know if they are serious or joking, but neither is a 24/7 solution.
1 Like
6 Likes
knew this ol’ feller from M.D . used to make squirrel gravy over biscuits. good stuff!
1 Like
i use both and so far its been very effective but we dont have the numbers here that most of you do.