If the birds didn’t knock off half of the food while foraging the squirrels might jump higher. The strange thing is that there is such variation in what wildlife do or can do. On one site squirrels don’t seem to bother to go much higher than 4’ to reach fruit and at another it is over 6’- these are sometimes similar sites near each other. Same goes for the dear browse line.
One of my customers who certainly is the type of man who elicits confidence in his mental competence claims to have seen a woodchuck beat one of my baffles by jumping 5’ from stationary- wish he’d gotten a video of that.
I try to discourage my customers from keeping bird feeders because no matter how they are made, squirrels get a lot of nourishment from the seed birds waste- this helps them survive winter and provided lots of food in spring encouraging two litters in a season instead of one. It also encourages rats and chipmunks.
These are mainly advertised for ground squirrels, but they will also trap grey squirrels, correct?
I read on another thread you are using a clear bowl with a rock on top of the trap to prevent birds from getting the bait. But do you bait the entrances of the trap? If so, how do keep the birds from eating that bait?
Do they really catch more than one squirrel at a time?
The Tomahawk traps I use are very effective. But they only catch one squirrel at a time. And Bluejays will occasionally enter the trap and eat up all the acorns, I use to bait the traps.
I don’t think Bluejays wouldn’t be able to get inside the Squirrelinator traps, but I wonder if they could stick their head down through the trap to eat the bait?
OK, on those crazy years where everything is hungry due to a giant mast crop followed by failure the next year, I simply spread a couple of sunflower seeds in the weeds by the trap- the squirrels don’t literally need to be led into them. I actually believe they see the bird activity from afar and investigate and end up going for the protected sunflower seeds the birds cannot get to but can be seen because the plastic container is transparent. One problem is that on such years I also have chipmunks that can enter and leave the squirellinator traps at will. I end up putting rat traps under trays nearby to kill them, but they often take the seeds in the trap first- but I do get ahead of the game after a few days.
I have caught two squirrels in one trap on occasion, but if you have more than one trap set up, and I always do, it is much more likely that trappings will be singular.
Pecans in the shell will discourage most birds and can be used to lure squirrels into traps if you don’t want to keep wasting sunflower seeds.
@TNHunter given you found the maximum jump is 47", if u put a 4"-10" band of tanglefoot starting from 50" up the trunk, will the squirrel be able to jump up vertically and skip that band of tanglefoot and grab onto the unprotected surface above it, thus make it’s way up the rest of the tree?
@tubig … i have never tried tanglefoot… never had any trouble with squirrels getting my apples (my older early mc that ripens june/july).
But last year my 3 yr old gold rush had 5 or 6 apples on… it ripens much later and a dang squirrel got every apple.
I saw him doing that when he got the last apple… he ran with it across my yard and up a oak tree.
I put a round from my 17 hmr in his mouth… and out the back of his head… made a good squirrel out of him. Did not get to eat a single gold rush last year.
The same tree has 12-15 fruit on now.
Think i will start by trapping them first and start on that soon.
Squirrels are pretty easy to catch in box trap… they cant resist a ear of field corn.
Most of my GR apples are on higher scadfold branches… perhaps some tanglefoot would help ? I have never tried that. Is it known to stop squirrels ?
@TNHunter i read somewhere here squirrels hate getting their paws dirty/sticky but i don’t remember reading a setup like I mentioned. I would first wrap the trunk portion with Saran wrap first to keep the tanglefoot from being absorbed by the tree bark.
Another option may be to create a mini eaves/overhang to serve as a fence using a rigid enough material that protrudes out about 3-5" around the trunk at 50" above ground (or more in case there are Olympians in the population) then coating it with tanglefoot along the edges where the squirrel may reach to climb up on. More complicated to make than the simple band of tanglefoot but might be more effective if squirrels can somehow vertically skip over and avoid the tanglefoot and grip the unprotected area above it.
This year my squirrel problems became somewhat alarming when the squirrels began damaging more fruits than they actually consumed. One bite of a greenplum then go chew off another limb to get the next green plum to chew on! Then of course my neighbor thinks they are his pets, even letting them into his house via cat door to feed them peanuts! Not kidding! I was shocked when I saw this. Everyday that went by his pet squirrels would come to our garden to bury their peanuts. Diggin up our plants to plant theirs! So finally I decided that my only recourse living in a city (could not shoot them) was to trap and remove them. Yesterday my peanuts lured three into my trap, so I gladly transported them across the Green River where they can have a new home in an agriculture area. This morning # 9 went across the River! I am at least now enjoying the experience but there are still squirrels jumping around - not sure how many there are but every week I am slowly decreasing the breeding population! Scott’s suggestion of the squirrelinator works very well if you have a place to take them where they can’t come back!
If it were legal, I’d have a shoot-on-sight policy for outdoor cats. And I would drive around on weekends hunting for them.
If it were legal, I’d leave out cyanide poison traps shaped like mice for them. I’d dig cat-shaped pits, line them with spring-action porcupine quills, and cover them with catnip branches. I’d build cat-shaped robots with pheromone dispensers and mating-call speakers, and have them roam around the suburbs attracting mates, and the robots would gently hug their potential mates in the fond embrace of the warmth of a thousand suns emanating from their Lasor-beam eyes. I’d sell laced catnip to the city cats and use the money to buy tiny weapons and arm the mice with AK 0.47s and cute rat-portable ATGMs (anti-tomcat guided missies). I’d…
Perhaps I’m joking (a little, though cat hunting sounds like the sport of true ecological gentlemen). There is no single animal more destructive to the local ecosystem than a feral cat. Feral cats kill billions, with a “B”, of small birds, reptiles, and mammals every year. Just in the US. And in places like Australia and NZ, they have directly lead to dozens of species extirpation. They are among the worst invasives on the planet. Cats are the devil’s pet. Keep them indoors, or kill them. With fire if necessary.
Ironically, I actually really like cats. Indoor cats. I have a gorgeous and fluffy Siberian forest cat.
Does anyone have a good bait for trapping rabbits?
I’m having to contend with ongoing destruction of my younger or lower growing plants.
I am in an urban area which is absolutely overrun by rabbits. Some crazies think they are cute.
Please don’t suggest shooting etc which would be highly problematic in this location.
We used to have two large tree frogs that would climb the outside of adjacent windows in the evenings, feasting on the insects drawn to the light emanating from inside the house. We enjoyed spotting them when they would show up every day and watching them sup, but a neighbor’s cat was not getting along well with her other feline and was banished to the outdoors. She now roams our yard during the day and the disappearance of our amphibian friends is attributed to her hunting. I have already rescued a fledgling Carolina Wren from her jaws, and know that she has killed a cardinal as well at the very least.
I was gonna say “yeah, but it’s a lot easier to convince people to kill cats than it is to convince people to kill people” but now that I say it, I’m not really sure.
I have dogs and for some things it is a 24/7 solution. Rabbits never come into the yard because of the dog urine. Once a squirrel has an encounter with my dog they won’t come back if they survive.
I agree with the sentiment of your post, but nevertheless I’ve got an outside cat. My reasons (not claiming actually justified):
She’s really really bad at hunting (the only time I’ve seen her successfully catch anything was when I literally chased a baby rabbit into her mouth, and even that was basically unharmed when I retrieved it from her),
she’s really bad at using a litter box (she puts her head inside and leaves her rear outside, going on the floor, then climbs in and scoops the litter out onto the floor to cover it, and won’t use the kind that are top entrance), and
she constantly whines by the door and tries to escape any time it is opened.
We tried for 5 years to keep her as an indoor cat and it was a constantly losing battle. Now she’s elderly (almost 17 years old) and arthritic, just moves from one part of the yard to another and naps all day. I don’t feel bad about her being outside anymore like I used to.
Back to the topic at hand, she does nothing to prevent squirrels from attacking my trees. She doesn’t care if one walks right past her.
The first and third point definitely describe my cat…
Yeah, no real hate towards those who, within reason, let their cats outside, especially if they are mindful of the risks. My post is very tongue in cheek, to say the least.
I could show you how to make what I made growing up to trap them this winter. Chances are they have trails in your garden where they go to nibble. Since you know where they will go it’s pretty easy to channel them into a trap.
During winter if a trap is set, they likely will go in since your plants are their food supply. Basically you have the bait, just need to build a trap, Ram. With the price of lumber now it would probably cost about $25-$30 to make two traps. Once winter sets in they actually make a good meal too! Let me know if interested
Dennis
