Squirrel hunting
 

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/15/2015 9:38 PM, Tim wrote:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 7:28:46 PM UTC-6, True North wrote:
The gun nuts in here would have loved the opportunity to blast that
little critter and munch on it as a tv snack.

LOL! Don with exception ofA 'TV snack' that would be me...


Many years ago in a different house we had a large squirrel that got in.
He was driving us nuts running back and forth above a hanging ceiling we
had in the finished basement.

I had a high powered Crossman pump pellet rifle at the time.
One night I heard him out in the kitchen/dining room area. I quietly
approached the area with the rifle armed and pumped. He was sitting
on a buffet chomping on an apple from a basket my wife had sitting on it.

One shot in the head did him in. Then I spent the next two hours
cleaning up the brains and blood splattered all over the wall before my
wife saw it.

Trap was much cleaner and easier. Plus, the little critter got to live
another day.






First year we were married, I went to an NCR school in Dayton, OH. We
rented the upstairs quarter of an old Victorian. Next to the graveyard.
The squirrels living in the attic must have had a bowling alley. They
seemed to roll hickory nuts day and night.

Squirrel hunting
 

On Tue, 15 Dec 2015 22:10:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/15/2015 9:36 PM, Tim wrote:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 6:29:57 PM UTC-6, Mr. Luddite wrote:
A squirrel set up residence in the attic of our house about two weeks
ago. At night I could hear the pitter-patter of little feet running
around in a small workshop that is located in the attic'. I saw him a
few days ago when I opened the door and caught him by surprise sitting
there. He ran off quickly into some insulation on a wall and was gone.
That night he was back again though.

So, I bought one of those electronic ultra-sonic things.
It seemed to work because that night I didn't hear him at all. But,
then I realized that he was probably still in the attic somewhere and
had just moved to a more inviting location.

I searched for a trap and found one on Amazon. It had some good reviews
and was only about $25, so I decided to order one and try it.

It arrived today. Made in China but good quality. After looking it over
I baited it with some peanut butter, set it and put it on the work shop
floor.

Came back down to my computer to argue about drones and *SLAM*. I heard
the door on the trap slam shut. Only took about 15 minutes. Went back
up and sure enough, the night prowler was jailed. Let him go out near
the woods, away from the house. He booked it up the nearest tree.

Unless you found and repairer where he got in, he'll be back.

Around my place after the first time he'd be in the freezer...


The only opening I've been able to find is a small (about 2 inch dia.)
hole in the soffet screen that is just below the area where he was
hanging out. He was small, so maybe he could squeeze his way through
it. I didn't patch it before because the recommended way of getting rid
of him was to wait until he left in search of food or water and then
patch it so he couldn't get back in. I'll patch it now. But, I was
really happy with how fast the trap got him. Well worth $25.

Set the trap again. You may have more than one.
BTW a 2" hole sounds like it was opened up to be a door. That is about
as big as any of them need to go through at a full run. They can slow
down and get through a much smaller hole wiggling their way through.
They quickly open it up before they go back out.
I had a full grown roof rat get out of my trap by chewing out one wire
in a 1/2" mesh hardware cloth cage. (1" x 1/2" hole)
It took a while for me to even find it. I thought I had a real
Houdini. He was there and 5 minutes later he was gone.
He was pretty dumb because I caught him again the next night.
I went right after him that time before he started chewing.

Squirrel hunting
 

On 12/15/2015 11:34 PM, wrote:


Set the trap again. You may have more than one.
BTW a 2" hole sounds like it was opened up to be a door. That is about
as big as any of them need to go through at a full run. They can slow
down and get through a much smaller hole wiggling their way through.
They quickly open it up before they go back out.
I had a full grown roof rat get out of my trap by chewing out one wire
in a 1/2" mesh hardware cloth cage. (1" x 1/2" hole)
It took a while for me to even find it. I thought I had a real
Houdini. He was there and 5 minutes later he was gone.
He was pretty dumb because I caught him again the next night.
I went right after him that time before he started chewing.



Yup. I had set the trap again after releasing the first one.
At 3 am I woke up to the sound of something frantically banging
around in it. Went up and had another one ... a little bit smaller
than the first. These are obviously very young grey squirrels. Based
on pictures I found on the Internet they appear to be maybe 3 or 4
months old. Look just like a full grown squirrel but are much smaller.

So, I released this guy down in the woods. It was dark and I couldn't
see the deer who was standing about 10 feet from me. The deer darted,
crashing through the woods which scared the crap out of me for a sec.
The wildlife is active at 3:30 am. Went back inside and set the
trap again. Sat down with a cup of coffee and *bang* ... heard the trap
slide door shut again. That was half an hour ago (4 am) Another one.
That's three.

From what I've read on the 'net ... the mother runs the adult male out
of the area after the kids are born. Then, once they have reached the
age where they can fend for themselves, she leaves. They typically have
anywhere from 3 to 5 at birth, so I may have one or two more.

Squirrel hunting
 

On 12/16/2015 4:37 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/15/2015 11:34 PM, wrote:


Set the trap again. You may have more than one.
BTW a 2" hole sounds like it was opened up to be a door. That is about
as big as any of them need to go through at a full run. They can slow
down and get through a much smaller hole wiggling their way through.
They quickly open it up before they go back out.
I had a full grown roof rat get out of my trap by chewing out one wire
in a 1/2" mesh hardware cloth cage. (1" x 1/2" hole)
It took a while for me to even find it. I thought I had a real
Houdini. He was there and 5 minutes later he was gone.
He was pretty dumb because I caught him again the next night.
I went right after him that time before he started chewing.



Yup. I had set the trap again after releasing the first one.
At 3 am I woke up to the sound of something frantically banging
around in it. Went up and had another one ... a little bit smaller
than the first. These are obviously very young grey squirrels. Based
on pictures I found on the Internet they appear to be maybe 3 or 4
months old. Look just like a full grown squirrel but are much smaller.

So, I released this guy down in the woods. It was dark and I couldn't
see the deer who was standing about 10 feet from me. The deer darted,
crashing through the woods which scared the crap out of me for a sec.
The wildlife is active at 3:30 am. Went back inside and set the
trap again. Sat down with a cup of coffee and *bang* ... heard the trap
slide door shut again. That was half an hour ago (4 am) Another one.
That's three.

From what I've read on the 'net ... the mother runs the adult male out
of the area after the kids are born. Then, once they have reached the
age where they can fend for themselves, she leaves. They typically have
anywhere from 3 to 5 at birth, so I may have one or two more.


Update:

After releasing the third one, I set the trap again and went back to
bed. Within 5 minutes I heard the trap's door slam shut again.
Number 4. Released in woods. Gonna be a long day with little sleep.

No, they are not "returning". I can tell from markings and size that
they are all individuals. Hopefully, that's all of them but I set the
trap again just in case.

Squirrel hunting
 

On Tue, 15 Dec 2015 19:29:54 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

A squirrel set up residence in the attic of our house about two weeks
ago. At night I could hear the pitter-patter of little feet running
around in a small workshop that is located in the attic'. I saw him a
few days ago when I opened the door and caught him by surprise sitting
there. He ran off quickly into some insulation on a wall and was gone.
That night he was back again though.

So, I bought one of those electronic ultra-sonic things.
It seemed to work because that night I didn't hear him at all. But,
then I realized that he was probably still in the attic somewhere and
had just moved to a more inviting location.

I searched for a trap and found one on Amazon. It had some good reviews
and was only about $25, so I decided to order one and try it.

It arrived today. Made in China but good quality. After looking it over
I baited it with some peanut butter, set it and put it on the work shop
floor.

Came back down to my computer to argue about drones and *SLAM*. I heard
the door on the trap slam shut. Only took about 15 minutes. Went back
up and sure enough, the night prowler was jailed. Let him go out near
the woods, away from the house. He booked it up the nearest tree.

If it's the metal trap with the drop door, the thing has caught 11 chipmunks, a bunch
of squirrels, and several birds in the past two summers. They all love Jif peanut
butter.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Squirrel hunting
 

On Tue, 15 Dec 2015 22:18:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/15/2015 9:38 PM, Tim wrote:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 7:28:46 PM UTC-6, True North wrote:
The gun nuts in here would have loved the opportunity to blast that little critter and munch on it as a tv snack.

LOL! Don with exception ofA 'TV snack' that would be me...


Many years ago in a different house we had a large squirrel that got in.
He was driving us nuts running back and forth above a hanging ceiling we
had in the finished basement.

I had a high powered Crossman pump pellet rifle at the time.
One night I heard him out in the kitchen/dining room area. I quietly
approached the area with the rifle armed and pumped. He was sitting
on a buffet chomping on an apple from a basket my wife had sitting on it.

One shot in the head did him in. Then I spent the next two hours
cleaning up the brains and blood splattered all over the wall before my
wife saw it.

Trap was much cleaner and easier. Plus, the little critter got to live
another day.


You should have spent the next two hours cleaning the mess, dressing the squirrel,
and frying the little bugger! Head shot is the way to go with a squirrel.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Squirrel hunting
 

On Tue, 15 Dec 2015 17:28:45 -0800 (PST), True North wrote:

The gun nuts in here would have loved the opportunity to blast that little critter and munch on it as a tv snack.

Amen!
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Squirrel hunting
 

On Wed, 16 Dec 2015 05:19:33 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/16/2015 4:37 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/15/2015 11:34 PM, wrote:


Set the trap again. You may have more than one.
BTW a 2" hole sounds like it was opened up to be a door. That is about
as big as any of them need to go through at a full run. They can slow
down and get through a much smaller hole wiggling their way through.
They quickly open it up before they go back out.
I had a full grown roof rat get out of my trap by chewing out one wire
in a 1/2" mesh hardware cloth cage. (1" x 1/2" hole)
It took a while for me to even find it. I thought I had a real
Houdini. He was there and 5 minutes later he was gone.
He was pretty dumb because I caught him again the next night.
I went right after him that time before he started chewing.



Yup. I had set the trap again after releasing the first one.
At 3 am I woke up to the sound of something frantically banging
around in it. Went up and had another one ... a little bit smaller
than the first. These are obviously very young grey squirrels. Based
on pictures I found on the Internet they appear to be maybe 3 or 4
months old. Look just like a full grown squirrel but are much smaller.

So, I released this guy down in the woods. It was dark and I couldn't
see the deer who was standing about 10 feet from me. The deer darted,
crashing through the woods which scared the crap out of me for a sec.
The wildlife is active at 3:30 am. Went back inside and set the
trap again. Sat down with a cup of coffee and *bang* ... heard the trap
slide door shut again. That was half an hour ago (4 am) Another one.
That's three.

From what I've read on the 'net ... the mother runs the adult male out
of the area after the kids are born. Then, once they have reached the
age where they can fend for themselves, she leaves. They typically have
anywhere from 3 to 5 at birth, so I may have one or two more.


Update:

After releasing the third one, I set the trap again and went back to
bed. Within 5 minutes I heard the trap's door slam shut again.
Number 4. Released in woods. Gonna be a long day with little sleep.

No, they are not "returning". I can tell from markings and size that
they are all individuals. Hopefully, that's all of them but I set the
trap again just in case.

\
The rule of thumb with chipmunks is seven miles away if you don't want them back.
Don't know where that came from, but that's my story and what I do.

I might start spray painting their tails just to make sure.
--

Ban idiots, not guns!

Squirrel hunting
 

Tim
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 7:28:46 PM UTC-6, True North wrote:
The gun nuts in here would have loved the opportunity to blast that little critter and munch on it as a tv snack.

"LOL! Don with exception ofA 'TV snack' that would be me..."


Tim...say it ain't so...... ;-)

Squirrel hunting
 

On 12/16/2015 7:20 AM, John H. wrote:
On Tue, 15 Dec 2015 19:29:54 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

A squirrel set up residence in the attic of our house about two weeks
ago. At night I could hear the pitter-patter of little feet running
around in a small workshop that is located in the attic'. I saw him a
few days ago when I opened the door and caught him by surprise sitting
there. He ran off quickly into some insulation on a wall and was gone.
That night he was back again though.

So, I bought one of those electronic ultra-sonic things.
It seemed to work because that night I didn't hear him at all. But,
then I realized that he was probably still in the attic somewhere and
had just moved to a more inviting location.

I searched for a trap and found one on Amazon. It had some good reviews
and was only about $25, so I decided to order one and try it.

It arrived today. Made in China but good quality. After looking it over
I baited it with some peanut butter, set it and put it on the work shop
floor.

Came back down to my computer to argue about drones and *SLAM*. I heard
the door on the trap slam shut. Only took about 15 minutes. Went back
up and sure enough, the night prowler was jailed. Let him go out near
the woods, away from the house. He booked it up the nearest tree.

If it's the metal trap with the drop door, the thing has caught 11 chipmunks, a bunch
of squirrels, and several birds in the past two summers. They all love Jif peanut
butter.

That's the one. Works great and it's cheap.

http://www.havahart.com/x-small-1-door-trap