Squirrils...how to get rid of them

[Mrvile]

We have several squirrils living in our backyard and they've been giving us a lot of headaches. They ruin the gardens, raid the bird feeders, hell, we've had to take down three whole trees due to them building nests inside (thus killing the trees). Are there any ways we can get rid of them? I don't want to have to kill them though...

 

[ballmode]

22 rifle

and now you can target shoot

 

[Lizardman]

try bullets yet?

 

[So]

Live traps...I think humane societies put them out. Release them a few dozen miles from your house. Just don't pull what that ATOTer did and release them into traffic.

 

[OutHouse]

they will never go away, your best option is to go to walmart and buy a $30.00 pellet gun and kill them.

 

[LeiZaK]

squirrEls

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Citrix
they will never go away, your best option is to go to walmart and buy a $30.00 pellet gun and kill them.

 

[TheTony]

Live traps generally work pretty effectively. Sliced apple with peanut butter on top seems to work pretty well as bait. As has been said, just make sure to release them far enough away.

 

[dullard]

They are difficult to get rid of. Kill or transport these and others will just take their place. My suggestion: try to stop feeding them. Get rid of the bird feeders and the garden plants they like. Without food, after you transport them away, maybe no more will come back.

 

[Mrvile]

I'd rather not get arrested for discharging a firearm in the neighborhood.

We had to do some professional trapping when we had raccoons on the roof + in the attic, and that worked very well but it was expensive. We did try a few traps we got from the store ourselves, but squirrils aren't stupid and taunt us by kicking our traps over

Is firing a pellet or air gun (some more powerful than, say, a spring loaded airsoft gun) in the neighborhood legal?

 

[Mrvile]

Originally posted by: dullard
They are difficult to get rid of. Kill or transport these and others will just take their place. My suggestion: try to stop feeding them. Get rid of the bird feeders and the garden plants they like. Without food, after you transport them away, maybe no more will come back.

I guess that's most logical. I love the birds, but you win some, you lose some.

For a season (all of this past fall+winter) we didn't put anything in the bird feeders and the squirrils hung around, so I don't know how effective that's going to be.

 

[AMCRambler]

Originally posted by: So
Live traps...I think humane societies put them out. Release them a few dozen miles from your house. Just don't pull what that ATOTer did and release them into traffic.

You GOTTA post the link to THAT thread! Lmao!

 

[AMCRambler]

You could shoot them with a paintball gun. Non-lethal but it hurts like hell. We had a big fat ass ground hog living in our garden. One day he was out out there snacking away and I peppered his ass with paintballs. Never saw him again after that.

 

[Slappy00]

cap em with a pellet gun, of course you then have to pick up the corpse.

You can fire pellet guns on your own property in most places, just be aware that like firearms they shoot a projectile at a high rate of speed (some of teh high-end models approach firearm speeds), so be careful where you point the thing.

 

[TheTony]

Originally posted by: dullard
They are difficult to get rid of. Kill or transport these and others will just take their place. My suggestion: try to stop feeding them. Get rid of the bird feeders and the garden plants they like. Without food, after you transport them away, maybe no more will come back.

In my experience, it generally takes a 2-3 years after you've relocated the originals before another population moves in. Granted, this assumes you're not surrounded by or near a heavily wooded area.

Having a cat or dog helps too. It won't get rid of them, but they'll be much less likely to establish themselves on your property and if they do, in much smaller numbers.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler

Originally posted by: So
Live traps...I think humane societies put them out. Release them a few dozen miles from your house. Just don't pull what that ATOTer did and release them into traffic.

You GOTTA post the link to THAT thread! Lmao!

there was video and everything. I think it might have been kyparrish, but IDK for sure.

 

[So]

oh, it was nebor.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...hreadid=1361271&enterthread=y&arctab=y

edit:

the sequel, 1 year later: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...hreadid=1644254&enterthread=y&arctab=y

 

[TheTony]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
We did try a few traps we got from the store ourselves, but squirrils aren't stupid and taunt us by kicking our traps over

You may want to try a trap more like this, which is what I was referring to by "live trap".

 

[Tiamat]

"but squirrils aren't stupid and taunt us by kicking our traps over"
"Just don't pull what that ATOTer did and release them into traffic"
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::thumbsup:

 

[Mrvile]

Originally posted by: TheTony

Originally posted by: dullard
They are difficult to get rid of. Kill or transport these and others will just take their place. My suggestion: try to stop feeding them. Get rid of the bird feeders and the garden plants they like. Without food, after you transport them away, maybe no more will come back.

In my experience, it generally takes a 2-3 years after you've relocated the originals before another population moves in. Granted, this assumes you're not surrounded by or near a heavily wooded area.

Having a cat or dog helps too. It won't get rid of them, but they'll be much less likely to establish themselves on your property and if they do, in much smaller numbers.

We used to have a dog, but he was old when he moved in and we didn't take the time to set up an electric fence and he was never really outside on his own. That was a while ago though, before the squirrils became a problem.

We might give the trapping idea another run...but those squirrils are really smart. Any good traps you guys recommend?

 

[FoBoT]

eat them
or get a predator to eat them

 

[Mrvile]

Originally posted by: TheTony

Originally posted by: Mrvile
We did try a few traps we got from the store ourselves, but squirrils aren't stupid and taunt us by kicking our traps over

You may want to try a trap more like this, which is what I was referring to by "live trap".

Those are the kinds of traps we used, but ours were smaller. Maybe a bigger trap?

 

[VoteQuimby]

paintball gun worked for me

 

[TheTony]

Originally posted by: Mrvile

Originally posted by: TheTony

Originally posted by: Mrvile
We did try a few traps we got from the store ourselves, but squirrils aren't stupid and taunt us by kicking our traps over

You may want to try a trap more like this, which is what I was referring to by "live trap".

Those are the kinds of traps we used, but ours were smaller. Maybe a bigger trap?

Yeah, something slightly bigger (not squirrel-sized) that they can't tip over.

Plus, it's probably much easier to lure them into a larger size (rabbit/raccoon sized) trap, as it's nowhere near as confined as the squirrel-sized ones.

If you still want to prevent the cage/trap from being tipped, just get some heavy guage wire, bend a "U" shape and pound it into the ground over the bottom frame of the cage. It won't go anywhere :laugh:

 

[RandomCoil]

First of all, it's "squirrel" with an "e". SQUIRREL.

Trap and release is probably a good idea, though a squirrel in cage can equal one crazy-ass beast. You might also just learn to live with them. A squngee (www.squngee.com) might help.