Squirrels!
 

I don't know how the hell they're getting in, but they aren't leaving alive. The catch & release amnesty program ended last year.

Had one last year that was a cinch to catch, but they are making me CRAZY this year. I've caught 2 in the past week. I can hear one of the fuchers right now, chewing and scratching.

2am and I'm fit to kill

Bow and arrow works wonders:-D Fun as hell too.

Peanut butter mixed with anything poisonous. Bye-bye.

Big assed cat with a type A parsonallity works well at my house.

Considered poison, but I don't want to be hunting for bodies. A friend of mine had to cut a wall open to get at a rotting squirrel that had crawled in and died. No thanks!

I put some rat traps up in the attic, and nailed them down.

Still have to find where the bastards are getting in. Not easy in a 130 yr old home. Spent the last two hours checking soffits, around trim etc...

Be wary of mutant squirrels

http://muscular-squirrel.freeonlineg...mages/5121.jpg

Re: Squirrels!
 

I had grackles in my soffit. They got no reprieve. They had picked a hole in my roof. I figure, if they know how to get in, they're not going to stop until they get in again--then they will teach their offspring how to get in. (I caught the grackles and repaired the hole.)

+1, Cats I have always kept a couple of barn cats around for vermin control. The wilder the better.

Squirrels hate mothballs. Put some in old pantyhose, and then hang them in the attic near the edge of the roof. The smell will last a couple months. That may give you a reprieve.

Second, don't use rat poison. They'll wind up dead all right. But they'll be dead inside your wall.

The really answer is you need to find out how they're getting in and seal it. Call a professional if need be.

For advice, see 'Caddy Shack'. Mr. Murray have a few pointers on getting rid rodents. In the words of Jean Paul Sartre: Au revoir, gofer. Should work for squirrels too.

Chased one out of the attic about 20 minutes ago, and found where he was getting in. There is a spot where they are able to lift the soffit vent and climb in. Good thing I watched him leave, otherwise I never would have found that.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1165783598.jpg

Bad news is it's going to be really, really tough to get at. I can't reach it from the attic. I can get at it from the outside, but I'll have to use a ladder... I hate heights.

Worse yet is that I think it's my fault, I had torn the covers off in September to properly vent the soffits, and I must not have fastened them back on well enough. And I rented 3 lifts of staging to do that work... maybe I'll get my neighbor to go up there with a ladder.

Jake,

Good work tracking down the little buggers' access. A few minutes on the ladder and your troubles should be over. (Watch our if there is frost in the ground. A guy I know broke his back when his ladder slipped on frozen ground. Have somebody hold the ladder. Or better yet, You hold the ladder while somebody else goes up!) Hey, I'd go up if I was closer.

Les

There are some sophisticated poisons about that blind the animal, so that they come out looking for light and die outdoors.

For actual advice and myth debunking (mothballs), go here:

http://unexco.com/SQ1.html

They even have a squirrel killer forum.

Nice place.

You guys do know that there are some AWESOME air rifles available. $200 gets you a .17 killing machine. 1000 fps.

Along the same lines... I purchased a pellet gun for the sole purpose of exterminating our squirrel problem. I really preferred to live in harmony with these creatures until they crossed the line and started living with me! The squirrels had gotten into our attic and were not pleasant house-mates. I begain the process by removing all bushes, shrubbery, and / or trees in which the squirrels were gaining access to our roof. I then visited Walmart and purchased a pellet gun with a telescopic sight (a Crossman 66 Powermaster Air Gun - 0.177 caliber pellet). I spent an afternoon 'sighting-in' the pellet gun and then took out seven of the uninvited guests. I have not experienced any other issues with squirrels since then - and that was five years ago.

My latest problem is with those pesky chipmucks...

Problem w/ guns, even air rifles, is the neighbors, they do get upset.

I like Have-A-Heart traps baited w/ bird seed. Squirrels can't resist. Once trapped the Have-A-Heart merely needs to be dunked in a convient pool of water, no more squirrel problem and it's all quiet and private.

Pfft! Not as upset as Mrs Notfarnow would be. She's actually a little miffed that the "catch & release" program was terminated. Last year when we caught a rat in a live trap, she wanted me to set it free, and put up quite a fuss when I refused.

Rat traps are the way to go; quick and easy to deal with. I can deal with them discreetly without getting Mrs Notfarnow into a flap. If she saw a dead squirrel in a rat trap, it would seriously break her heart.

So I'm going to go up and fasten down the soffit covers tonight. Thanks for the advice with the ladder, Les. I hadn't thought about the frost.

I'll ask my neighbor to hold the ladder, which is code for "will you climb up the ladder for me". Worked when I was putting in the vent for the bathroom fan!

Re: Re: Squirrels!
 

Is that what you're calling it now?

;)

Greyhound; it's like watching Animal Planet in the backyard. We do still get the occasional looks-death-in-the-eye thrill seeker, but pretty much squirrel free since the dog came to live here.

Re: Re: Re: Squirrels!
 

I'd rather have grackles in my soffit than spiders in my attic....or crabs downstairs.

i yi yi


Things have taken a turn for the worse... good thing Mrs Notfarnow is out tonight.

U want Squirrels, we got squirrels just take a look around this Board and U will find a ***** load of them...

I've got bigger problems than effen squirrels

fok!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1165966805.jpg

THATS A RAT!!!

Well just take a look around this Board and U will see that we have a ***** load of Rats...

After reading and being troubled with your not so nice method of squirrel control I made a couple phone calls and found out it isn't legal to drown wild animals.

I don't know if you use this method or were just throwing this out for an idea, but could you please keep your ignorant and cruel thoughts to yourself?

So...

Moral quandry. Do I tell Mrs Notfarnow I caught a $^#ING RAT in our basement, or do I let her believe we have a (much cuter) squirrel.

She will flip the %$%# out about A RAT

What about F^*$^ING RATS?!?!

RATS!!!

You're supposed to politely ask the squirrels not to come back.

You could try directing them to some social services that provide free shelter.

Squirrels are simply rats with climbing gear....

How do you get 50 drunk Canadians out of a pool?
Say please

Tried that. I have offered them any of my 28 maple trees, or even the doghouse my 2 beagles have abandoned.

FWIW, Mrs Notfarnow has insisted on amnesty for the squirrels. And now that I've sealed off their entryway, I am fine to do catch & release with any squirrel stragglers.

Rats have to die though. Hmm... does that make me racist?

Ooo, rats are bad. We had a rat problem at the last house, fortunately halted their advance at the garage, before they breached the living quarters.

Traps didn't really work. Killed a few but they got wise. The solution was finding and sealing their entry holes - ended up having to use aluminium sheet as they chewed through wallboard. Place some of the ultra sticky traps where they will walk when trying to get to the old hole. Also a bunch of poison inside the hole. The smell of a dead rat will eventually go away, better dead and smelly than live and infesting. Find out why they are coming into your house. You may have food somewhere that they've gotten into. If they can, they've stolen and stashed it somewhere - clean that out too. Hit them hard, with every weapon you have. Gradually escalating doesn't work as well, they just learn to cope w/ each new threat. Rats are smart.

SO CAL is RAT HEAVEN, they literally INFEST SO CAL..they live in Palm Trees, Ivy, Trees, Attics, Drainage pipe, woodpiles and Garages. They will knaw your electric wiring, shred your insulation on the Heat Ducts etc. They are vegans and love Fruit, Avacados, Grapes etc.

They are known as Wire Rats, Roof Rats and Fruit Rats...If you poison beware a family pet may get hold of the dead Rat and the poison will kill the Pet as well. The standard poison causes the Rat to bleed to death internally, a friends cat ate a poisoned rat and it bled out dieing a horrible death.

One can usually find their entrace hole because you will see grease marks. Also they can get through a hole that is just one inch.

They really have to be gotten rid of because of the damage they can do to the house. Nail down the traps as one may still crawl off and die. Do block their entrance point. Maybe put a good cat in the attic for a while. Or get an Exterminator if the problem persists.

My Airdale used to catch about 2 to 3 Rats a month after the new owner in back cleaned up the former owners yard. That Dog would be out in the yard at 2 in the mornining barking and chasing up a storm, she loved it. The Cat on the other hand would eat them after she caught them. I've even seen the Dog and Cat working together to get one.

There doesn't seem to be much of a Rodent problem here in LV. One of the new housing developments brought in Palm Trees from SO Cal and had a problem until the exterminator did his job.

Great advice, thanks.

I seem to have put a stop to the squirrels in the attic, but the rat thing has me freaked. Squirrels are nasty, but cute. I view them as troublemaking rascals. Rats, on the other hand, are nasty.

Finding where he (they?) got in is going to be tough. The house has had several additions with intersecting foundations and a fair bit of wonkiness. Plus, the back 1/3 of the basement is just a crawl space with 10" of clearance. That's where I caught the rat. I'll have to find his entryway from the outside, methinks.

I think I'll put the beagles to work. They have incredible noses, and will likely be able to sniff out the rat hole. The beagles are also the reason I want to avoid poison... they occasionally sneak into the basement when wifey or I are getting firewood.

I know they aren't getting food, there's nothing in the basement other than shelter. It's getting cold, and they are looking for warmth. That crawl space in the back 1/3 of the basement is an area they could hang out without being noticed.

pellets just seem to bounce off of this guy....http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1166029830.jpg

A trick we learned from our exterminators -- make up a cover out of 1/2 inch wire screen. Cut a slit in it, and then bend the sharp points of the wire out. You want a funnel type effect, so that any squirrels left in the attic have a way out, but the sharp points will prevent them from going in. Put that over the opening for a couple of weeks. While having a squirrel in the attic is bad, it's even worse if one is trapped up there -- because then they get anxious and try to chew themselves out.

After a week or so, go back and permanantly close the opening.

We use Hav-A-Hart traps to capture possum and such, then take the cage to the city animal control facility. My son went squirrel hunting with my brother-in-law today and they got 2 big squirrels with my Remington 12ga and steel shot. My wife is looking for a good recipe right now and the squirrel meat is soaking in water, vinegar and a little salt. We have a rule in our house, if you shoot it, you're going to clean (dress it) and eat it.

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