Squirrels, am I wasting my time?

[MysticLlama]

Good morning, I've brought a gift.

[vash]

that is a fantastic picture!!

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by MysticLlama

Good morning, I've brought a gift.

Is her name Diana ?

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by john70t

I knew of a Florida condo complex that had a few peacocks.
Noisy as heck at certain times of the day, but so beautiful to watch prance.
They gobbled up all the cockroaches around trash containers, also millipedes found inside the house like a carpet by returning residents. Kept everything clean.
They got run over.

The story goes the Vanderlip family who had a Mansion overlooking the ocean brought in peacocks as pet to enhance the garden (huge estate).
Well, they prospered, at first they were only seen in Palos Verdes but now they have moved into San Pedro and are even been seen in Long Beach.
They don't bother me, in my teens we would camp out on the beach in Palos Verdes and saw them often. My wife on the other hand, hates them, they dig in her garden, leave goose size poo on the walk... and worst of all the saunter around in the street and block traffic (not for me, I slow down but don't stop, eventually they see me and get out of the way).

[vash]

i had a family near Yosemite beg me to help them get rid of some Peacock.

that might be the smartest bird, ever. you cant get near one in the wild. i think they know what a shotgun is.

[mattdavis11]

You might do some good if you keep after them. One week I killed about 40 in the back yard, 10 in just a few hours. That year we did harvest some peaches and pears, but not nearly as many as the squirrels did.

I had two labs, both loved the game. They were good for two things. Letting you know they have them spotted, and bringing them to the porch. The squirrels weren't the least bit scared of the dogs, they actually toyed with them, bombing them with pine cones.

I used a .22 benjamin air rifle, 4x6 Zeiss scope.

[Starless]

Fuch it, I'm going to start shooting them. I'll start off with the .177 since it's quieter and move to the .22 if i have no luck. It's cold again, so if the neighbors are home, they'll have the window shut. I'm retired and they work, so mornings will be when the shooting starts.

[jhynesrockmtn]

This may have been suggested. Cat rescues are always looking for a place to park feral cats. Get a couple, feed them and let them do the work.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Starless

Fuch it, I'm going to start shooting them. I'll start off with the .177 since it's quieter and move to the .22 if i have no luck. It's cold again, so if the neighbors are home, they'll have the window shut. I'm retired and they work, so mornings will be when the shooting starts.

.177 to the noggin is pretty effective.

[VincentVega]

thats what I use

just be sure of whats down range, I was surprised at the range of those little things.

[Evans, Marv]

Let us know how it works out. Like I said, I wiped out most of the ground squirrels around here years ago. Since then I've only had a few each year try to set up house, and I eliminate them when I can. My air rifle is zeroed at about 100 ft. The longest kill shot was about 125 ft., and it has enough punch to put them out of commission with one shot. If it didn't, I'd ramp up to something heavier.

[HardDrive]

Squirrels are tough little sobs. I would be surprised if .177 can cleanly kill them.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by vash

i had a family near Yosemite beg me to help them get rid of some Peacock.

that might be the smartest bird, ever. you cant get near one in the wild. i think they know what a shotgun is.

I'm guessing the one's in my neighborhood have been domesticated, people feed them and let them nest in their back yards. Like I said they wander around in the middle of the street and don't notice a car until it is right up on them (kinda like a pidgin).

[Jolly Amaranto]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Squirrels are tough little sobs. I would be surprised if .177 can cleanly kill them.

I have no problems with my .177. Just killed two today. Head, neck or shoulder and they are on the ground. They may twitch a bit.

[vash]

just for information.

those plain-jane wooden rat traps are very effective on tree squirrels. they cannot resist peanut butter.. i hung them on tree trunks. so they jaws snap in the down direction. they have to climb up to them. SNAP! they usually wiggle free and do that twitch death roll on the ground.

[wswartzwel]

On rat traps I have found tying a short piece of string to the trigger latch, fraying it, and smearing peanut butter into the thread, helps prevent trap cleanings. They bite and pull on the string, which makes sure to pop the trigger latch.

[vash]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

On rat traps I have found tying a short piece of string to the trigger latch, fraying it, and smearing peanut butter into the thread, helps prevent trap cleanings. They bite and pull on the string, which makes sure to pop the trigger latch.

that is brilliant!!

[RKDinOKC]

Caught my golden sitting about 15 ft from the pole on my stockade fence. She was making all sorts of whiny chatting noises, not barking or growling. When she stopped the great horned owl sitting on the fence post hooted back. Then she made more noises and the owl hooted back. I watched for several minutes as the conversation when back and forth. The the golden stopped and came over to me happily as usual. The owl hotted one more time then flew off.

Don't know what they were discussing but...Noticed my golden still asks excitedly to go out focused on chasing something in the yard, it is only in the daytime and not at night any more. She has also started taking her toys out into the yard to run and play with. Also gathered from the hooting 9pm to midnite the owl has taken a mate and they have a nest in the top of the cottonwood in my back yard. The cottonwood tree is the tallest spot for a block in any direction.

Seldom see any squirrels, rats, opossum, raccoons, snakes, lizards, rabbits, toads, etc. Do on occasion find parts, i.e. feet or tails left by the dog and the occasional bone ball dropped by the owls.

[mattdavis11]

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

Caught my golden sitting about 15 ft from the pole on my stockade fence. Noticed my golden still asks excitedly to go out focused on chasing something in the yard...
Seldom see any squirrels, rats, opossum, raccoons, snakes, lizards, rabbits, toads, etc. Do on occasion find parts, i.e. feet or tails left by the dog and the occasional bone ball dropped by the owls.

Owls live of off rodents. You have to explain to the dog(s) the game is over, for now. The Owls will move on, then game on. If the dog(s) won't give in, let them nab them on their own. They will, if the are good.

[Starless]

Originally Posted by vash

just for information.

those plain-jane wooden rat traps are very effective on tree squirrels. they cannot resist peanut butter.. i hung them on tree trunks. so they jaws snap in the down direction. they have to climb up to them. SNAP! they usually wiggle free and do that twitch death roll on the ground.

Great idea! I never thought of hanging them from a tree trunk, this way they have to stick their heads in the trap to get the bait. Last year I had a trap in the garden attached to a cement block. The squirrel stuck it's paw in the trap to get the peanut butter and got it stuck. I went back in the house to get the gun to finish him off, but when I got back outside it had chewed it's paw off and left it in the trap. I thought for sure it would die either from blood loss or just not being able to survive with just one paw. Well, several months later in the winter there it was, on my deck minus one paw.