Damn squirrels

[That's No Moon]

1 hour ago, Simon said:

 

Yeah, because they're protecting their livelihoods.

And they live on farms.

Are you suggesting he start tossing $40 worth of high velocity Winchester cartridges around the neighborhood to protect $13 worth of fruit?

The efficacy of that plan may be somewhat lacking...

It's because the other stuff doesn't work. If there was a passive way they could keep the animals off their crops they'd do it. Squirrels give zero Fs. Any sort of fence or guard or block you put up becomes a puzzle for them to solve and they enjoy solving it.

 

If you don't want to shoot them or can't because of neighborhood proximity issues (though a pellet gun can take down a squirrel with no trouble) then I'd suggest trying to trap them and not to waste your time with live traps. Why not a live trap? 2 reasons, First, it's usually illegally to move an animal off your land onto other land or onto public land so what are you going to do with it? Second, you have to open the trap, the squirrel will be pissed and you're not interested in a trip to the doctor with bites and scratches from a wild rodent.

 

If it's not worth it for the tree worth of fruit, that is probably worth more than you think it is, just let the squirrels eat it. 

[Simon]

4 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

It's because the other stuff doesn't work. If there was a passive way they could keep the animals off their crops they'd do it

 

I'm not suggesting they shouldn't do it; just that it's not applicable here.

 

I've live-trapped animals before and releasing them is neither dangerous nor problematic; and relocating squirrels is legal in most places but you have to take them like 10 miles away or they'll track their way back. And even if they don't, it won't take long for another batch to replace them.

And have you ever tried to hit a squirrel with a pellet gun? Between getting within reasonable range and then trying to get a clean line of sight on them while they're navigating a tree (they are way smarter than chipmunks), it is harder than you'd think.

[That's No Moon]

10 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

I'm not suggesting they shouldn't do it; just that it's not applicable here.

 

I've live-trapped animals before and releasing them is neither dangerous nor problematic; and relocating squirrels is legal in most places but you have to take them like 10 miles away or they'll track their way back. And even if they don't, it won't take long for another batch to replace them.

And have you ever tried to hit a squirrel with a pellet gun? Between getting within reasonable range and then trying to get a clean line of sight on them while they're navigating a tree (they are way smarter than chipmunks), it is harder than you'd think.

Live trapping is an option but only if, as you said you keep doing it, and then also act as squirrel Uber driving them far away. The other issue with live trapping is you can catch stuff you don't want to catch. Like skunks.

 

And yes I've shot squirrels with a pellet gun. It's not easy but it's about how you want to spend your time. Do you want to set a trap and walk away or sit near your tree with a couple beers and wait? You can always do both with the pellet gun being more recreational.

 

There's obviously not an easy solution or it would already exist. The tree owner needs to decide how much they care about the fruit. If they care they need to choose one of the few available options for a neighborhood. Trying to permanently thin the squirrel population is the most effective however they go about doing it. If they don't care that much they need to let it go.

 

I'd love to grow some fruit trees and berry bushes but between the birds and squirrels and deer there's no realistic way for me to do it so I planted some raspberries and blackberries in the woods instead and just let the deer have them. I'll go out and try to harvest some and I usually only get what they can't reach which isn't a lot.

[US Egg]

No more live trap varmint attacks for me. If the coyotes don't get 'em, this will.  

 

This is one bad mf'ing pellet gun.

Edited 3 hours ago by US Egg

[Wacka]

Deer are a big problem also.  Steiglemer Town Park in Cheektowaga has a few areas pf 10x10 feet fenced off  with chicken wire with a 10 foot high fence around them.  Inside the fece the foliage is thick and lush. Outside of it, the trees are bare up to about 6 feet and the ground  has just low plants. The sign on them says htat the entire park would look like the inside if it weren't for the deer eating all the foliage. Every fall they close the park for a week pr two and have hunters thin the herd.

The park is on a creek so there is no way to keep them out. They can also spread chronic wasting (deer mad cow) disease so thinking the hard helps that.

I worked for a while at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens in South Park and people would ask me why we didn't plant tulips along the approach to the front door anymore. My boss told me that  when we closed at 4 PM, the deer would show up within a half hour and start decimating the tulips.

[Captain_Quint]

4 hours ago, That's No Moon said:

It's because the other stuff doesn't work. If there was a passive way they could keep the animals off their crops they'd do it. Squirrels give zero Fs. Any sort of fence or guard or block you put up becomes a puzzle for them to solve and they enjoy solving it.

 

If you don't want to shoot them or can't because of neighborhood proximity issues (though a pellet gun can take down a squirrel with no trouble) then I'd suggest trying to trap them and not to waste your time with live traps. Why not a live trap? 2 reasons, First, it's usually illegally to move an animal off your land onto other land or onto public land so what are you going to do with it? Second, you have to open the trap, the squirrel will be pissed and you're not interested in a trip to the doctor with bites and scratches from a wild rodent.

 

If it's not worth it for the tree worth of fruit, that is probably worth more than you think it is, just let the squirrels eat it. 

Just fill a tub of water and lower the trap into it for a minute or until the trap stops moving. Then empty it and reset it.