Sorry to hear your ill Linda. Get well and get it over with so you can get back to your chickens.
I have a sad tear jerking story to tell today, and Yes, I am the villain in it. I feel terrible about it so take it easy on me.
But first I need to update you on Rick, he is not doing well, he moved outside today but can barely walk, I have been feeding him bird seed along with his feed. He is still living with the CX;s, Bert seems to be protecting Rick, which is so backwards. On the good side, Bert got lucky! Or at least he tried. I saw him get on top of one of the CX pullets. I am not sure he actually did his job, I am doubtful as the pullets are not laying and do not seem to be in a hurry to start laying.
Now to the sad story. We are over run with grey squirrels, since getting chickens we have more and more of them. They are becoming a nuisance, furry fuzzy tailed rats. We live about 15 miles from a larger town/small city. People in the town live trap squirrels and bring them out here and release them. We are surrounded by land we formally owned until it was taken by eminent domain to make a goose refuge. It is mainly swamp and woods. The good people think they are doing a good thing by moving their squirrels out here to become my problem.
I do not mind a reasonable number of squirrels, not the number we have. I have tried hunting them and eating them. I do not really care for squirrel meat and it is a lot of work for the small amount of meat. I have so many hollow oaks that if I step out the door with a gun the squirrels hide. Proving squirrels are not dumb. This story will prove they are even smarter than I thought.
Women. please grab a kleenix now as you will need it shortly. It nearly brought me to tears and you all know what a heartless arse I am.
I have placed sheet metal on my wild bird feeders outside my dining room window. I have hung noise makers, I have done all the passive methods to keep the squirrels away. I decided I had to take a more drastic step. I went and dug out one of my double ought weasel traps. Yes, the steel jars of death. I figured the squirrels would be big enough to just get scared and bruised in such a small trap. I placed it on the frozen water ( we call that ice here in Minnesota) in my bird bath. The squirrels climb the bird bath then jump to the feeders. I cannot move the bird bath because of frozen ground.
I had the trap there for a week, A humiliating week, in which my wife teased and harassed me because the squirrels would sit next to the trap look at it and jump to the feeder. I figured out yesterday placement was bad on the trap. I moved the trap from the middle of the bird bath to the edge, thinking the fuzzy tailed rats would reach over the edge of the bird bath, when climbing up, and place hi little finger into the trap, it would snap he would pull his hand out and run away scared to death.
Well, my plans rapidly inhale air. ( In keeping with the rules on profanity). This morning I am having coffee and watching my birds. The trap in on top of the bird bath. I got up and went into the kitchen to make more coffee. I come back and the trap is gone and the birdbath is wiggling. I forgot to mention I wired the trap to the birdbath pole to keep it from being drug away. I look on the ground and their is a cute little squirrel with his foot stuck in the trap, his back foot, not the one I wanted to get. He was pulling but the spring of the wire and the pole was not giving him a solid enough pull to get free.
I looked at him and thought, I will finish my coffee and them go let you out. I even told the squirrel that though the window. I sat down and was drinking my coffee and watching the news. I happen to look out the window and I see two big brown eyes staring in looking at me pleading with me. Yep, the squirrel climbed the pole with the trap on his leg and sat in the birdbath and just stared at me, not with a mad look, but with a helpless look.
I swear he knew I could help him. I almost started crying right then he was so pathetic and helpless. I left my coffee to get cold and went out to free him.
Now freeing a ticked ( word changed to comply with the rules on profanity) off squirrel from a leg hold trap is not all that easy. As pathetic and helpless as he looked, he was ready to bite. He was fighting me the whole way. I used a stick to hold him against the post of the bird feeder. He started crying and whimpering. A crying squirrel is a terrible sound. I now knew I was the worlds biggest sphincter. My dogs were interested in the squirrel and were not listening as well as trained dogs should. I made them back off and released the spring on the trap and the squirrel took off, rudely leaving without so much as a thank you!
My young dog could not contain herself she took after the fleeing squirrel. The squirrel leaped on an oak and started up it, The dog followed leaping at the same time, the dogs jaws snapping shut on dead air, missing the squirrel by inches.
Hopefully the squirrel will heal and learn from the experience, never coming back to my feeders. I am also hoping he tells his squirrel friends, but I doubt that will happen an hour later I had a bigger fatter squirrel on the feeder..
I have not reset the trap. I am considering other options.
I may buy a live trap and transport and release the squirrels in town.
