Grey Squirrels Driving Me Crazy!

[ChickensInTheNorthWoods]

Check this out for ideas on solving squirrel problem's!
http://www.cafepress.com/meatitarian

 

[CMV]

We use the little red squirrels for target practice with the paint ball gun, but we don't actually want to kill them. They're so small they wouldn't be any good for eating. Now if we had the big gray ones I might reconsider. I hear they are delicious- miserable to skin, but delicious.
Happy hunting!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Quote:

i don't see myself wearing that thong, though.

 

[jjthink]

Afraid I'm not much help because I really like them! We pretty much just have gray squirrels; I watch them work hard, play hard, and be brave as well as quite funny. Usually when food in nature becomes plentiful (spring, summer) they'll busy themselves with nature's bounty and leave yours alone, particularly if you keep the food inside in a somewhat obscure spot rather than out in the open. This winter I had a bunch of them living in the outbuilding within which my bird's coop resides. Admittedly, they did make a mess but I was not able to get very mad at them, though I could really do without the cleanup required. I think they were entertaining for my birds when they were stuck indoors during bad winter weather. Now that the weather is warm, they've left the building. I really don't mind so much if they eat some feed because I can never seem to use the whole 50 pound bag quick enough so that it's still fresh toward the end.

Each year I watch squirrels raise their babies in a purple martin house turned squirrel condo and see the dedication and bond between them, even including endearing group hugs on the roof. I have 2 grown squirrels right now that I particularly enjoy watching (can easily ID each time because one has an unusual red tint in its tail) - they play and play and are totally smitten with each other - I couldn't take any away to a new locale, knowing I might have split up pals or family. I have given snacks of peanuts and sunflower seeds to the ones that come looking for me at my back door and broadcast more in the colder months. At times, some have become tame enough to sit with me if I'm doing paperwork on the deck.

All that said, there are a number of squirrel repellents on the market if you want to try those. I keep chicken food locked up tight at night (in metal cans with weights on top) so that early bird squirrels don't have a field day before the the coffee is even on the stove. If you have any small openings in your bird's building where they can get in and are able to work on sealing your building so they can't get in and out at all hours when the main door is shut at night or in bad weather, there should be fewer of them and they won't likely also nest in there (as they did in my building this past year - working on making it less accessible - the birds quarters have no breeches but the building it resides in has some because its old and stone and there are some small spaces between some of the stones).

Anyway, hope it all works out, for you, your birds, and the squirrels

JJ

 

[RuffTuffCreampuff]

I started a thread in the recipe section! Titled Vittles---Tasty Predators.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2341073#p2341073

Pam

 

[ChickenDogDuck]

My pest company guy said they are not native and are driving the brown ones out.

Perhaps your pest company guy is a little confused. The Western Gray Squirrel is native to California, as well as Oregon, Washington and on up into Canada.

"The western gray squirrel is native to California but the fox squirrel is an introduced species."

Source: California Dept. of Fish & Game http://www.dfg.ca.gov/QandA/2009/20090430.asp

Just as in Oregon, the Western Gray Squirrel in California, is a game animal and requires a license to hunt and has a seasonal hunting period.​

 

[Judy]

Stop putting feed out for them. Store feed in metal garbage cans.

And please do not relocate, for several reasons; for one, it is probably illegal, unless you have some sort of wildlife center to take them to.

 

[Dinkadoo]

A high powered air rifle will take care of them. We have no mercy for them here. They will chew everything up. They have even gotten in the attic. They are just rats with long tails.

 

[redstars]

I had a Squirrel in my garden Today! He is still in my garden except now he's helping push up plants!

 

[danielbrown]

Quote:
Thats the same place I saw that Ground Hog who became the yummy stew I posted a pic of.