Ground Squirrel MANIA!

[TinkleTurkey]

A few months ago when it started turning spring-y here, there were two ground squirrels. Then, within a couple weeks, there were more. THEN - babies emerged. I was watching several pounds of cracked corn squeeze through the chain-link and RUN AWAY every time I approached the cage. Fare-well, hard-earned dollars!!

I tried to secure the cage so they can't get in, but that failed. I would have to cover the entire ground with concrete, but I have far too many cages to consider that an option.
The dogs got a few, maybe a couple per month. Didn't even put a dent in their population.

So, I got a pellet gun and put an end to the fattest mutant squirrel I've ever laid eyes on. Then, down with 14 more. I thought I had it down to a managable level, but now it seems that new squirrels are coming from afar and taking residence where the others are now gone! Every squirrel in the Mojave is keen to rob me blind.


Has anyone ever won this battle?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I have them everywhere as well

my cats kill them, my dog kills them, and i get lots of practice with my DSS pellet gun. But to no avail. I've had to start storing feed in rodent proof containers and only feed in the coop. The squirrels never go into the run, as my cats spend most of their time back there patrolling for mice. If you can figure out a solution to the massive squirrel explosion, please do share. I, too, am at a loss......

 

[neverbdone]

I'm working on those stinking ground rats too. Trying to avoid poison for obvious reasons. So far the bubble gum nor the swimming pool methods have worked. If the squirrels aren't eating the chicken and duck food, the birds are. I don't get the chance to use the pellet rifle on them. Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[Yetti]

since the holes are small they tend to go deep. they can be as deep as 5 feet. my dog loves tunneling for them. the shallow ones she can get. the deep ones are easy enough if you have any type of car, truck, tractor with a tail pipe. get a length of steel flex hose or dryer vent. dig the opening out and then stick the one end in the hole and make sure you get it in far enough you can seal it with dirt. then attach the other end to the tail pipe with a hose clamp or duct tape. you only need about 3-5 minutes run time on each hole. the exhaust makes about 1/2 to 1 lb of pressure. its enough to drive the fumes deep in the hole and permeate the ground.
this works for ground hog , fox, coyote dens and so on. anything you can trap under ground will die.

 

[calista]

How badly do you want to get rid of them?

Kind of along the lines of what Yetti suggested, how about a propane and oxygen rodent exploder blaster?

As cheap as $1499!

I hope this is a joke, but take it as you will for any ideas:

http://www.rodent-killer.com/Propane_Oxygen_Rodent_Exploders.html

Here's the main site:

http://www.rodent-killer.com/

When I was growing up in Oregon, my Dad called these obnoxious, damaging, prolific little pests GREYDIGGERS, and we were never able to put a dent in their population around the barn, no matter how many traps we set, how many my brothers dispatched with their BB-guns, and how many our dogs caught.

 

[Anianna]

Every year when fireworks go on sale, my husband buys a load of smoke bombs to encourage ground pests out of their holes so he can shoot them. Also, rodents often don't like peppermint or some other mint family plants, so if you have specific areas where the critters seem to prefer, you could grow patches of mint plants to make your property a less desirable place to live. This is more effective in some areas than in others, but we have found it to be effective here against mice.

 

[desertdarlene]

They seem to attract hawks, too. There was a Cooper's hawk hunting the ones at the lake today. I'm glad because about thirty feet from where she was hunting were four juvenile killdeer just learning to fly, but she didn't care that much about them. She wanted squirrel for lunch. So, squirrels are good for something, I guess: distracting hawks from your bird friends.

 

[Yetti]

I have tried the smoke bombs with little to no success. I was working down the ground hog holes on my 8 acres and had 35 holes to close up. I shot 13 the first year and trapped out 10 more. the hole were so bad and inter connected that I did the exhaust hose rig on my K5 Blazer and even poured oil down the carb to get more intense smoke. it was coming out 35-50 feet away in holes that were across the yard from where I was working. after about a month of work I finally closed up the last hole. then the ground squirrels moved in...now I have hundreds of holes.

 

[N2Shown]

Quote:
Those are definitely not a joke. I have seen them in action and they are actually quite effective at fighting squirrel problems. Of course there is a little fn to be had in the process too

 

[TinkleTurkey]

Part of my problem is that the squirrels figured to make their burrow in the neighbors yard, so they can avoid getting caught by my dogs. Then, they just walk through the chain link like there ain't nothin there. I don't want to chance that my neighbor might be some kind of animal activist, so I wait till she's not home to do some damage control. If this were Idaho I'd just ask my neighbor if I can shoot in their yard and they'd say, "great!" But this is California so who knows... So I'm limited to what I can hit from my side of the fence.

Some seem to have figured where to hang out so I can never get a good shot at em. Seem like I killed all the dumb ones and only the stealthy ones remain.

Also I would not hesistate to gas their tunnels - except that, again, they now only live on the other side of the fence. I must say, my dogs are doing their job as well as can be expected, but they cant do anything when the squirrels are in the cages stealing food. I put my best girl in the peacock cage once, but no squirrels came and she ended up eating their food! D'oh!!!

Oh, and I have all my food stored in big metal bins with lids. The squirrels are stealing food right out of my birds feeders! NOT COOL!!!