How to get rid of squirrels

[mrcman]

Hi, We also live trap and gas them. They're mostly chipmunks and reds so we don't eat them.

Tony

 

[Nimby Chickens]

I rehab these guys and they are some of the most adorable, sweet, individual little guys. They are so FUNNY and I love watching them.

I would like to draw a parallel between them and chickens. Prey animals that not everyone understands - very funny, very individual, and surprisingly clever but no one would know unless they spent time with them.

Basically, you are fighting a losing battle. You won't get rid of them and for every one you kill, another will take the place when the territory is empty and you will possibly get more (males and females have separate territories so if you kill a male and a female takes his place, she'll have babies and they live in family groups for 6 months to a year)

The only thing you can really do is squirrel-proof your feeders. You can also offer them their own squirrel buffet (like I do for all my squirrels) of leftovers and veggies going bad so they ignore the chook food. They do have a benefit of being more tasty and easy to catch and carry off than chickens so the hawks and falcons tend to target them instead.

 

[The Lazy L]

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Perhaps a squirrel snare would work for you and your girls.

 

[LoreenH]

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I agree - We live in an area with lots of squirrels and there would be no way to get rid of ALL of them; you can maybe make small dent in population but good luck with that. Get rid of one, one will take it's place.

 

[Chemguy]

In a suburban area, you're likely dealing with neighbors feeding them through their bird feeders, intended or not. One thing you can do is to add cayenne pepper to the feed. The chickens can't detect it (and some say it increases egg production), but the squirrels are bothered by it, just like we are.

 

[War Chicken]

The "vacuum effect" is B.S. spread by animal huggers (hoarders really) to convince people not to bother controlling pests. Yeah, the population will replenish itself but it takes time. When you don't see immediate results, it's because the population is larger than what it appears. Once you exterminate most of them you won't see much activity. Some animals are territorial but a good food source is too good to pass up and that area will be shared. Some feral cat colonies are almost a thousand in number so the theory that the resident animals will keep newcomers out is flawed.

I once had a neighbor who fed them which led to a booming rodent population. I started trapping them but she would release them so I started shooting them with an air rifle. I never saw more than 3-4 at a time so after I shot 3 I thought my work was done but there were several groups of squirrels visiting the feeding station throughout the day. I kept shooting them and after a few weeks, squirrel sightings were far and few beyond. Once in awhile I'd see a newcomer and promptly shoot him but the population stayed low after the initial decimation.

The neighbor wondered what happened and must have thought it was the food because she set out a huge variety of nuts that went untouched. She even constructed a contraption to keep the birds out, perhaps thinking they were somehow responsible for the squirrels' absence. When autumn came and the leaves fell, all the squirrel nests became visible but it was different that year. All the nests were unoccupied and therefore unmaintained so all around the neighborhood you could see the nests falling apart and getting smaller as the wind and rain whittled away at them.


A friend had a similar experience with squirrels raiding his garden. He started shooting them and after the initial depopulation, only a little maintenance shooting was necessary to make them very scarce. All his grapefruits, avocados, and tomatoes were in prime condition but were left completely untouched.

 

[Nimby Chickens]

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I can present you several articles that document the vacuum effect. I do not understand why this makes me an animal hoarder. I think there is a difference between controlling the population and needless killing. Exterminating an entire colony of wildlife so that you get every single avocado just seems like a sad case of humans living on top of nature and not within it. If you protected your crops/food/whatever then you wouldn't need to kill anything. There was an old saying "plant 3 times what you need, because 1/3 will die, 1/3 is for the animals, and if you're lucky, the rest is for you." It's just like the concept of a predator-proof coop.

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

.22 and a good aim

 

[War Chicken]

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Note that I'm not saying that populations can never recover, just that it can be slower than they can be removed, as I observed. Squirrels take one bite out of each fruit and leave nothing for the farmers.

My question is if the vacuum effect is what some say it is, why do we have any restrictions on hunting or commercial harvesting? Why are there even any endangered species? Why have any species gone extinct? Each animal killed is replaced by at least one more, right?


In both my case and my friend's, there was plenty of food and shelter for the squirrels but a little effort in controlling the population was enough to completely eliminate all problems. During this process, I wondered how fast the population could replenish itself and thought it would be interesting to find out if I could knock the population down. I was surprised at how easy it was to go from "squirrels everywhere" to "not a single one in sight."

As with many things in life, one shouldn't expect immediate results. Success often requires a little persistence.

 

[Mattemma]

I tolerated squirrels until they decided my yard was easy pickings for them. We have so little money,and to have them come in and eat our crops was a painful loss.I don't mind keeping traps set 24/7,and slowly decresing their numbers. It is better than finding my yard and house tore up by them. If they stay out of my yard they will be just fine.

I don't kill them just to get every sinlge fruit and veggie,but I would like to get SOMETHING after sometimes waiting years for the plants to fruit.Every single sunflower and corn stalk would be torn down and HALF eated by squirrels. I even tried giving them food in a different location.Nothing short of removal stopped the costly expense created by squirrels.