Stormcrow's Hobby Farm

[Florida Bullfrog]

Its rare that I find legislation that makes sense as a cohesive policy. Why whould this be any different?

I’m not against snaring per se. But I have done it and seen some animals die pretty bad deaths. In the infancy of video-capable trail cameras, I set some video units up on a snare line and saw some pretty slow, terrible, scenes.

Foot-holds, on the other hand, can be an amazingly humane way to trap when the trap is properly sized for the target species.

 

[Sally PB]

Good luck with the traps.

I need something for the chipmunks and red squirrels! They. Are. Every. Blanken. Where. this year. And very destructive.

I'd love to sit out there overnight with an IR headlamp and my .22 bullseye pistol. It won't happen. The bugs would eat me alive, I can't stay awake that late, and hubby would be upset by me killing critters. (They're eating your cherries dear. Not just the beans, dear; your cherries.)

 

[Sally PB]

I'm reading a very interesting book on taste.

Taste What You're Missing, by Barb Stuckey.

I highly recommended this book for people who eat.

 

[Molpet]

I need something for the chipmunks and red squirrels!

Chimunkator.
Those red squirrels tore up inside the hood and chewed the washer fluid line.
One got in the house
I throw it in the creek to drown them... or fill wheel barrow if creek low

https://ruggedranch.net/catch-mor-traps/
Sold lots of places

 

[Sally PB]

^^I'm tempted. I'll definitely look at TSC when I'm there tomorrow.

 

[NanaK]

Foot hold traps may be better if you have fox getting your birds. Foxes can be difficult to catch in live traps.

 

[Sally PB]

Well, another reason why print books are better than those on a kindle. The book I mentioned? It's not Taste What You're Missing, which is also by Barb Stuckey.

It's
Taste: Surprising Stories and Science about Why Food Tastes Good

When I read a "dead tree book" I see the title and author every time I pick it up. When I read a book on my kindle, I often couldn't tell you the author or the (correct) title, as in this case.

I learned a lot about taste and food in general when I read this. I want to get it in print, as there are some charts that are too hard to read on a kindle, and several things I'd like to come back to.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So... about $2,000 is the cheapest I can set up (what I consider to be) a minimially suitable run to cage the birds if I can't get the critters under control. And that isn't roofed. Just a roughly 25' x 65' area enclosed by a 6' chain link fence and an electric fence charger. I'm somewhere around $10 per linear foot of fencing, no matter what rout I go. Seriously considering getting two 10' x 10' pre-made chain link kennels for dogs, opening them up to make a single "wall" (with a door) and connecthing the two with a pair of 50' chain link runs.

Still doing the math on that, and will need to set 4x4 posts both for strength - those wallsections are free standing, they have no strength of their own - and to provide attachment points when I move the bunny cages out into that area as well. and build a new feed locker.

On the trap front, got both traps set yesterday, used sprats as bait and to cover my human-like scent. One critter (unknown) thanks me for the gift and expressed its opinion of the trap by leaving its scat where the bait was onside the trap befor leaving...

It looks a bit like raccoon scat. Or deer scat that's been eating a bunch of blackberries and other things in seed right now. There's a vague "pelleting" but its so moist and seed filled there is no distinct shape. Or wet fox scat (minus the point ends). Apparently, wrong collor for possom.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Old fried chicken - Winn Dixie deli variety (their spice mix is "uninspired" to say the least) - as my next bait tonight. Thing I'm going to shred the rest and make green chili chicken enchilada with the rest. Or sour cream and tomatillo. Haven't decided yet.

 

[Sally PB]

Good luck.

I've heard critters are causing big problems for a lot of people. Several have complained about squirrels. One of my neighbors is shooting red squirrels out of his mulberry tree with a pellet gun.