"Nil" wrote in message
...

stuff snipped

I bought a Havahart trap (model #1030). I baited it with bread 'n
peanut butter. The trap got sprung a couple of times, but I finally
caught one of them. I drove it about 5 miles away and released it in
the woods. I'm not sure it will survive in this cold winter weather,
but I don't much care. Two down.

Any thoughts about what I can do to move them along more quickly?

My squirrel infestation took THREE Havahart 1030 traps to clear out. Still
a bargain compared to professional rodent control and you can always sell
the extras when it's done. Use the traps in the one door mode - squirrels
are fast enough to bolt through and out of a two-doored trap but they can't
back up in time to exit once the treadle is popped.

Skip the bread - use small pudding cups or the sawed off bottoms of
soda/water bottles smeared with peanut butter - it gets the maximum smell of
the bait exposed without leaving bread crumbs around. Also, make up a
second cup with just a "taste" of peanut butter smeared around the inside
rim. Place it right inside the trap's door (but before the treadle) so they
can see that they can grab the cup without anything happening. That will
make them bold about getting the second cup.

Using two cups is the most important discovery I've made trapping 100's of
squirrels. With a "Judas" bait cup just inside the trap and a second one in
the little wedge corner created by the closed second trap door you'll get
them all. I wire the inside cup down after seeing one wise guy pull the cup
to the side and empty it without ever entering the trap. FWIW, I don't wire
the bait cup to the treadle - too many "misses" that way. Instead, I place
it a few inches past the trigger paddle so that the squirrel has to go
*beyond* the treadle to get the bait. Try it, you'll see.

My traps were set where I had an infra-red TV cam because I too thought they
had "learned" to avoid the traps and I wanted to see it happen. But it
didn't. Some very few would come and sniff and walk away, but they would
come back eventually. I've trapped six a day with three or four going within
minutes of each other. They see their buddies getting trapped and can't
wait to get into a newly baited trapped. Ot-nay Oo-tay Right-bay. I use a
tiny neo magnet on the two levers that hook together to form to trigger to
slightly strengthen the trigger and enable the trap to withstand a large
squirrel standing on the outstretched open door of the trap. Once they are
inside I use much large neo magnets to "lock" the lock wire down on each
door. An agitated squirrel can rock his way free out of a trap without
magnets securing the locking wires.

You probably won't get away without fixing the hole. The little rodents
leave a constant stream of pellets and **** behind them so there are
pointers leading to your roof. Also, air leaking from their contains smells
of cooking, etc. You might even have to cover it with squirrel-proof mesh
(if there IS such a thing - they can chew through a surprising number of
things) to be sure they won't return. I now trap any of them that come up
onto the porch during the three days before garbage collection and haven't
had a "re-entry" in quite a few years.

As Stormie pointed out, and using Shakespeare's words "They come not as
single spies, but in battalions." If there are unprotected bird feeders or
another copious food supply, you may be experiencing only the first wave of
what could be 100's of squirrels.

I, too, transported them to other locations until one got loose in the car
and kicked off "The War On Squirrels." Now I ship them back to their maker
courtesy of a slightly-redesigned and repurposed stun baton.

--
Bobby G.