On 19 Jan 2012, "Robert Green" wrote in
alt.home.repair:

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.

Yes! I didn't realize those traps can be used that way, but I think
that's a good idea. I suspected that the reason so many were escaping
was that when it started to close, they bolted straight out the other
side. Those things as VERY fast, I discovered.

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.

This is all great advice. I will try it later today when I re-bait the
traps.

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.

I will cover the hole, somehow. It's not in a place where I can get to
it easily - it's in the tight space where the roof meets the exterior
wall, and the roof is only at a 35- or 40-degree angle. I can only get
to it by crawling across the fiberglass insulation, and there won't be
much room to maneuver a tool in there. Not to mention that that's where
the critters have been walking and excreting for the past few weeks. I
don't relish the idea... but I guess it will have to be done. The roof
is three stories up and I don't have a ladder that tall to get to it
from the outside - but I've been wishing I had one for years, so maybe
now's the time.

If I can wait until spring, the rain gutter needs replacing, and
probably the fascia, and I can make all repairs at once.

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.

God, I hope not. There have always been a few. I've assumed they were
several generations of the same family. I think the local ecosystem can
support a limited number, but no more. I could be wrong.

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.

I've seen plans for a simple dunk tank you can drop the cage into to
dispatch them. I'll do it if it comes down to it, but the thought makes
me a little queasy. There's a large wilderness park just a few miles
away - I'd rather take them there and give them a chance at survival,
let nature take it's course.

There are a lot of good suggestions here. Thanks for your thoughtful
ideas.