http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com watch for the book

Steve B wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com watch for the book

Won't it be a bit tricky to adjust for the weight of the tree branch?

"Dean Hoffman" wrote in message
...
Steve B wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com watch for the book

Won't it be a bit tricky to adjust for the weight of the tree branch?

The tree branch will be free standing, and not touch the tube. Sorry, that
was a crude drawing, but it is that simple. A branch, a barrel, a tube, and
some peanut butter and water. I think it will work fine. I'll know soon,
as I'll probably get the parts tomorrow and start on it. The squirrels
have been collecting the apples on the ground, and it's just about time for
them to head up the tree.

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com watch for the book

On Jul 11, 8:34 pm, "Steve B" wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/

Steve

visit my blog athttp://cabgbypasssurgery.comwatch for the book

Andy comments:

I've seen a similar device which is used in Asia to catch rats and
mice. A squirrel is large compared to the 5 gallon barrel, and they
are smart little buggers, so I'd be curious as to whether it works on
and animal as large as a squirrel, but good luck....

Many time I have gone into my garage to find a drowned mouse
in a 5 gal bucket that has a couple inches of water in it, such as a
mop pail that hadn't been emptied....

Please post back here to let us know how the idea works out....

I would suggest putting grease on the part of the tube that will
lower the squirrel into the water to make it really slick. Their feet
will grip really well, and they, unlike rats, can almost wrap their
feet around the tube to get a better grip.

Andy in Eureka, Texas

They use these a lot in the Michigan UP to catch mice. Instead of
water they use antifreeze. Not only does it keep the water from
freezing but it kills them quicker and keeps the smell down..

What a friend of mine did to keep the squirrels out of his bird feeder
was run a wire out to it and hook the wire to a switch in the house.
When he saw the squirrel going up the pole to the feeder he would flip
the switch. Works great.


Jim


Andy comments:

* I've seen a similar device which is used in Asia to catch rats and
mice. * A squirrel is large compared to the 5 gallon barrel, and they
are smart little buggers, so I'd be curious as to whether it works on
and animal as large as a squirrel, but good luck....

"Andy" wrote in message
...
On Jul 11, 8:34 pm, "Steve B" wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/

Steve

visit my blog athttp://cabgbypasssurgery.comwatch for the book

Andy comments:

I've seen a similar device which is used in Asia to catch rats and
mice. A squirrel is large compared to the 5 gallon barrel, and they
are smart little buggers, so I'd be curious as to whether it works on
and animal as large as a squirrel, but good luck....

Many time I have gone into my garage to find a drowned mouse
in a 5 gal bucket that has a couple inches of water in it, such as a
mop pail that hadn't been emptied....

Please post back here to let us know how the idea works out....

I would suggest putting grease on the part of the tube that will
lower the squirrel into the water to make it really slick. Their feet
will grip really well, and they, unlike rats, can almost wrap their
feet around the tube to get a better grip.

Andy in Eureka, Texas

That's one mighty darn smart strong squirrel if they can do it inside the
tube!

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com

On Jul 12, 8:43 am, "Steve B" wrote:

That's one mighty darn smart strong squirrel if they can do it inside the
tube!

Steve

Andy comments:]

Wow !! Why would you assume that the squirrel would ever try to
go INSIDE the tube....
You don't know squirrels....... they ALWAYS go on the outside.....
Damn smart buggers...... I can hardly ever catch one in a trap.
Fortunately, I have a scoped Henry... Works great ...... Much
more fun, too...

Andy in Eureka, Texas

"Andy" wrote in message
...
On Jul 12, 8:43 am, "Steve B" wrote:

That's one mighty darn smart strong squirrel if they can do it inside the
tube!

Steve

Andy comments:]

Wow !! Why would you assume that the squirrel would ever try to
go INSIDE the tube....
You don't know squirrels....... they ALWAYS go on the outside.....
Damn smart buggers...... I can hardly ever catch one in a trap.
Fortunately, I have a scoped Henry... Works great ...... Much
more fun, too...

Andy in Eureka, Texas

Jim E has caught two the first day on his by them going inside the tube. I
caught one. I did slather the outside of my tube with peanut butter, and
made a nice stepoff point for them to step on to the outside of the tube.

BTW, I don't like the words should, probably, always, and never. They seem
like they don't even belong in the English language, as they define nothing.

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com

Wow !! Why would you assume that the squirrel would ever try to
go INSIDE the tube....

Because the squirrels here live in burrows and caves? Tubes and holes are
their safe haven, and where they are raised?

You don't know squirrels....... they ALWAYS go on the outside.....

No, you don't know the squirrels where I live, or where Jim E. lives.
Either you are wrong, or Jim and I have some seriously dumb squirrels. Or
the squirrels where you are happen to be neurotic in not liking dark hiding
places.

Are they liberal squirrels?

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com

On Jul 16, 10:50 am, "Steve B" wrote:
..

BTW, I don't like the words should, probably, always, and never. They seem
like they don't even belong in the English language, as they define nothing.


Andy replies:

You're right. I should probably choose my words more carefully. I
always
give it a try but never seem to be able to accomplish it......

For the record, tho, one can't define "nothing" since there is nothing
to
define.

Regarding squirrels. OK.... Your experience is probably different
from mine.
I always prefer to shoot the little buggers with my scoped Henry from
the
back porch, but I always am aware that many people never have the
opportunity......like they should.

I have a good recipe for squirrel stew, tho..... I call it my
GSP special (Gustatus Similis Pullus).....


Andy in Eureka, Texas

On Jul 11, 9:34*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/

Steve

visit my blog athttp://cabgbypasssurgery.comwatch for the book

Simply wrap the trunk of the tree with a 24" wide piece of aluminum
flashing. They can't climb then. Pretty common solution.

jamesgangnc wrote:

On Jul 11, 9:34*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/

Steve

visit my blog athttp://cabgbypasssurgery.comwatch for the book

Simply wrap the trunk of the tree with a 24" wide piece of aluminum
flashing. They can't climb then. Pretty common solution.


And it works fine [12" flashing is what I use] as long as there isn't
another tree branch within 5 feet of the tree you're trying to
protect--- 10 if it has some height over the target tree.

The squirrels are welcome to my mulberries is so far as there is no
guard on the tree. But they rarely climb that tree. They come
from my neighbors maple- to his oak- to my maple- to my hickory- BFJ
[big f-ing jump] to one spruce- then to the next spruce- down the ash
tree-- and over to the mulberry.

My peach tree in the back has some similar access from a couple sumacs
and an oak tree. The buggers climb up the kids swings to jump to the
cherry trees.

The flashing *has* kept them out of the birdhouse where they killed
the owlets this spring-- or maybe they just lost interest.

Jim

"Steve B" wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/


I threw one together with the easiest to get to parts I had lying
around. I used a 20gallon trash bbl & 4" light PVC.

Set it up last night & got 2 squirrels today.

I had some trouble setting up the video camera to motion detection- so
after I got the first squirrel, I switched the camera to still
pictures and got a few of the second guy playing around. I also
watched him for 10 minutes or so- but never saw him 'get caught'.

What I saw, and what I have pictures of, is the squirrel on the
outside of the bbl, reaching over to clean up the peanut butter on the
pipe.

The inside of the pipe got cleaned up, so he must have gone in at some
point- but I didn't see it.

I've figured out the setting I missed for taking video on the motion
detection setting- so tomorrow I might get some video. [I'm using a
point-and-shoot Canon with the chdk hack- from chdk.org ]

Here are the stills of the setup-
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...p/IMG_7269.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...p/IMG_7270.jpg

I think when I dig that 55gallon bbl out I might just go with the
spinning can type dumper, but this was pretty simple to set up.

I used a can of beans on a string as weight to find the pivot point.
You can see the rubber band on the chain is stretched out in the one
picture. There might be a more elegant way of resetting, but the
chain & rubber band seems to work.

I should have set it up so the pivot point was at the edge of the
barrel, not 3-4inches into it. But it works-- so what am I
bitchin' about.

Jim

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:21:39 -0400, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

"Steve B" wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/


I threw one together with the easiest to get to parts I had lying
around. I used a 20gallon trash bbl & 4" light PVC.

Set it up last night & got 2 squirrels today.

I had some trouble setting up the video camera to motion detection- so
after I got the first squirrel, I switched the camera to still
pictures and got a few of the second guy playing around. I also
watched him for 10 minutes or so- but never saw him 'get caught'.

What I saw, and what I have pictures of, is the squirrel on the
outside of the bbl, reaching over to clean up the peanut butter on the
pipe.

The inside of the pipe got cleaned up, so he must have gone in at some
point- but I didn't see it.

I've figured out the setting I missed for taking video on the motion
detection setting- so tomorrow I might get some video. [I'm using a
point-and-shoot Canon with the chdk hack- from chdk.org ]

Here are the stills of the setup-
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...p/IMG_7269.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...p/IMG_7270.jpg

I think when I dig that 55gallon bbl out I might just go with the
spinning can type dumper, but this was pretty simple to set up.

I used a can of beans on a string as weight to find the pivot point.
You can see the rubber band on the chain is stretched out in the one
picture. There might be a more elegant way of resetting, but the
chain & rubber band seems to work.

I should have set it up so the pivot point was at the edge of the
barrel, not 3-4inches into it. But it works-- so what am I
bitchin' about.

Jim

Outstanding!

Nice property...

"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...
"Steve B" wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/


I threw one together with the easiest to get to parts I had lying
around. I used a 20gallon trash bbl & 4" light PVC.

Set it up last night & got 2 squirrels today.

I had some trouble setting up the video camera to motion detection- so
after I got the first squirrel, I switched the camera to still
pictures and got a few of the second guy playing around. I also
watched him for 10 minutes or so- but never saw him 'get caught'.

What I saw, and what I have pictures of, is the squirrel on the
outside of the bbl, reaching over to clean up the peanut butter on the
pipe.

The inside of the pipe got cleaned up, so he must have gone in at some
point- but I didn't see it.

I've figured out the setting I missed for taking video on the motion
detection setting- so tomorrow I might get some video. [I'm using a
point-and-shoot Canon with the chdk hack- from chdk.org ]

Here are the stills of the setup-
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...p/IMG_7269.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...p/IMG_7270.jpg

I think when I dig that 55gallon bbl out I might just go with the
spinning can type dumper, but this was pretty simple to set up.

I used a can of beans on a string as weight to find the pivot point.
You can see the rubber band on the chain is stretched out in the one
picture. There might be a more elegant way of resetting, but the
chain & rubber band seems to work.

I should have set it up so the pivot point was at the edge of the
barrel, not 3-4inches into it. But it works-- so what am I
bitchin' about.

Jim

My royalty department attorneys will be in touch.

I never thought about a stop chain, just letting it go full vertical, but if
you don't have some sort of a stop, it won't reset back to horizontal. I
have been working on my book solid for the last two days, and it has been
hot as blazes here. Too hot to go outside. 110 forecast. I went out to
the shop a while ago and turned on the cooler and opened the door. Am going
to go out there tonight and work on it a bit. I don't want those squirrels
to get ahead of me on the apple trees like they did on the almond trees.
Great to hear that the principle works. I guess they don't hesitate to go
into the tunnel. And once it tips, it doesn't matter how much the pipe
weighs.

Hehe ..........

That's a fat squirrel. Lucky he didn't get stuck.

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com watch for the book

"Steve B" wrote:

-snip-
My royalty department attorneys will be in touch.

I'll give 'em 1/2 of my net worth. . . $0/2.g


I never thought about a stop chain, just letting it go full vertical, but if
you don't have some sort of a stop, it won't reset back to horizontal. I
have been working on my book solid for the last two days, and it has been
hot as blazes here. Too hot to go outside. 110 forecast.

I'm not fond of heat myself. I played with this right in front of
the squirrel cage [the irony escaped me until just now] fan I salvaged
from my old furnace. That moves some air!

I went out to
the shop a while ago and turned on the cooler and opened the door. Am going
to go out there tonight and work on it a bit. I don't want those squirrels
to get ahead of me on the apple trees like they did on the almond trees.
Great to hear that the principle works. I guess they don't hesitate to go
into the tunnel. And once it tips, it doesn't matter how much the pipe
weighs.

If some physics geek is reading this I hope he/she chimes in- I'm sure
it makes some difference-- just don't know if it makes enough for us
to think about.

Jim

"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...
"Steve B" wrote:

-snip-
My royalty department attorneys will be in touch.

I'll give 'em 1/2 of my net worth. . . $0/2.g


I never thought about a stop chain, just letting it go full vertical, but
if
you don't have some sort of a stop, it won't reset back to horizontal. I
have been working on my book solid for the last two days, and it has been
hot as blazes here. Too hot to go outside. 110 forecast.

I'm not fond of heat myself. I played with this right in front of
the squirrel cage [the irony escaped me until just now] fan I salvaged
from my old furnace. That moves some air!

I went out to
the shop a while ago and turned on the cooler and opened the door. Am
going
to go out there tonight and work on it a bit. I don't want those
squirrels
to get ahead of me on the apple trees like they did on the almond trees.
Great to hear that the principle works. I guess they don't hesitate to go
into the tunnel. And once it tips, it doesn't matter how much the pipe
weighs.

If some physics geek is reading this I hope he/she chimes in- I'm sure
it makes some difference-- just don't know if it makes enough for us
to think about.

Jim

I had grandiose ideas of a Rube Goldberg contraption with all sorts of
gates, switches, latches, and such. What I ended up with was a sheet metal
tube (I couldn't find any poly tube), a 1x3, a hinge, and a couple of other
simple things. Total cost at retail, less than one dollar. I put it out
this evening with some apples in the water, and some peanut butter in the
barrel. I was going to add some yeast, but my wife could not find it, so
that might be tomorrow. Instead, I cut some fresh apple slivers and threw
them down the canyon side where I know the little darlings live. I will
take some photos after it sits for a couple of days.

MAJOR CAVEAT for newbies - check it daily, or the smell will knock you down.
Ever dispose of a squirrel the size of a regulation NBA basketball? Don't
ask.

Steve

visit my blog at http://cabgbypasssurgery.com watch for the book

I dont understand why anyone would want to kill a squirrel, they are
cute and inoffensive and can be tamed if you want.......

just protect your building so they cant get inside, and to discourage
them futher dont leave their favorite foods out, that will only
attract them

"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...
"Steve B" wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deserttraveler/


I threw one together with the easiest to get to parts I had lying
around. I used a 20gallon trash bbl & 4" light PVC.

Set it up last night & got 2 squirrels today.

I had some trouble setting up the video camera to motion detection- so
after I got the first squirrel, I switched the camera to still
pictures and got a few of the second guy playing around. I also
watched him for 10 minutes or so- but never saw him 'get caught'.

What I saw, and what I have pictures of, is the squirrel on the
outside of the bbl, reaching over to clean up the peanut butter on the
pipe.

The inside of the pipe got cleaned up, so he must have gone in at some
point- but I didn't see it.

I've figured out the setting I missed for taking video on the motion
detection setting- so tomorrow I might get some video. [I'm using a
point-and-shoot Canon with the chdk hack- from chdk.org ]

Here are the stills of the setup-
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...p/IMG_7269.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...p/IMG_7270.jpg

I think when I dig that 55gallon bbl out I might just go with the
spinning can type dumper, but this was pretty simple to set up.

I used a can of beans on a string as weight to find the pivot point.
You can see the rubber band on the chain is stretched out in the one
picture. There might be a more elegant way of resetting, but the
chain & rubber band seems to work.

I should have set it up so the pivot point was at the edge of the
barrel, not 3-4inches into it. But it works-- so what am I
bitchin' about.

Jim

I forgot to ask. I see you have a recycle symbol there. Do they recycle
squirrels where you are?

Steve

"Steve B" wrote:
-snip-

I forgot to ask. I see you have a recycle symbol there. Do they recycle
squirrels where you are?

I do. I toss them into the compost pile & next year they'll be
tomatoes.G

Automation is a wonderful thing. My garbage folks replaced my two
'customer supplied' cans with one that they supply that the truck can
dump.
So now I have two garbage cans to play with.

Jim