A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to its
death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown off
the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found it in
the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff I
scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area and
re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new spot.
We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear them
scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they may be
doing.

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

"Nil" wrote in message ...

A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to its
death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown off
the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found it in
the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff I
scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area and
re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new spot.
We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear them
scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they may be
doing.

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

----------------------------------------

A one way squirrel door mounted over the hole where that are entering?

http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.c..._Code=NWS53120

--Les

On 18 Jan 2012, "Les Stewart"
wrote in alt.home.repair:

A one way squirrel door mounted over the hole where that are
entering?

http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.c..._Code=NWS53120

This isn't a good solution for this situation, I think. One thing I
forgot to mention is that my house is three stories high. There's no
easy way to get up to where the hole is, and the hole isn't in a
place that could support this device. If it were summer, maybe they
would just go find a nice tree to live in, but now that winter is
here, I'm afraid they'd just chew themselves another entrance into
my house.

The more I think about it, the more I want these critters gone for
good. They've been harassing me for years - I have a small garden in
the summer, and they ruin my tomato plants (they pull the ripe fruit
off the vine, take one bite, and leave the rest sitting there.
Grrrr.) I think one reason they came into my house is that my
neighbor removed some trees, and I think their nest was up there.
I've put up with them up to now because I felt the animals had as
much right to live in my neighborhood as I do, but now they've
crossed the line. I want them gone or dead, I don't care which.

Thanks for the suggestion, though. This site has given me a couple
of ideas for bait other then the peanut butter I've been using.

Nil wrote:

-snip-
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.

The only humane [and legal in most areas] place to release them is at
the bottom of a body of water.
-snip-

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

search for squirrel or rat trap ideas. The internet and this
newsgroup are littered with them. The box trap is as good as any.

I was just musing this morning about setting out a few claymores for
the *******s that raid my bird feeders in winter and ruin my fruit and
vegetable crops in the summer.

I'll stick with box traps, drowning traps, and pellet guns for now.

Jim

It doesn't sound like an easy task. Remember, squirrels are a dynamic
population. Trap and move one, another comes along. Covering the hole, and
stapling up a bunch of screen wire may be the only long term answer.

Years ago, a friend of my father's got tired of the squirrel in his feeder.
Being a military vet, and a country man, he safely shot and killed the
squirrel. Another squirrel took its place, and got shot. The man quit after
300 (three hundred) squirrels.

You can't bail the ocean, but you can patch the hole in your boat (house).
Or, you can have a couple drinks, smash your house into the side of a hill,
and end up in prison (ha, ha).

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Nil" wrote in message
...
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to its
death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown off
the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found it in
the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff I
scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area and
re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new spot.
We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear them
scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they may be
doing.

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

On 1/18/2012 8:08 PM, Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to its
death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown off
the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found it in
the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff I
scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area and
re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new spot.
We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear them
scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they may be
doing.

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

Chase them out of your attic and seal the opening.
I'd also consider removing trees or branches near house where they might
be jumping from.

Hav-a-harts work but if you have trees, there is an endless supply of
squirrels. I'd shoot them with my .22 if I could. They are tough
little buggers and it takes a good pellet gun hit to dispatch them.

Anything in the house, I would consider rat poison. Works well mixed
with peanut butter. But, you don't want them dying in your walls where
stink may develop and it will cost you to remove.

"Nil" wrote in message
...
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to its
death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown off
the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found it in
the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff I
scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area and
re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new spot.
We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear them
scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they may be
doing.

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

Rat poison. We put it in the garage and the attic and then find all sorts of
corpses (mice, squirrels, chipmunks) outside on the desk next to the large
bowl of water we keep just to lure them outside. Never yet smelled a rotting
corpse inside, so they really do leave in search of water.

Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves.

My solution was to prune back all nearby trees so they had no access to the
roof. They can jump off, but can't get back.

On 1/19/2012 7:15 AM, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
wrote:

-snip-
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.

The only humane [and legal in most areas] place to release them is at
the bottom of a body of water.
-snip-

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

search for squirrel or rat trap ideas. The internet and this
newsgroup are littered with them. The box trap is as good as any.

I was just musing this morning about setting out a few claymores for
the *******s that raid my bird feeders in winter and ruin my fruit and
vegetable crops in the summer.

I'll stick with box traps, drowning traps, and pellet guns for now.

Jim

personally, i just blast them out of the trees with a 12ga from the
front window of the house.

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

On 1/19/2012 8:09 AM, Frank wrote:
On 1/18/2012 8:08 PM, Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to its
death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown off
the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found it in
the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff I
scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area and
re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new spot.
We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear them
scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they may be
doing.

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

Chase them out of your attic and seal the opening.
I'd also consider removing trees or branches near house where they might
be jumping from.

Hav-a-harts work but if you have trees, there is an endless supply of
squirrels. I'd shoot them with my .22 if I could. They are tough little
buggers and it takes a good pellet gun hit to dispatch them.

12 ga works pretty good, from the front window of the house. Pull down
the upper sash, move the screen to the bottom, and blast away from my
easy chair.


Anything in the house, I would consider rat poison. Works well mixed
with peanut butter. But, you don't want them dying in your walls where
stink may develop and it will cost you to remove.


--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

"Bob F" writes:

Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves.

My solution was to prune back all nearby trees so they had no access to the
roof. They can jump off, but can't get back.

You must have wimpy squirrels.
Ours can walk up the side of a house with no problems.

Just kidding (a little). The lack of trees is sure to help.

I've seen them get a couple of stories up the side of an office
building. Nothing but smooth cement.

--
Dan Espen

"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.

Dan Espen wrote:
"Bob F" writes:

Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I
had been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on
the roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic
for the sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I
went up there in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a
hole in the fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of
the *******s in the hole. Apparently there's a long running area
along the eaves.

My solution was to prune back all nearby trees so they had no access
to the roof. They can jump off, but can't get back.

You must have wimpy squirrels.
Ours can walk up the side of a house with no problems.

Just kidding (a little). The lack of trees is sure to help.

I've seen them get a couple of stories up the side of an office
building. Nothing but smooth cement.

Then can use wires also, but that also can be fixed.

"Smooth" concrete may not be that smooth.

Steve Barker wrote:
12 ga works pretty good, from the front window of the house. Pull
down the upper sash, move the screen to the bottom, and blast away
from my easy chair.

Then get arrested. Hire a lawyer. Go to court. Go to jail?

Steve Barker wrote:
personally, i just blast them out of the trees with a 12ga from the
front window of the house.

And the trees like that too.

"Bob F" writes:

Dan Espen wrote:
"Bob F" writes:

Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I
had been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on
the roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic
for the sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I
went up there in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a
hole in the fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of
the *******s in the hole. Apparently there's a long running area
along the eaves.

My solution was to prune back all nearby trees so they had no access
to the roof. They can jump off, but can't get back.

You must have wimpy squirrels.
Ours can walk up the side of a house with no problems.

Just kidding (a little). The lack of trees is sure to help.

I've seen them get a couple of stories up the side of an office
building. Nothing but smooth cement.

Then can use wires also, but that also can be fixed.

For the short time we had a bird feeder, I "fixed" the
pole it was standing on with grease. The little suckers
would purposely get mud on their feet, climb as far as they
could and slide down. Each time replacing more grease with
mud. They got up there in no time at all.

"Smooth" concrete may not be that smooth.

Well, not like glass but not like a brushed sidewalk either.
More like a typical basement floor.

--
Dan Espen

On Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:21:44 -0800, "Bob F"
wrote:

Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves.

My solution was to prune back all nearby trees so they had no access to the
roof. They can jump off, but can't get back.

I wonder if city squirrels are smarter than suburban or country ones.
The ones here (City) run along the phone wires and other wires.

On Jan 18, 11:31*pm, Nil wrote:
[...]
This isn't a good solution for this situation, I think. One thing I
forgot to mention is that my house is three stories high. There's no
easy way to get up to where the hole is...


What? You want to simply leave the hole open? I think you will need to
rent a ladder or hire someone to fix the problem.

On 19 Jan 2012, Frank wrote in
alt.home.repair:

Chase them out of your attic and seal the opening.
I'd also consider removing trees or branches near house where they
might be jumping from.

There are trees close to the house, and they do need to be trimmed.
However, I think the squirrels could still get on the roof.

I remember a year or two ago watching my neighbor's house across the
street - they have a tree with upper branches maybe 5 feet from their
roofline. I watched a squirrel leaping across that distance from the
branch to the roof, three stories up, across thin air, and back. I
never knew that they could or would do that. I guess I should have
known, as I've also seen them tearing across the treetops at top speed
with no hesitation. So, I think they will be able to get on my roof no
matter how much I trim the trees back.

Anything in the house, I would consider rat poison. Works well
mixed with peanut butter. But, you don't want them dying in your
walls where stink may develop and it will cost you to remove.

I don't have much problem with dead squirrels outside, but I don't want
them decaying within my house. As it is, I wonder if there is a nest of
infants that will die if I remove the mother. Not that that will stop
me right now. For now, I plan to trap them and remove them elsewhere.

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

Rat poison. We put it in the garage and the attic and then find
all sorts of corpses (mice, squirrels, chipmunks) outside on the
desk next to the large bowl of water we keep just to lure them
outside. Never yet smelled a rotting corpse inside, so they really
do leave in search of water.

Hmmm... I'd hate to count on that and then find out I was wrong. I'll
stick to the trap until I get more desperate.

"Nil" wrote in message
...
(snip)
Any thoughts about what I can do to move them along more quickly?

I've been lurking here for years and finally someone asked a question I know
a little about.
I battled squirrels in the attic starting in the spring, through the summer,
and finally got them out in the fall. They are destructive, tenacious, and
noisy. And dirty. And they have fleas. Nothing you didn't already know.

Here's how I got rid of mine:

Lights on 24/7.

Radio on an annoying channel, loud, 24/7.

Socks filled with moth balls pitched as close as you can get them to their
hideout.

A few bug bombs.

The purpose of all this is to make them as uncomfortable as possible,
they'll be easier to get out.

Set the bug bombs off at night-they will leave the attic at dawn to forage,
that's when you cover the hole they've made in your house. It has to be done
as soon as you know they're out, you should be able to tell by the
quiet-they make a lot of noise leaving-then nothing.

If you don't get the hole covered they'll be right back after breakfast. You
have to use metal-they'll go through just about anything else.

It worked for me, good luck!

jonhenri

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.

You've got to hear my story, bout these tree rats....

I'll tell ya up front....I caught and released ,mhmm maybe 180 live tree
rats.

I used a live catcher trap. Caught them and released them as we went....

Peanutbutter set in the live catch trap.
I caught over 160 TR's in two years.

I took them to a park place far from their home...Ah, but my son
said....Pops, they're returning to where they came from..... Oh, no my
son.. I have never had one return to my location.. How so? POPS?

Oh, it's simple... While in the live catch cage, I spray their little
ass'es with white paint...Never, has a white ass returned to my yard.

So that's my answer...

If the tree rats wanted a chance, they
should have gone somewhere else.

On Jan 18, 8:08*pm, Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to its
death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown off
the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found it in
the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff I
scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area and
re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new spot.
We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear them
scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they may be
doing.

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

As a housing inspector, I see what works, and what qualifies as "best
wrong idea". The person that seemed to get the job done best is an
employee of a major shipping company.
He had tried several of the things, and I had mentioned putting a
lights
up in the attic.

He carried that to extremes, but it did the job.

He set up a clothes-line style pulley from one end of the attic to the
other.
He got a million-candlepower strobe (just can't imagine where he got
that,
all he has near his work is a major airport).
He put it on the end farthest from the entry hole, made it 'blink'
once every
fifteen seconds.
And he slowly moved it a little at a time, over three days.
End of that time, they were gone, he spritsed cheap man's aftershave
around near the entry hole, and covered it with hardware cloth.

I've seen that someone is marketing something like that. It has two
lights,
no need for a pulley. Costs about $140.

With any luck, environmentalists noticed the new species of white ass tree
rat, and had that park declared a protected area. Massive funding for
protection of the endangered species of W.A.T.R.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Paddy Waggin" wrote in message
...
You've got to hear my story, bout these tree rats....

I'll tell ya up front....I caught and released ,mhmm maybe 180 live tree
rats.

I used a live catcher trap. Caught them and released them as we went....

Peanutbutter set in the live catch trap.
I caught over 160 TR's in two years.

I took them to a park place far from their home...Ah, but my son
said....Pops, they're returning to where they came from..... Oh, no my
son.. I have never had one return to my location.. How so? POPS?

Oh, it's simple... While in the live catch cage, I spray their little
ass'es with white paint...Never, has a white ass returned to my yard.

So that's my answer...

If the tree rats wanted a chance, they
should have gone somewhere else.

On 1/19/2012 3:35 PM, Nil wrote:
On 19 Jan 2012, wrote in
alt.home.repair:

Chase them out of your attic and seal the opening.
I'd also consider removing trees or branches near house where they
might be jumping from.

There are trees close to the house, and they do need to be trimmed.
However, I think the squirrels could still get on the roof.

I remember a year or two ago watching my neighbor's house across the
street - they have a tree with upper branches maybe 5 feet from their
roofline. I watched a squirrel leaping across that distance from the
branch to the roof, three stories up, across thin air, and back. I
never knew that they could or would do that. I guess I should have
known, as I've also seen them tearing across the treetops at top speed
with no hesitation. So, I think they will be able to get on my roof no
matter how much I trim the trees back.

Anything in the house, I would consider rat poison. Works well
mixed with peanut butter. But, you don't want them dying in your
walls where stink may develop and it will cost you to remove.

I don't have much problem with dead squirrels outside, but I don't want
them decaying within my house. As it is, I wonder if there is a nest of
infants that will die if I remove the mother. Not that that will stop
me right now. For now, I plan to trap them and remove them elsewhere.

Actually happened to my son. Squirrel died in chimney liner. Took
chimney guy and contractor to access and repair and cost him several
hundred dollars. He had done nothing to poison them but squirrel had
just gained entry, got stuck and died.

Years ago, we rented a house with drier in the basement and a rabbit got
in the vent and died. It ruined the drier.

Important to keep these things out of your house.

I've had trouble with smell of dead mice inside the house when I use
poison but in attic, with no vent to house, is not a problem.

Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to
its death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown
off the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found
it in the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff
I scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area
and re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new
spot. We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear
them scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they
may be doing.

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

Let me throw a new consideration into the mix.

Squirrels are game animals.

As such, there is a specific season in which they can be harvested; in my
state the hunting season is from the first of October to early February.
You'll also need a firearms safety course, a hunting license, orange vest,
20-guage shotgun, etc.

You may have to trap them first, then take them outside the city limits
before you can shoot.

Check your local laws.

When squirrels gnaw through your wiring, insurance companies will often
decline to restore the damage, citing the "vermin exception." Should this
ever happen to you, you can come back with the "game animal" definition
while asserting it would be against the law to kill them (during the time
the damage occurred).

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

These tips come from 5 years of trapping. They are a formidable
enemy, but they have their weaknesses. Peanut butter seems to be
"squirrel crack" - they just can't get enough. I probably never
would have known to use only one trap door on the Havahart unless
I had actually seen them "bolt thru" on camera. The peanut butter
is so effective it's almost unfair to the little buggers. When I
went to the two-cup method, my success rate just about doubled.
Apparently grabbing the first "free" cup just inside the trap
overwhelms their sense of fear and they usually circle the trap
once and then go right down the chute.

So... I caught another one last evening with my original bait scheme,
peanut butter and bread, two-door setup. This one was BIG and ****ed
off - it growled and hissed at me as I carted it out. I took it to the
middle of the nearby nature preserve. I didn't take the opportunity to
spray its butt with paint like someone suggested, but I doubt it will
be back. The area is surrounded by multilane highways and busy roads
and is far enough away from other residential areas that I don't think
it will bother anyone else, either. The thing will have to find a nest
and food, or die.

Now there's still at least one more up there, I've heard it. I set the
trap up like you suggested, with the "Judas cup" and cup of peanut
butter that the closed end of a 1-door trap setup. A few peanut butter
crackers nearby as chum. I was up there a little while ago and the chum
had been taken and the Judas cup dragged out of the cage, but the trap
was still open and the real bait undisturbed. I re-primed the Judas cup
and will continue to wait. I'm learning to be patient.

That's usually people's first reaction. There was a great article
in the NY Times' gardening section that talked about how quickly
that benevolent attitude can change. Destruction of a prized
garden, demolishment of the interior of a house (one squirrel did
thousands of $'s worth of damage after being trapped for a week
when I was away) and in my case, chewing its way out of a wire
cage and burlap to then climb onto my head during a relocation
drive ended all such attempts. The article described former "tree
huggers" and little old ladies whose attitudes changed mightily
when something they loved was destroyed by rodents or other garden
pests.

I can imagine. I've gotten a better sense of how fast and strong and
determined these things can be. Also, I remember a couple of years ago
I accidentally left my back screen door open, and then closed it after
a little while. After a half-hour or so I heard noises in the house and
discovered that I had locked a squirrel had gotten in the house, and in
that short time it had already chewed holes in the screens of all my
open windows and was running around in a panic, knocking things of
tables and such. I opened the door and chased it outside, but I hate to
think what it would have done if it had been in there for any real
length of time.

Good luck. I don't know how you transport the little buggers but
if it's in your car I recommend using the magnets to keep that U
shaped lock wire down. I also suggest putting the entire trap
inside a plastic bag since a large male squirrel can spray some
pretty nasty and VERY persistent yuck in your car. The one thing
you don't want is a panicked rodent running around inside your car
while you're driving.

I've been putting it in the trunk with newspaper on the floor and a
towel over the trap. I sure as hell don't want it in the passenger
compartment!

I hope you have plenty of exhaust fumes in the trunk?

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Nil" wrote in message
...

I've been putting it in the trunk with newspaper on the floor and a
towel over the trap. I sure as hell don't want it in the passenger
compartment!

On 20 Jan 2012, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote in alt.home.repair:

I hope you have plenty of exhaust fumes in the trunk?

Well, I don't know, I've never ridden back there myself, and nobody
I've ever stuffed back there before has complained.

The squirrel survived the trip and seemed to have lost none of it's vim
or vigor. As soon as I raised the trap's doorstop, it took off like a
bullet.

On 1/18/2012 7:08 PM, Nil wrote:
A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had
been hearing them for a week or two, but I figured they were on the
roof, because I didn't think there was any place in the attic for the
sustained galloping I was hearing. However, last week I went up there
in the daytime and I could see that they had chewed a hole in the
fascia by the rain gutter, and I actually saw one of the *******s in
the hole. Apparently there's a long running area along the eaves. They
are able to enter the hole and scamper along the length of the roof,
and must have made a nest somewhere under the fiberglass insulation
near the edge of the roof.

There started off to be at least three or four. One of them fell to its
death during a storm a few days ago. It seems to have been blown off
the roof and it fell 3 stories in a puddle and drowned. I found it in
the back of the house. One down.

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.

There are still one or two up there. I'm afraid they're starting to
ignore the trap - maybe the loud noise it makes when going off has
scared them into avoiding it. It's been about a day now, and the trap
is still set and the bait is still on the trigger (although the stuff I
scattered near it was taken.) I just moved it to a different area and
re-baited it, thinking they might not recognize it in its new spot.
We'll see.

I'm anxious to get them out, of course. It's disconcerting to hear them
scrabbling around up there and I worry about what damage they may be
doing.

Any thoughts about what I can do to move them along more quickly?
There are two or three methods that come to mind. These may not work
for your situation, but you'll love the time spent seeing the methods:

These fine folks have made a life's work of squirrel proofing bird feeders:
http://www.drollyankees.com/hproducts/squirrel-proof-feeders-and-accessories.html?Itemid=58
Here is their top-of-line model:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEW9TG6Dcgg

This and others are a bit more manual and home made efforts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv5RICL4gIs

Here's the king of the hill:
http://www.rodenator.com
I do need to warn you that you may lose a bunch of time in utter
fascination watching the videos at this site.




--


___________________________________

Keep the whole world singing . . .
Dan G
remove the seven

Steve Barker wrote:
On 1/19/2012 1:35 PM, Bob F wrote:
Steve Barker wrote:
12 ga works pretty good, from the front window of the house. Pull
down the upper sash, move the screen to the bottom, and blast away
from my easy chair.

Then get arrested. Hire a lawyer. Go to court. Go to jail?



ummmmm... no. no laws broken here.

But you're recommending this to others here, most of which would be breaking
laws to do the same.

On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:08:53 -0500, Nil
wrote:

A family of gray squirrels have taken up residence in my attic. I had

[snip]

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

This may not be as quick as you'd like, but it's important.

When squrrels (or any other population of critters) has a
robust food supply, their population will increase. When
their population increases, the young ones have to find
somewhere to live. As the neighborhood density increases,
so do the fleas and diseases.

If the squirrels are finding bounty in the garbage cans,
bird-feeders, pet food dishes, etc., it will likely become a
problem, now, or in the future.

If you or your neighbors have fruit and/or nut trees, you
have a permanent problem that will likely require, as one
resoponder here put it, "sending back to their maker". It
is solution that requires constant vigilance and effort.

If your release area is a good place for squirrels to live,
then it will already be at capacity before you start
dropping off your refugees. If it's not a good place for
squirrels, the result will be much the same--they will go,
or try to go someplace else.

Educate yourself and your neighbors first, then go after the
particular situation you have with some 1/2" hardware cloth,
applied from the outside.

--
croy

On 1/21/2012 1:28 PM, Bob F wrote:
Steve Barker wrote:
On 1/19/2012 1:35 PM, Bob F wrote:
Steve Barker wrote:
12 ga works pretty good, from the front window of the house. Pull
down the upper sash, move the screen to the bottom, and blast away
from my easy chair.

Then get arrested. Hire a lawyer. Go to court. Go to jail?



ummmmm... no. no laws broken here.

But you're recommending this to others here, most of which would be breaking
laws to do the same.



there are risks in life everyday. If i lived in a place where there
were such laws, (i'd have to have been drugged or something first) then
i would use a silent type of weapon. Like a pump pellet rifle or such.
Hello? yes, you have to use your head. And no, i wasn't suggesting
ANYone follow what I said. I was only relaying what _I_ do.

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

On 21 Jan 2012, croy wrote in
alt.home.repair:

When squrrels (or any other population of critters) has a
robust food supply, their population will increase. When
their population increases, the young ones have to find
somewhere to live. As the neighborhood density increases,
so do the fleas and diseases.

If the squirrels are finding bounty in the garbage cans,
bird-feeders, pet food dishes, etc., it will likely become a
problem, now, or in the future.

If you or your neighbors have fruit and/or nut trees, you
have a permanent problem that will likely require, as one
resoponder here put it, "sending back to their maker". It
is solution that requires constant vigilance and effort.

If your release area is a good place for squirrels to live,
then it will already be at capacity before you start
dropping off your refugees. If it's not a good place for
squirrels, the result will be much the same--they will go,
or try to go someplace else.

Educate yourself and your neighbors first, then go after the
particular situation you have with some 1/2" hardware cloth,
applied from the outside.

Good points, all.

I've been living in this house over 20 years, and while the animals
have been an occasional nuisance, mostly by wrecking my vegetable
garden, this is the first time they've entered my house. They may have
just finally gotten around to investigating the house and found a weak
spot they could exploit, or maybe it's due to my next-door neighbors
having removed several trees from their property. The trees may have
harbored squirrel nests. The trees were taken down almost a year ago,
but this is the first winter since then (I think.) I keep my garbage in
a closed garage until pickup day, and the barrels are snapped closed.
Not sure what most of my neighbors do, but I've never noticed any
significant open garbage. No fruit/nut trees that I know of in the
neighborhood.

I don't know why this has suddenly become a problem, or whether
something in the environment has changed recently, or if the critters
just finally got around to us.

Sounds like it's a better idea to put them down rather than relocate
them. I don't relish doing that, but I can do it if I need to.

What does one do with dead squirrels? Throw them out with the trash?
Bury them?

On 1/21/2012 6:07 PM, Nil wrote:

What does one do with dead squirrels? Throw them out with the trash?
Bury them?

Are you serious? They're delicious.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articl...uirrel-recipes

What does one do with dead squirrels? Throw them out with the trash?
Bury them?

hire someone to get them out of the attic, and secure your home so
they cant get back in again

On 1/21/2012 7:24 PM, Bernt Berger wrote:
On 1/21/2012 6:07 PM, Nil wrote:

What does one do with dead squirrels? Throw them out with the trash?
Bury them?

Are you serious? They're delicious.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articl...uirrel-recipes


i let mine lay. something usually carries them off within a night or two.

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

Nil wrote:
I can imagine. I've gotten a better sense of how fast and strong and
determined these things can be. Also, I remember a couple of years ago
I accidentally left my back screen door open, and then closed it after
a little while. After a half-hour or so I heard noises in the house
and discovered that I had locked a squirrel had gotten in the house,
and in that short time it had already chewed holes in the screens of
all my open windows and was running around in a panic, knocking
things of tables and such. I opened the door and chased it outside,
but I hate to think what it would have done if it had been in there
for any real length of time.


A friend somehow locked one in her house. He chewed up the wood edges of the
windows, basically trashing them. Ugly damage.