I'm ready to start shooting squirrels

[EcoBuckeye]

Squirrels have chewed through my steel birdfeeder, have chewed the aluminum straps that hang my chain link fence, have raided my garden, but now they've gone too far.



They've chewed through the braided steel cable that holds the pin on my Recurve WDH bars. Those little bastards. What else are they chewing on? My wiring harness? My roof? Ooooh you little varmints, you've got it coming this time.

[TitanMike]

My Daughter has two dogs that think it's great fun to catch squirrels and play with them. Kind of hard on the squirrels so they don't come anywhere near her house anymore.

Have you considered a good squirrel hunting dog or cat?

[EcoBuckeye]

We're getting a lab puppy next weekend, but I think he's going to need a few months before he's ready to hold his own against the squirrels. And the cat's useless!

Maybe a falcon?

[JACA]

Several years ago, I had squirrels chew through the fuel line on my truck. Why!????

[latner]

Nothing wrong with a good squirrel chili.

[KEliasz]

I had squirrels chew threw two rubber propane tank lines... replaced with steel braided lines been good since

[Reverse_snowbird]

We have a friend with a 1/8 scale model railroad in his backyard and the squirrels sharpen their teeth on the aluminum rails. I know they have their uses (mostly as food for larger creatures), but they are extremely destructive.

[robo44]

You're new lab puppy will love chasing squirrels, we have a Terrier mix the pup sits on our chairs for hours watching for the ground squirrels. Dog hunts/chases squirrels in the backyard & a pretty good crab hunter too when were at the beach.

One word of advice who have dogs who love to RV/Camp with you .. Make sure your vet gives them Leptospirosis shot as a part of their yearly vet check up.

Our puppies love to go on hikes and are always chasing ground squirrels and other critters. This keeps them safe from dieses they could potentially run into

[Scrapper]

I have lived in the country and on farms all my life and never heard of nor seen such a thing. Unless you have robotic squirrels or squirrels with high power laser beams for teeth they can not chew through chains or cables made with steel or aluminum or any substantial metal of any type.

They can, will and have chewed through rubber, plastic, fiberglass sheeting, plexiglass, nylon, vinyl, cloth, wood, and wiring made with 14 gauge or smaller stranded copper. Some cheaper vinyl covered cables are made with a nylon or rayon core. They especially love hoses and wiring made with insulation or plastic coatings from vegetable oil.

[robo44]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

I have lived in the country and on farms all my life and never heard of nor seen such a thing. Unless you have robotic squirrels or squirrels with high power laser beams for teeth they can not chew through chains or cables made with steel or aluminum or any substantial metal of any type.

They can, will and have chewed through rubber, plastic, fiberglass sheeting, plexiglass, nylon, vinyl, cloth, wood, and wiring made with 14 gauge or smaller stranded copper. Some cheaper vinyl covered cables are made with a nylon or rayon core. They especially love hoses and wiring made with insulation or plastic coatings from vegetable oil.

You'd think it was near impossible right? Well, I thought that too until I had caught them in my backyard chewing through the aluminum/metal mesh that protected my gas grill propane hose. and chewed through the roof vent screens to build a nest in my attic.

So Yes, squirrels can easily chew through aluminum and other soft metals like copper.

[wmtire]

I'm currently in an all out war with squirrels at my house.. I've been having some good success with techniques not really suitable for open forums. Pm me if you want details.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by robo44

You'd think it was near impossible right? Well, I thought that too until I had caught them in my backyard chewing through the aluminum/metal mesh that protected my gas grill propane hose. and chewed through the roof vent screens to build a nest in my attic.

So Yes, squirrels can easily chew through aluminum and other soft metals like copper.

A quote from an internet post by a squirrel control company:

Their powerful teeth mean that*squirrels*are able to*chew*on virtually anything around the outside of your house— from trees, lamps, downspouts, and even*metal*roofs. They*can*even*do*this without damaging their teeth.*Squirrels*can*definitely*chew*through*metal , whether it’s aluminum or other soft*metals.

Same for rat's.

I've found that "heavy metal poison" helps reduce their numbers but that's as far as I'll comment.

[JWood422]

The power company has to replace the ground wire coming to my home every 2 or 3 years due to squirrels gnawing them. They’ve told me that squirrels do more damage to wires and other equipment than storms.

[lesptr]

Originally Posted by wmtire

I'm currently in an all out war with squirrels at my house.. I've been having some good success with techniques not really suitable for open forums. Pm me if you want details.

In for details.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by JWood422

The power company has to replace the ground wire coming to my home every 2 or 3 years due to squirrels gnawing them. They’ve told me that squirrels do more damage to wires and other equipment than storms.

I have witnessed this several times when I was working. One time I was watching the squirrel run on the 17.5kv wire and when he stepped off onto the cross arm there was a very bright flash which resulted in more than well-done squirrel. Every time it ended this way and the power company had to replace a fuse on the main line pole above the transformer.

[Germanrazor]

Get either a Jack Russell to keep outside or just a farm cat. The squirrel issue will disappear quickly.

[Guspech750]

Originally Posted by EcoBuckeye

We're getting a lab puppy next weekend, but I think he's going to need a few months before he's ready to hold his own against the squirrels. And the cat's useless!

Maybe a falcon?

Perfect!

[EcoBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

I have lived in the country and on farms all my life and never heard of nor seen such a thing. Unless you have robotic squirrels or squirrels with high power laser beams for teeth they can not chew through chains or cables made with steel or aluminum or any substantial metal of any type.

They can, will and have chewed through rubber, plastic, fiberglass sheeting, plexiglass, nylon, vinyl, cloth, wood, and wiring made with 14 gauge or smaller stranded copper. Some cheaper vinyl covered cables are made with a nylon or rayon core. They especially love hoses and wiring made with insulation or plastic coatings from vegetable oil.

It's probably not steel, the cable is probably aluminum - an my bird feeder is probably a cast iron material. But I am not kidding, it's definately the squirrels. They started on my aluminum fence tie wires a few years ago and now the only thing keeping the fencing up against the poles is habit. That's at least a 9 gauge wire they've chewed straight through.

They decapitate my sunflowers. We rub hot sauce on the jack-o-lanterns to keep them off of those in the fall, but I can't sauce my camper.

Honestly, we're the only house in the immediate area without a dog right now, so I think they're taking advantage of it.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by lesptr

In for details.

At the risk of perhaps getting myself moderated by my fellow site teamers, you can search on youtube for using "conibear 110 traps for squirrels". I bought a case of 12 at a trapping supply store in another town near me. Hardware stores also carry them.

What I found works best was doing a modification and put bottle caps on the trap trigger, and fill this with peanut butter, prior to setting the trap. I also put peanut butter above and below the trap on the tree.




By placing them up on a tree hanging by two nails, it takes away the danger of my mom's cat getting into them or other animals. There are plenty of youtube videos showing all of this.

For anyone going this route, I also suggest getting the safety tool, especially if you have no previous experience with body traps.

https://whiteheadindustrial.com/safe...YaAkddEALw_wcB


Squirrels can do lots of damage to RV's and are just tree rats. They are part of the rodent order. You may need to search your local ordinances for perhaps seasons or such on these tree rats and/or nuisance animal control.

[Dan H.]

I live in the woods and have had extremely bad problems with Red Squirrels. Grey squirrels no so much. Got in my rooftop AC and destroyed it as it is all Styrofoam. Over the last 2 years I caught about 30. Best is to go to the farm supply store and get a large live trap. The size depends on the animal but don't go too small. Bait with Sunflower seeds. They can't resist them. Once you catch them you can do one of two things:
1) Shoot them. This kind of works with a .22 cal. handgun, but you end up damaging your trap and they do not always die quickly.
2) Haul them off to a wildlife area and let them go which just makes them someone else's problem.
Either way they need to be eliminated or they will keep causing problems.