SFR Squirrels (Thread of month contender)

Sorta fishing-related
GAT said:
At first, we liked the squirrels in our backyard. To keep them away from the bird feeders, we even got them their own feeding station. We didn't allow our dog to chase them. This peaceful coexistence went on for years.

Then my wife discovered the squirrels were digging up her plants in the raised bed. This meant war. We removed the squirrel feeder and now allow the dog to chase them. This did not deter the squirrels. They still show up and have a game they play with the dog. They know when she is outside and come down from the trees with an eye on her. Once she chases them, they have a predetermined exit plan and scramble up a nearby tree.

That is the current status. The squirrels come in the yard and eat the fallen seed from the bird feeders and evidently that must be good stuff because the risk the charge of our dog. She hasn't caught one yet but has came very close.

We don't want to kill the squirrels but we also don't want them digging in the raised beds. So this is the new status quo.
Click to expand...
That is how i feel. I have a battalion of them but started with a diy security system. I put welded grid and chicken wire and even scraps of chain link over my beds after planting and mulch over once plants are established. Next step after ground force security i took on the aerial attacks by building grid boxes over containers and beds and my greatest - the tower which has worked quite wellC93AEDF5-9DD8-4145-A375-7978C38FCBFD.jpeg
 
When we first started seeing squirrels in the neighborhood, we thought "oh, they're so cute". They'd use the Ma Bell phone line in the alley to head up and down properties, their balance on that wire was (is) amazing. Then two things happened within a month or so of each other: 1) My landline (Ma Bell) phone rang one morning about 0300, I answered to hear static electricity. I went back to bed and a few minutes later the doorbell rang and rang. Two police officers were at the door, I invited them in and they asked me why I called 9-1-1 and hung up. I hadn't. It turned out squirrels were busy gnawing at the coating of that Ma Bell phone line exposing the copper and causing faults in the system. I suppose I should thank the squirrels since they kept at it the system became unreliable and we cancelled that payment. Tree Rats! 2). Opened the hood on my two year old Ram and found this:
squirrel nest.JPG

That's a squirrel's nest using the insulating blanket that surrounds the battery. Those toothy and sharp clawed bastards destroyed the blanket. Fortunately the damage was limited to only the top of the battery insulation blanket.

About that time my wife and I were working in the backyard. I was standing under the walnut tree and could feel "sawdust" falling on my head. What the heck? I looked up and there was a squirrel working his way through the husk and green shell of an unripe walnut. I went to Wallyworld, bought a 1,200 fps .177 caliber pellet rifle and declared war on those red tailed tree rats.

The local utility has reported squirrel caused power outages - one time taking half of downtown Ephrata off the grid when two squirrles cavorting (I like that word) on top of a distribution pole transformer went phase to phase. Roasted squirrels and the business district in the dark.
 
kerrys said:
If you yell squirrel at our house the Australian Shepard immediately goes into chase and destroy mode.
Click to expand...
Among the words and verbal commands that Hank understands are "Cat" and "Squirrel." Either puts him in full-on "get out of my yard" mode . . .
 
I am going to 70 in March next year. Up until 4 years ago i had dogs. I never had critter problems in the garden. A mixed lab and a beagle were my last buddies. Now living here… a very different story. No new pups in my future. I am taking care of me now. Squirrels when uncontested are the worst critters i have experienced in the garden.
 
The best squirrel dog was Sadie, a Jack Russell. She feared nothing and dispatched her share of Fox Squirrels. Sadie could hit my Maple tree while in hot pursuit & manage to run 6' to 8' up the trunk before gravity took over. She picked-off more than one acrobatic rat from that tree trunk.
 
Jim F. said:
Among the words and verbal commands that Hank understands are "Cat" and "Squirrel." Either puts him in full-on "get out of my yard" mode . . .
Click to expand...
Jesse, the Australian Shepard, knows squirrel, blue jay, rabbit, cow, birds, cat, and maybe a couple others. They all put her into “heat seeking missile“ mode.
 
CRO said:
It’s not the grey squirrels but the recent population explosion of cotton tails.
Click to expand...
Damn rabbits' population has exploded here in Chicagoland, too. They ate all my green beans.
 
Our fully fenced (5' chain link and field fencing) mostly wooded and brushy semi-rural 1 acre lot has the entire spectrum of furry visitors including rodents (field mice, squirrels, cottontails, moles :mad:), occasionally possums (marsupials) & coyotes, recently something bigger; probably a deer that apparently had bedded down in a small patch of grass in the woods, and the neighbor's (farm) cat(s).
1661195960348.png​
They all drive our Lab-Shep mix "Sprocket" into the "zoomie" afterburner mode. Our previous female Lab-mixes would bring us a mangled squirrel, rabbit, moles, or a cat's tail up to several times a year, but this guy hasn't figured out the benefits of stealth. After several months the sheep on the other side of the fence learned to ignore him.

We have quarterly pest inspections-treatment and always keep the cars garaged so no car-rodent problems in the 35 years we've lived here. The seeds below the bird feeder attract squirrels and rabbits but we haven't spotted squirrels trying to get into the feeder (yet). As alluded to above, the one that bugs us the most is the moles :mad: in the small lawn areas we have near the house.
 
@Brian Miller - same list of critters here in Renton Highlands but I will add bears, bobcats, cougars, lots of deer, up to 75 geese daily (damn they s%$t a lot), eagles, herons and various species of woodpeckers, owls and hawks. Took out a couple of gardens this year and planted grass. Moles are having a frickin/frackin heyday in the new grass. Lots of Douglas and grey squirrels - when I grill outside they come a 'talk' to me from a nearly tree...
 
Last edited:
One of the squirrels in the Pacific Northwest is considered an invasive species. Is that the grey squirrels?... or are they the actual natives?
 
GAT said:
One of the squirrels in the Pacific Northwest is considered an invasive species. Is that the grey squirrels?... or are they the actual natives?
Click to expand...
Eastern Grey squirrels are non-native.

wdfw.wa.gov

Eastern gray squirrel

The eastern gray squirrel was introduced in Washington in the early 1900s. Since then they have been repeatedly released in parks, campuses, estates
wdfw.wa.gov wdfw.wa.gov
 
RCF said:
Eastern Grey squirrels are non-native.

wdfw.wa.gov

Eastern gray squirrel

The eastern gray squirrel was introduced in Washington in the early 1900s. Since then they have been repeatedly released in parks, campuses, estates
wdfw.wa.gov wdfw.wa.gov
Click to expand...
How do they know they aren't just the western variety of the eastern gray squirrel?
 
RCF said:
@Brian Miller - same list of critters here in Renton Highlands but I will add bears, bobcats, cougars, lots of deer, up to 75 geese daily (damn they s%$t a lot), eagles, herons and various species of woodpeckers, owls and hawks. Took out a couple of gardens this year and planted grass. Moles are having a frickin/frackin heyday in the new grass. Lots of Douglas and grey squirrels - when I grill outside they come a 'talk' to me from a nearly tree...
Click to expand...
I grew up in the 50s & 60s near RH. Lots & lots of birds nesting here. 2 species of woodpeckers perch to feed in our trees and peck on the house trim. Have seen deer walking in the yards, no bears. Haven't seen eagles, hawks or owls. Wish I could rent a couple. The Steller's Jay that came to the window to interact with our (late :cry:) Sun Conure (medium sized parrot) is quite a character that buzzes me and contractors when working on the roof.
 
Saw a chipmunk in the yard today. Do not see them very often...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top