any advice for live-trapping red squirrels?

[patandchickens]

(they're eating my iris flowers, among other things, although that is not the main reason I want them gone).

For the first time in 6 yrs we've got squirrels living here, a pair of red squirrels that has now sprouted at least 4 juveniles. I would like to try to trap and remove them ASAP, before there is another litter to worry about (both in a population sense, and in the sense of not wanting to set traps if the female might have a litter in the nest).

I am NOT PROPOSING TO DISCUSS the pros and cons of trapping, what is done with livetrapped animals, or seasonality or lack thereof.

But as I cannot get the rotten little things to GO INTO THE TRAPS (2-door havahart live traps, small squirrel size) I was hoping that someone might have some successful experience to report on, in terms of bait or any other encouragements.

It is very frustrating, they are very tame and go everywhere (including running over my feet) but will not go into the dern peanutbutter-and-seed-baited trap. I'm halfway tempted to just try to grab or net the stupid things

Thanks for any suggestions,

Pat

 

[Ridgerunner]

I was successful catching them using black sunflower seed as bait. Scatter some (say 20) sunflower seed on the ground in front of and around the door to the trap. Put a few in the door to lead them back to the pan. Put several, say 10 - 12, around and behind the pan but where they cannot reach them from outside.

I took over 50 squirrels from my back yard in Metairie, LA in less than a month using this method with two traps. The best times of day were dawn and dusk, but I caught them all day long. I also caught an opposum, rats, and doves.

I read that you need to take them at least 7 miles before release so they cannot find their way back home.

Good luck.

 

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

I would try berries or mealworms, I think both of those would be pretty attractive to them.


After you catch them, send them here, I love me some squirrels.

 

[Rosalind]

PB & grape jelly. Don't ask me why grape jelly, but it really really works. The nasty sugary kind of peanut butter works better than the all-natural peanuts-only kind, too. I think they can smell it better, sort of like how Burger King pumps burger stink out into the parking lot, but when you get close to the kitchen it only smells like grease and disinfectant.

Undergrad research project in squirrel scatterhoarding. We had to catch squirrels and mark them with Clairol #122 (this was the olden days, before tracking devices became sophisticated--you had to just look). But we baited the Havahart traps with PB&J, and they liked the grape jelly better than the strawberry. If you use something not very sticky, or something they can pick up, they'll simply reach into the trap and get it out without triggering the latching mechanism, but the combination of PB&J is sticky enough that they have to really get in there and give the little bait platform a good bump to get the peanut butter off. And put the dollops of PB&J right in the very middle of the platform, so they can't get to it easily from outside.

I'm thinking they might be perfectly able to reach in from the side and scoop out seeds. They're pretty smart little buggers. Also, be 100% sure that the trap is honestly on a hair trigger, sort of thing--sometimes even new ones, the wire is bent just enough that it takes too much force to set it off, more than a squirrel will reasonably generate. Another thing, once they are trapped, if you cover the trap with an old blanket or tarp or something right away, it helps keep them calm and quiet until you're ready to do whatever with them. Otherwise they will screech and make a racket, and they will warn other squirrels away from the traps and then you'll not catch another for weeks.

Traps are best set under trees, under bushes, in shady areas. Once set, hmm, it used to take us about 3-4 hours to trap about 10-20 squirrels and mark them. It's not like you set them out there and wait for a day or two, they'll go in to explore pretty quickly.

 

[jlmann]

I second the use of peanut butter , never tried jelly with it though. I had a grey squirrel get in my basement last year and I made a slice of wheat bread with crunchy peanut butter on it and placed it in the trap. I caught the little guy in less than an hour. Just be prepared - they really flip out when they're in a trap and sometimes will bloody their nose ramming the corners trying to get out when they see you or when you are moving the trap.

 

[Sylvie]

Good luck on getting those squirrels corralled!
We had a cute pair that we came to realize had taken up residence in the area above the attic in our century home. Waking up to them rolling nuts around, fighting, babies chasing each other was like living in a hollow tree. We were never successful at eliminating them by the time we moved. It was interesting, as an after thought. We were sooo lucky they didn't have access to the wiring from what I hear.

 

[patandchickens]

I was about to say "pthhthththtt!" to all of you peanutbutter-suggesters, when I looked out and FINALLY had a squirrel in the trap. Woo hoo!

So I guess peanutbutter with sunflower seeds stuck to it does work eventually. I wonder if my squirrels may have been dumped here out of someone else's livetrap and a bit trap-shy.

The babies appear to be small enough they can just ooze back out the mesh (it's been tripped 4x now with nobody home). I did catch a grackle in it though, too. It was unhappy at me but very pleased to be released

So the squirrel I caught, which actually was probably one of the parent squirrels [YAY!!!], is now back in the park in the middle of town which for all I know may be where it came from in the first place. Yeah, I know squirrels make good eating (mmm, real brunswick stew...) but there's not really much *meat* on a *red* squirrel, so, don't bug me about it

I now have some jelly in the trap along with more peanutbutter, see if I can't get the other adult. I think the babies'll have to wait til they're bigger, unfortunately (no way to put hardwarecloth on the trap without messing up the mechanism)

Thanks y'all,

Pat

 

[mtn_penny]

Some thing else to try is only set one door instead of both. We hubby and I have had way better success only setting the single door.

 

[Crunchie]

I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw your topic, Pat. Not because you have a squirrel issue (I have one myself, and I don't find it particularly funny), but because I just got off of the phone with my father and he was telling me all about his recent squirrel trapping adventures. So, I popped in to suggest....peanut butter or peanuts (dad's bait of choice, with over 40 trapped squirrels to his credit as of today). But I see that that has already been suggested and seems to be working for you!

My dad told me that he and his neighbors have been having an issue with the little boogers for a bit now, so they all loaded up on hav-a-hart traps and started trapping them. Dad started spray painting a spot on the ones he caught with fluorescent green paint. Why green? "Because I ran out of blaze orange. But that green, it glows right good." You'd have to know my dad....anyway, he said he's been dropping squirrels off here and there whenever he has to run errands. A week or so ago he had some squirrels but no errands to run, so he just drove them 3 or 4 miles down the road to a local park. Sure enough, the next day, he had fluourescent green squirrels in his trap. Now he drops them off at least 10 miles away!

So far, in a 1/2 mile radius, my dad and his two buddies have caught approximately 170 squirrels. Dad 40, one guy about 30, and one guy with a particularly bad problem--over 100. That is a rather pesky squirrel problem...

I have a few that need to find homes myself, as I can't store grain ANYWHERE except in metal trash containers. They chew through plastic trash containers and I can't store extra grain in bags in my feed room at all. It is very bothersome. I am having to travel to the feed mill several times a week because I can only buy the amount of feed that will fit in my metal containers.

Good luck trapping the rest of your unwanted visitors!

 

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

You didn't send any to me?

Too bad you don't live in The US, you could just pop a couple of those in a flat rate box and have them on their way here.