Rysdad - I fucking hate squirrels too - they chewed through the electrical wiring in my garage a year ago, fucked up my garage door, lights, and chewed through my two garden hoses.
But I’ve found the solution. Fuzzy was on the right track when he (she?) said that having a dog helps… My four dogs are now the neighborhood’s Squirrel Squad - they see one of the fuckers in my yard, and poof, the squirrel is doggie dinner. Literally they gang up against them. Two of them chase, one races ahead to close in on the bushy-tailed rat, and the fourth bops it on the head when the others have pinned it down. Sure it scares the shit out of the grandkids, but what the fuck…
The other good thing is I have one dog that climbs trees - so the fucking squirrel goes up a tree and is scared out of its fur when it sees a dog following close by.
Down with the furry-tailed rats, I say. Rys, I’ll ship you the Squirrel Squad and let 'em take care of your problem.
I just read through Alphagene’s link, and I found something there that is deeply disturbing: “The carcasses of affected animals are safe for human consumption…”
Hey Rys…
I also despise squirells and I know they hate me too. I am always paranoid they are gonna attack me. Just reading Doobs post about them walking on you has creeped me out. Luckily we have some living out on our balcony again. Gonna have to put up the mesh and mothballs again! FUCK I HATE THOSE LITTLE FUZZY TAILED RAT BASTARDS!!!
Its so nice to know I’m not alone!
-Frankie
I’m not a shrimp, I’m a King Prawn.
-Pepe the Prawn
Frankie: I actually get nervous when they get that close, because I don’t know what diseases they may carry. I saw one time some old lady with THREE ground squirrels on her waiting to be fed peanuts. I will clap and stomp my feet at them if they start coming near to get them away from me. Wild animals should NOT be THAT friendly to people. I also throw rocks at those rodents if they start to get too curious near me. I try to give them that sense of fear they SHOULD have.
I also have a problem with people who love animals, yet insist on feeding them. They’re wild animals. You only do them a disservice by feeding them. That’s not taking care of them, it’s teaching them to be lazy and train them to see people as their new food source. They are wild animals, they can get food on their own. It may be cute and all, but if you truly love wild animals, wouldn’t feed them. Keep them wild by NOT feeding them.
I’ve personally killed three ground squirrels squatting in my parents’ home. I must say that I feel no remorse at having done so. One of the buggers was VERY aggressive and had chased their dog around the house.
In any case, the use of traps was completely ineffective - squirrels are pretty wily and they sure weren’t fooled by the traps. Instead, since they were in the basement, I found the use of a pistol loaded with shotshell ammunition to be most effective.
I have nothing against squirrels - in the wild where they belong - but in the house - I think of them as nothing more than cockroaches with fur - and potentially dangerous ones at that.