Squrrels raiding the bird feeder problem

[Moveon]

Well I was shooting the pesky squirrels with my old pellet guy and started to miss due to the CO2 leaking out. So I went out to Gander Mountain and bought a new Pellet Rifle. It's a Gamo Bone Collector which turns out to be a spring type air gun. These type of air rifles are very hard on regular rifle scope as they have a lot of shock when the spring is released suddenly when you pull the trigger. The shock is too much for most ordinary rifle scopes.

My scope was a Gamo 4X fixed which game already mounted on the rifle's barrel in the box. After a few months I noticed that the rifle's mountings have moved and the front mounts were the only ones still holding the scope to the barrel. I've since fixed that problem I hope.

Now while I was messing with the rifle and missing a lot of good opportunities of killing the two fox squirrels that were raiding my bird feeder and eating all my black sunflower seeds I finally put the live animal cage trap to use.

I strapped the metal cage to the top of the rail on my deck. I had seen these two squirrels walk along the top of this rail to get to the bird feeder. And when I got their attention by opening the back kitchen window to shoot at them with the pellet guns (rifle and a pistol) they would run along the top of the railing and off to the side of my yard where there is a big Ash tree and run up into the tree. I made the mistake of planting ivy around this tree and it growing all over the tree now making for good cover for all the squirrels. They can hide easily among the ivy leaves and vines that grow over and around the big tree.


Well the other day I found both the cage doors down and locked shut and one of the pesky squirrels inside the cage. I ended up taking a can of spray paint (white) and tried to spray paint the squirrel's tail a white color. This is so that if he were to return to the area I'd be able to recognize him. Well let me tell you this, he didn't like that at all. He would try to attack the spray can by facing into the paint spray and attacking the walls of the wire cage. I was just trying to hit his tail and not any thing else but he kept facing me so I finally stopped. I didn't want to get any in his eyes. This was one pissed off squirrel too. He was chattering the entire time he was in the cage. I had the cage attached to the top of the railing which is actually a two by four with some 18" zip ties. Two zip ties held the cage on the top rail easily.

I took my knife and cut the zip ties and moved the cage and squirrel to the back of my pick up truck and used adjustable Bunge cords to secure both ends of the cage between the two sides of the bed of the truck. It's was right up against the truck's tail gate.

I drove over to the fish and wildlife area and released the squirrel there. He ran pretty fast towards the woods across the gravel parking lot.

Two days later I caught the other pesky squirrel and transported him out of the neighborhood sans the while paint job on the tail. Both squirrels were males. The first one was very vocal and was chattering or barking at me the entire time he was in the cage. And both squirrels tried to ram the cage doors with their heads. The doors held firm and all was well in the back yard now. I have not seen anymore pesky squirrels at the feeders.

I also raised the bird feeder up about 9 ft into the air with a pole system and put a metal baffle on the pole below the feeders to deter anymore squirrels from getting at the bird seed.

Then three nights ago I noticed the security light was coming on in the back deck. When I went to look out the back door there was a big raccoon eating my bird feed from one of the other squirrel proof feeders hanging off one of the supports on the poles. I shooed him away by opening the back door and yelling at him. Then I threw out a couple of fire crackers just for good measure. Well last night he was back at it again. Another fire cracker thrown onto the deck exploded and he was gone but he will be back again.

The live animal trap worked good for the squirrels and it's big enough for a raccoon. So I'm just hoping that I can figure out what type of bait to use to lure him into the cage. I'll catch him and relocate him too.

I just hope I don't end up with a live SKUNK in the cage instead of the raccoon.

[Colbyt]

Pretty sure a raccoon will eat anything. Fresh fish must be a treat as the one who visited here ate about a $800 worth of Japanese Koi that I raised from cheap minnow size.

Since then we just buy bait goldfish.

[roadrunner]

I have used can cat food in the live trap I put a little bit in the front of the trap and make a trail into the trap and put the can at the back of the trap works well.

[Moveon]

I have used can cat food in the live trap I put a little bit in the front of the trap and make a trail into the trap and put the can at the back of the trap works well.

Well the Raccoon had not been back since I raised the bird feeders's pole to put them out of reach.

But the live animal trap (Havahart Large double doors) works better now that I learned how to set the doors properly. I've caught the neighbor's feral cat twice. And I've caught two Fox Squirrels and a small Opossum.

I put a 4" long 1" OD pvc pipe in the to of the cage near the handle using a zip loc tie and stuffed some sardines inside the pvc pipe. This way the raccoon can smell the sardines but will have to get inside the cage and work for it's fish. He's much more likely to step on the trigger this way. I read about this method of trapping raccoons on a web site.

The squirrels I transported about 20 miles away and released into a wooded area. I did the same with the Opossum. The cat I released the first time but the second time I caught it I had to transport him to another location. I heard that the neighbors moved and could not catch him so he's out in our neighborhood running loose with no owner. I'd didn't mind him as much as the squirrels but can't have him setting off my trap and eating all the sardines before I catch that raccoon and his brother.

Next door neighbor kid said he was up at 2 am and saw a squirrel on the top of my roof the other night. I think he was seeing raccoons or possums as squirrels are not out and about at 2 am.

[ryan_ekubass]

The next time you seem them 2 squirrels you will be mowing your grass and look over and see this.

[Moveon]

The next time you seem them 2 squirrels you will be mowing your grass and look over and see this.

Yea that looks like one of the next door neighbor kids.


I just came back to post that I finally caught the raccoon in the Havahart live animal trap. He bit thought the zip loc ties that were holding the cage to the top of the decks railing and the cage with the raccoon inside dropped off the rail into the bar berry bushes along the side of the deck.

I woke up and looked out the window and the cage was gone. At first I didn't know what to think. Then I saw that the cage had fallen into the bushes. I was not sure what was inside the cage at first. I could have been another possum or far worse, a skunk. But alas it was the raccoon.

Now this raccoon is mean and he stinks to high heaven. So I gave him a bath with the garden hose to intimidate him and to clean him up. He didn't act so mean after the hose treatment. At one point he laid down on his back to expose his stomach in an act of submission. When I tried to take his picture with my GPS device he hissed at me and attacked the side of the cage. I was not expecting him to do that.

I'll let him dry off and calm down and then take him over to a wooded area and release him unharmed. I won't feed him as I don't want him to associate people with food. That's not a good idea. He would just start going to other houses looking for more people food. He needs to learn to feed himself in the wild.

He is a lot heavier than the squirrels. I'm a little worried about releasing him without him coming back after me and trying to bite me. All the other critters just run away when I open the door to the cage. I hope he does the same thing. I don't think he shows any signs of being rabid or crazy. He was smart enough to chew the zip ties in two as a small section of both the zip loc's ties were inside the cage. I was wondering if the squirrels would do the same thing but they never did bite into the plastic zip loc ties

[ryan_ekubass]

in my experience of catching critters in traps. When i would take them to the WMA to release them i stood in the bed of the truck and dumped them over the side out of the cage. I never had one run back under the truck because i figure that would be my luck but they never did. But that would **** if they fell in the truck bed with ya though...

[Moveon]

in my experience of catching critters in traps. When i would take them to the WMA to release them i stood in the bed of the truck and dumped them over the side out of the cage. I never had one run back under the truck because i figure that would be my luck but they never did. But that would **** if they fell in the truck bed with ya though...

I felt sorry for the little guy. He tried his best to escape the cage. He had cuts on all four of his paws and his nose from trying to open the doors.

One the way over to the release area I could see him in my rear view mirror while driving down the road. I had the cage strapped in at the back of my pickup truck with bungee cords. He was reaching out though the top of the cage trying to grab the handle that I used to carry the cage.

When I released him he went into the water and swam about 75 yards before coming back onto shore and vanishing in some tall weed and a small stand of willow trees.

Hopefully I won't see him around my bird feeders anymore. Unless he has some brothers and sisters as this was not a very old coon. I'd say by his size that he was less than a year old. But he was much heavier than those squirrels or the cat that I caught.

I set the trap out again tonight with some more sardines in it. I'll see if there are any more hungry critters in my back yard.

[ryan_ekubass]

when i lived in town in richmond i had taken my dog out on a leash adn there was a possum by the garbage cans that were in a corner by a privacy fence... well needless to say my 20lb beagle mix seen it before i did and went after it only to have the possum to lower its head and run under/thru my dog. Thats when i got the havahart trap. The first day i caught the neighbors cat and told my wife. the next day my wife went to check the trap. mind u it was tucked in behind the garbage cans. well my wife pulled trap out a bit to see if it was the neighbors cat only to be surprised by a caged possum with jaws opened wide enough to put a softball in hissing and raising all kinds of hell.... Needless to say she never checked the trap again to see if the neighbors kitty was caught again.... LOL...

[Moveon]

Well I still have another fox squirrel running around my back yard raiding the bird feeders. But I've put the feed up on a taller pole and have a cone protecting the feeder.

I caught another raccoon last night. This raccoon also chewed though the plastic zip ties that were holding the cage to the top of the deck railing. I took the Coon to the wild area and released him/her with out incident.

I hope that's the last one for a while. I'm getting tired ot smelling those stinky dirty raccoons. Man they really do stink bad. I sprayed "Frabrize" on the first one just to cover up the smell. Even then he still smelled bad. At least they are not Skunks.

[Moveon]

I took this picture with my Garmin Montana GPS unit but it took a while to figure out how to get the photo into my computer and uploaded into this web site.

But this is the pesky squirrel who's been raiding my bird feeder for the last two or three years. I caught him and one of his brother or sisters and moved them out of my neighborhood.

No squirrels were hurt other than their feelings. They were not pleased with me at all. hehe.

I also caught two young raccoons in the same cage in the same location on my back deck. I place the cage trap on the top of my decks railing and secured it on the rail with two 26" long plastic zip ties. Both of the raccoons chewed up both the zip ties holding the cage to the railing and thus had the cage fall off the railing and into some of my Barberry Bushes. Both Raccoons were really pissed off. LOL

[kentuckykingfisher]

If you've got the time you outta get on YouTube and learn how to build a squirrel catapult. I've got one that I used to launch them seed thieving squirrels off the deck. It's really entertaining and your not harming the squirrels either, just sending them on a thrill ride lol. They usually come back in a couple of days though