Any trappers here?

[rcmodel]

Off on a new venture since squirrels ate the wire harness and one fuel injector of my Dodge RAM Hemi to the tune of $585 dollars and 2 days in the shop two weeks ago.

The last time 3 years ago, it was $300 when they ate the wires off the smog control pump. :banghead:

Total of nearly $900 in squirrel damage so far!!

I wont say how many.
But let's just say the remaining squirrels have a newfound respect for my truck after a couple of days in the basement making things and a week of using them!

Traps & Cuddies:



Here Squirrels!
Come get your nuts now!




Rc

 

[buck460XVR]

By the looks of the blood stain in the second pic, it appears you've already been successful, eh?

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Those are mink boxes but should work okay for squirrels. May I suggest using a #120 instead of a #110? They set much more securely in the box and fire faster than the single spring version. (Yes I am a trapper with 50 years experience)

 

[OYE]

Look good. We have the same problems with mice and chipmunks in the mountains (no squirrels at home). Decon and wind up mouse traps and tied down victor rat traps is how we deal with them.
As you have found out, they particularly like the portion of wiring that is unfused. Pays to inspect that regularly. It's a stinker rewiring one in the mountains (we always carry extra wire just in case it happens again.)
Barn cats may be a more permanent fix (but you'll have to give up the traps). The folks had a hickory grove near the house. Squirrels were abundant, but they rarely ventured in the yard and don't remember them being a problem around the tractors and vehicles. They had 6-12 barn cats around always. They would bring in squirrels now and then.
If you have cats already, you're feeding them too much.

Use about the same kind of box (and other types as well) off the ground for marten. Usually place the trap nearer the opening as we would like it to drop free of the box so mice don't chew on the fur. 120's often, 110 and footholds some. Sometimes they drop free and sometimes they don't. OYE

 

[95XL883]

Sorry to learn squirrels are eating your wiring. I’ve trapped destructive, nuisance squirrels in the past and am now fighting small rats that eat tractor wiring. For trapping, a simple Hav-a-hart trap baited with a little peanut butter worked very well. But that left me to dispose of them once trapped.

I then switched to a rodenticide called Just One Bite. I slather a little peanut butter on it and place several half sticks (8 sticks in a package) in their paths. They take it away and die somewhere else. Rarely, they will die on site but that it rare. This works great in a residential neighborhood. (I had one neighbor sabotage my trap once.)

I haven’t trapped since I started using the JOB.

I think I discovered by accident one thing that the rats won’t eat. They haven’t touched the wiring since I used liquid electrical tape (Home Depot) to repair the wire insulation they had chewed off. I also put it on the replacement fuel lines. They haven’t touched either since that stuff went on. They did switch to chewing on the plastic overflow box for the radiator but that doesn’t seem to affect tractor operation.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Sorry to hear that the tree rats are eating your wiring. Show them no mercy rc.

 

[Loc n Load]

Squirrels in the attic

They can really be a problem when they take up residence in your attic...and have young.....I ran into that conundrum last April....and after a three week battle resembling the antics of Bill Murray in Caddy Shack with the varmint on the golf course....I finally brought the drama to a close with a S&W 617 loaded with CCI 22rf shot loads.

 

[matrem]

Can sure relate.

Several years ago critters decided the air box of my GS 1150 drag bike was the best place for them to spend the winter, and me not noticing it before cranking it over in March or April cost me a lot of money and time.

Pretty sure most of the responsible party had the feeling of spring loaded steel as their last memory.

I've used cardboard boxes with a cut-out just bigger than 110s or 220s as well with good success.

I sure wish there were #55 or 60 connibears available, as I can think of some uses for em.

 

[short barrel]

A squirrel in the engine compartment destroyed my trip out of state on spring.

 

[Starter52]

I've had luck trapping the smaller New England red squirrels with those black plastic "clam-shell" rat traps and peanut butter. Very easy to operate, and deadly.

 

[rswartsell]

Nice work rc!

You bloodthirsty non-PETA bastard you.....

P.S. In my humble experience, besides making good mirror/antenna fliers for a Stutz Bearcat, they make tolerable stew too!

 

[rcmodel]

May I suggest using a #120 instead of a #110?

You could suggest it, but I won't do it!

These 110's scare me enough.

And they are batting 1000 so far!

I tried the big Victor rat traps at first.
But the squirrels were tripping them everyday, eating the bait, and waiting in the tree for me to re-bait them!

This one ate most of the flour bait, and just got knocked out cold next to the trap.

He got up and ran up a tree while I was taking this picture!!!



rc

 

[jimmyraythomason]

These 110's scare me enough.

You do know that a #120 is just a #110 with two springs....? I have those mink boxes and 110s fit poorly. The 120s are much more secure and won't move when a mink, or in this case a squirrel comes into contact with it.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

But let's just say the remaining squirrels have a newfound respect for my truck after a couple of days in the basement making things and a week of using them!

you put the squirrels to work?

 

[tomturkey]

If the 110 are not stable enough in the box, you can drill a couple of holes in the box so you can drop a piece of rod or stiff wire down between the jaws of the set 110 next to the rivet on the side of the 110 opposite the spring.

This will stabilize the trap with out hindering it making a catch. I put sticks down between the jaws of my 330's to stabilize them when trapping beaver all the time.

Beats having to pay the extra $$$ for 120's

 

[jimmyraythomason]

you can drill a couple of holes in the box so you can drop a piece of rod or stiff wire down between the jaws

Or drive roofing tacks into the bottom of the box (goes between the lower jaws) or replace the off side rivet with a bolt which goes into a hole drilled into the opposite side of the box...or buy metal trap stabilizers(super cheap for a dozen) on the bottom of the box.

I put sticks down between the jaws of my 330's to stabilize them when trapping beaver all the time.

so do I except where the creek bottom is rocky, then I use a commercial stabilizer attached to an old brake rotor.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

R.C., if you need help setting those 110s, F&T has the setters on closeout for less than 5 bucks!http://www.fntpost.com/Categories/Specials/Closeouts+(Very+Limited+Supply)/Trapping+Closeouts/

 

[rcmodel]

Thanks!
But I already made a set of setter tongs myself.

Added trap stabilizers kicker blocks to the boxes yesterday.



rc

 

[Zeke/PA]

I try to keep the squirrels under control using my airguns.
The're a nusience around my bird feeders going so far as to actually chew holes in the feeders.
Not to mention the fact that sunflower seeds are roughly 50 cents/lb. these days.
At 10 yards or so, a .17cal pellet is very effective.

 

[jrdolall]

22 cal powderless does the trick for me. Lately it is a suppressed rifle with sub sonics. My squirrels avoid traps somehow and I have to be careful because I have dogs and a decent population, 3-5, of feral cats that I have trapped and had spayed/neutered. I think they work mostly on the mice and chipmunks around the barn because I rarely see them bothering the squirrels. These squirrels are never more than 25-50 feet from huge oak trees. I also have some fox squirrels that I don't want to kill.
I think I killed 60+ in my backyard in the past year.

 

[Zeke/PA]

Traps to control vermin is very effective and I use a large Havahart to control Woodchucks in the warmer months.
What I've learned though is to " spring" the trap at nightfall and reset it again in the morning to keep the undesireable stuff, mainly skunks from getting caught.

 

[OYE]

These 110's scare me enough.

Reminds us of a story we read a few years back of a trapper using 330's in Alaska for lynx and wolverine on a snowmoblie line. Set was torn up and some fresh snow. While digging it out to determine what he had caught it snapped
shut on his hand. The cord he usually carried to tie around the spring ears and leverage them down (most of us carry one) wasn't there and the tools needed to unachor the trap were on the mobile. He had extra rope and cord on the mobile as well. Was able to hook his toe on the skid and slide it over and finally reach the rope. He said it was a mistake that he would not likely make again. Don't leave home without it.
So yes you would do well to have a healthy respect for even a 110.

But I already made a set of setter tongs myself.

Added trap stabilizers kicker blocks to the boxes yesterday.

I'd say you are getting this squirrel trapping down. Some variations might be to use the newspaper delivery boxes on a pole or the big plastic flower pots upside down vertically on a tree. The oldtimers used to chop a notch in a tree and set a foothold in the notch (keeps working in heavy snow), but that's frowned upon these days. Still run across an old notched tree now and then in the backcountry. Oh, we usually super glue english walnut halves on the victor rat traps for chipmonks and packrats. Sounds like they are too small for your squirrels, though.

Anyway if you can ride a horse (and walk some) 10 hours a day , 4 or 5 days a week , we can use you next winter. You're hired. OYE

 

[Garrobo]

Hose

I had that problem with squirrels eating the hose on my propvne cooker on my back porch. I bought a new one and wrapped it in aluminum foil which solved the problem. Lots cheaper than a trap or .22's.

 

[eastbank]

i shoot them year round, with subsonic .22,s. some right off the bird feeder. eastbank.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

While digging it out to determine what he had caught it snapped
shut on his hand

He was careless and paid for it. We don't generally deal with snow here (and can't use 330s on land even if we did)but high water resulting in traps buried in debris happens all too often. I NEVER dig one out by hand! I always carry and use a 4' hoe handle with a metal hook to locate and retrieve traps.