Squirrels Above Suspended Ceiling

[Nicepix 5,650]

Just a point about the comment earlier regards cleaning the traps. Does anyone clean squirrel traps to remove the scent of previous captures?

 

I regularly put mole traps down that still have bits of fur and skin on them sometimes taken up at one job and put down at another job the same day. Also with rats I never bother to clean any blood or fur off the traps or in the trap box. I've got some live catch traps that I shoot the rats with an air pistol that have had quite a lot of dried blood on them. Are squirrels that different?

[Phil Lloyd 10,736]

No,..they are not...

[jackg 7]

Two female squirrels trapped in two body grip 110 using slices of Tesco's sweet corn with added peanut butter. Traps were 2-3 feet apart, not as smart as rats.

Not lactating either.

Strangely no other chewing was apparent in this area so I thought it may be mice as it is above the kitchen but no evidence in the kitchen.

Edited July 15, 2016 by jackg

[stormyboy 1,352]

Squirrels are curious creatures, and curiosity didn't just kill the cat.....

[bendrover 556]

 

I've never had to use it for squirrels.

 

 

What made them difficult?

I don't know. I had a run of jobs where I really struggled. I wondered if they had been caught and released elsewhere....I heard of a number of pest controllers doing that with foxes because they couldn't dispatch em so who knows...one had eaten through a joist like a bloody beaver! So it had to go asap...I then think I messed a job up by feeding a sub lethal dose and perhaps causing a bait aversion.

Was a learning curve after spending 20 years catching squirrels without issue.

i had one job last year . Tenant was at his wits end previous contractor had given up . After a few days of trying different baits , i used tracking dust . This grey was simply walking around my fens , cages and then warfrin grain . 2 weeks past and nothing . He was in there every night . After an hour of patience one the evening the air arms got the job done . I agree with the theory of released squirrels and foxes . I know 2 pesties who aint got the stomach to cull anymore . And then theres the sspca / rspca . Injured animals being transported back to its territory after healing .

[jackg 7]

I did a squirrel job about a month ago, following on from another guy who put one trap down for £150 and caught nought.

This was a std two storey house about 20-30 years old.

The squirrels were running in the space created by the soffit and fascia boards and seemed to between the felt and the tiles, they had made one hole in the felt.

They scuffed one area of insulation and had a little go at another, a small amount of chewing of wood more than anything.

I caught the first in a live capture trap and the second in a 110 after a lot of baiting with peanuts and peanut butter.

But as you say the tracking dust is very useful.

 

BTW Just eaten some squirrel curry.

[Nicepix 5,650]

I've taken a call this morning about a supposed rat problem. The customer hasn't see anything but has hear scurrying from under the floor boards. Given his location I'm tipping that when I get there on Monday it will be a squirrel job. They are all reds here so a live trap cage will be the best option.

 

The other thing we get over here are lerot, or garden dormouse. They really are pests as they will eat through any cables or plastic pipes. One customer had a newish 'C' Class Merc' trashed by them while he was away from home for three months last winter. Mouse traps usually work for them.