i need some help. im TRYING to trap squirrels out of a mans backyard uptown, with cage traps. theres a wooden fence around his yard. its maybe like half an acre. ive got 6 7x24 traps out. a few up on the top rail of the fence and one on the ground. all in all im not catching any squirrels. im using Nutcracker for some traps and peanut butter/corn for the others. someone please help me out. ive never caught any squirrels, but id like to so i can get paid. hah all ive caught overr the past week is two possums up on the fence. anything would be helpful at this point.

Sounds like the kind of job I will not take.

Are they in the house....or just running around the yard?

Bobcat Mike, seriously, have you been watching our company? We had our best technician set up a job that is the twin of what you just described. He didn't catch anything, and I took it seriously ( The customer was a retired doctor ) and did things I had never done before. And it worked; I caught 9 squirrels and he will see me again at the end of the month.

Since David thinks this job is a loser and I've got no experience in the south ( And I've also got a guy from Georgia working for us now, making big bucks ) let me throw this at you; what are your squirrels eating at this time of the year? Combine that answer with the best artificial attractant made for your area, and I can only hope that you have the success that we are having!

Paul, your on the money.
The reason I won't touch a non structural squirrel job is that it's a fools errand to try to rid a property of squirrels. If I ever had a client that actually understood that I would consider taking the job for a hefty monthly fee.

thanks for everything guys! and Paul, ive never messed with any squirrels. so i dont know what lure would be best. ive been using Nutcracker, and peanut butter with corn. NOTHING. i did talk to the cliant earlyer and he informed me that he saw a squirrel sitting on top of my trap closest to the house today. man was that irritating to hear. hah but i guess bird seed out of the bird feeder. thats what was sprinkled under the one it was sitting on. when i reset earlyer, i took a section of cob, rolled it in the nutcracker, then rolled it in bird feed. then just wired the cob in the trap. hopefully thatll work. it just makes me feel like a lousey trapper not being able to catch a dern squirrel. i dont know, ill get one eventually im sure. but again thanks you guys. i really appreciate it

Visual is the key...you would think corn would do the trick. Are the traps in areas where they can see them easily?

id think so too! hah but yea theyre up on the fence. so im guessing they can see them easily. these squirrels are pullin one over on me man. hah on the first check i dropped corn along the inside and a little at the mouth of the trap. 'coarse a squirrel ate all the corn round the outside. maybe theyve just got to get used to traps?

We use the dried corn, that is still on the cob, that is sold as squirel food, suspended from the top of the trap. This has produced excellent results on the non native eastern fox squirels in our urban areas.

We set the fences, trees, etc.

I'm assuming that the reason he wants the squirrels gone is because they're eating all the bird seed. If he stops feeding the birds, the squirrels will stop being a problem...... works every time.

Engineer it out. http://www.duncraft.com/Squirrel-Guard

I have one similar to this, and it works. Mine is longer and will keep coons out too.

Try wrapping the traps leaving the back open, ala tube trap.

That's true Dave but the bird watchers can be a stubborn bunch.

I get several jobs a year like this and as long as the customer understands that all you're doing is knocking down the population, they are pretty enjoyable jobs. But you have to catch squirrels. The more, the better.

Bobcat Mike, if the customer really has a bird feeder, roll up a ball of the very same bird food with peanut butter and use that as bait in the back of the trap. A little just outside the trap door, a little more about half way in the trap and the rest behind the pan. Place the traps under the bird feeder.

Frankly, catching squirrels under bird feeders is about as easy as it gets. Or should be anyway.

JMO, bird seed for squirrel trapping equals birds in traps which is another not to take the job.

I've never had that problem.

You must not have any birds then. Before I gave up the trail of bird seed into the traps I must have caught every type of seed eater known to Alabama and Georgia.

Yep, that must be it. No birds in NH.

×2 on the dried corn on the cob.

I take jobs like this all the time,we call them population reduction jobs,and charge by the week flat rate. Personally I like them, almost all are people that feed the birds, and are tired of subsidizing the local Squirrels food supply. You don't have to locate an entry hole,I never have to put up a ladder,and no repair work involved. If the yard has any type of wooden fence, all the better.

Mr. Shumway, if my customers stopped feeding birds, I'd have to get a job selling used cars. Bird feeders are the single largest source of ADC money in the world, I think. They're the main reason squirrels nest in attics and raccoons, opossums, and skunks live under decks. And the bird feeder doesn't even need to be on the property; it can be two houses down.

David, what sqs said about not catching birds with bird seed, pretty much pertains to us too. We will catch an occasional bird but what we are using for bait seems to have very little to do with it.