Anyone use the "pro cone" or bat cone type for squirrels? I just ran into my first opportunity to follow
up behind someone who had tried for 2 months to exclude a squirrel using one of these tubes.

Now I do own some for bats, though mostly I use other things suggested by others along the way,
however I never would have thought (though I know they are marketed for squirrels) about putting
one in for a squirrel.

The better part of it, was the setup was a flat roof, where the squirrel had dug a hole up above the gutter
into the home wall. So the gutter is our flat roof type that goes from the flat roof, through the wall and
out into the yard.

The outer gutter was wired off with hardware cloth and a couple of screws, the inside was hardware cloth
with a pro cone stuck in the middle, and a large raccoon sized havahart trap just about 6" in front of the
cone with about a pound of peanut butter in a dish.

The squirrel when exiting only needed to step down about 1" from the cone to be on the roof surface and when
returning just push back inside.

I could not see how this would prevent re-entry? I'll try to post a pic for reference but it might be later,
just curious anyone use this?

(p.s. this is a rock squirrel, looks like a gray squirrel from most of the rest of the states, but is more ground
dwelling, until it isn't)

Justin

Unless the structure is made of steel and concrete and you only have one possible access point, I would never use one-ways for squirrels. I know there are a few who do it, but in my 25+ years of wildlife control I've seen homes that look like swiss cheese due to people watching the squirrels go out and then repair the entry hole. Same result with one-ways. I have found that once squirrels pick a home, it is THEIRS and they will chew back in if they have established it as a den area. And I'm not just talking about when young are present.

I've done a ton of squirrel jobs after homeowners trapped their own squirrels and dumped them out at a city park or timber (usually less than a mile from their house!) and the squirrels return and chew a new entry. This isn't a rare situation, it is the NORM. I know Paul (W) has experienced the same. I prefer to run my business with the goal of solving problems, not experimenting with squirrels to see how long it takes them to chew back in.

Oddly, there are guys who claim to use one-ways for squirrels with success. Not me. It's not like you're dealing with bats. Squirrels happen to be rodents with some awesome chompers, and I've seen them chew through 3 layers: aluminum gutter, fascia, and 1x6 fascia board to regain entry. Have even seen them go through 2x6 treated. For those that get by with using one-ways for squirrels, I am totally amazed that they are not experiencing chew backs. Maybe my central Illinois squirrels have crossed with beavers, and somehow developed a jaw design similar to a reciprocating saw.

"Oddly, there are guys who claim to use one-ways for squirrels with success."

I believe these are the same guys I follow behind year after year,(and have a garage full of their excluders), that we removed when called to do the job correctly after the Squirrels have chewed back in. What amazes me is they don't even return to remove the excluders and repair the damage. It's just get a check-install excluder- and C-YA ......not even a trap.

*I have to add, not all of these are local NWCO's,only a couple. The others are national pest control chains that are dabbling in wildlife removal.

My experience is the same as Ron's.Exclusion for squirrels isnt my preferred way to go due to chew ins and call backs.Trapping and removal is the best form of protection. Residency establishment is strong with squirrels and others will move in soon enough to test the structure once again over time.

I know they sell products for specific uses but some arent preventive in their return use and exclusion with squirrels. I have seen them crawl back into an tube excluder several times and a one way door if set in a horizontal/parallel position where the animal is crawling up into the device.Wouldnt have believed it unless I had seen it myself.

Ron and Bob and Albert and Paul,

Great feedback as usual. I'm trying to put a couple pics on as we speak so folks can see just how this was rigged
up when I climbed onto her roof to inspect.

Here is a series of pics including some descriptive pics on how the squirrel infiltrated in the first place.

[img][/img]



If I loaded them right the first pic should show the pro cone that was placed by the other company for the last 2 months. The second is a look up inside the canal-ee (my spelling, Spanish word for the gutters that go through the flat roof walls). Basically the sheet metal gutter box wasn't as long as the wall was thick in some gutters around the house, so it leaves a 2" gap in some places where the squirrel without chewing at all could enter and run literally all around the home due to the way it is framed. The third is the outside view of the "canal-ee" gutter where the other company placed this hardware cloth, in most cases they at least put two screws in but this one, only one.

In our area these rock squirrels are diggers, they will and do climb for fruit and in some cases find a place on a roof, old swamp coolers with gaps around them often allow entry. I've rescued a gob of juveniles who end up jumping into the vent exhaust pipe on the roof and ending up above the stove in the house fan system.

Typically though they are garden and crawlspace problems, they dig like prairie dogs and can start a tunnel out in your yard 30 feet away and still end up coming up in your crawlspace.

I generally refer folks on these rock squirrels because I don't typically do the trapping programs, but I have a few folks who can't find help.

In this case 2 months this lady had this squirrel to the point where her living room drywall was bored through in one spot of the ceiling (nuts and bird seed fell into the room), before the other company told her to call me.

Ironically they refer me calls for other wildlife. Another local company that trapped that I referred to stopped because a string of homeowners complained when the squirrels weren't removed within an hour of being caught in a live trap. This company decided it just wasn't worth the headache of dealing with them.

We do have true tree squirrels including smaller red or pine squirrels and a larger tufted ear Abert's squirrel, but they are in the mountains mostly, the rock squirrel rules the valleys.

She had about 14 of these gutters, more than 1/2 had this problem where the gutter metal wasn't the length it needed to be, allowing the usual construction defect wildlife entry.

Justin

The first time I saw what one of our "cute" little grey squirrels could do, was probably 24 years ago and I was a new guy to ADC work. A customer had waited until the lactating female left his garage and then closed the doors, locking her out. She came back and chewed right through the side of the garage. This was a threefold learning experience.

1. Don't exclude squirrels. Lactating or not, they come back.

2. Don't use aluminum for closures. Squirrel's teeth are made out of iron.

3. Keep you garage doors closed. Or you can leave them open; we enjoy the work!

P.S. Ropel tastes terrible, but apparently not to squirrels.

Ditto 100% of what Professor Ron said.
I have done one-ways (the door types)on a coupla far-away jobs, but don't do it any more.

i agree with ron, the only time i use excluders on squirrels is when i am setting baited traps around where the excluder is put over the hole. and have to put them close as they will spend majority of their time trying to "cut in" around the outside of wherever you repair.

Mostly started this thread because though I've seen the pro cone ads for a variety of species in the catalogs and magazines, I was
surprised anyone would attempt to use this particular exclusion device in the way the pics I posted show.

I do agree that with a chewer like squirrels even without the maternity issue being a factor, trapping/removal would be the way
to prevent problems for you and your client as others have stated.

A client for another exclusion I had the other day when I mentioned this squirrel not far from his home, he stated that in the last year
he trapped and relocated 20 rock squirrels, all to one part of the city where I know that tons of other folks drop raccoons, squirrels, prairie
dogs and skunks!

It is a poorer part of town where the dumps occur which I suppose is one reason very few calls come out of this area.

Those that I have on digging issues in the yard are always live trapped and euthanized.

Good comments from everyone of course and I know years and years of experience are behind the techniques you folks are using.

Justin