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You did not say what kind of squirrels. Red/pine, gray or fox squirrels.

I think Jameson or WCS would be your best bet.

We hammer squirrels with a simple setup. Red, grey and flying squirrels and no extra bs due to what kind.

I would change the kind of trap you are using. Squirrels will sometime lose interest in a certain trap style after seeing multiple catches. It might take a while but even a squirrel will eventually learn to stay away from certain objects.

Try a 5x5x18 cage or maybe even larger.

I like a bigger cage, 7 or 8 in. square. I had some set a few years ago that were 5 in. square. They were out side by my bird feeder. Watched grays dig all around the traps, but would not go in. Used several different baits with the same action. Never did catch one in the 5 in. square traps. changed to 7 in. square and could not keep the squirrels out. Same bait as the small traps.

Caught about 40 squirrels at one place in 6x6, 6x8 and 7x7 swing panel traps last year, then they got skittish. Dug under the traps, so I put aluminum down. Then they rolled the traps. In the end I went to some single door wire trigger 9x11 with corn hanging from the roof of the trap. Got another dozen pretty fast. They were coming in to a dumpster, jumping on people when they tossed garbage. Chewed the lids off the dumpster. One was running around in a nearly empty dumpster. When he got close I jammed a swing panel trap over him and got him. Felt good.

Use our own bait, and are limited to cage traps and use the 5x5x18's sold at the depot. When they wont enter all I do is smear a little bait on the cage floor of the entry points. Well balanced bait will take squirrel period.

Time of year also has a part to play. They are likely locked on to a certain food source and are in bury for the winter mode.

I see this happen with rodents from mice to beavers. It takes a while but the colony eventually wises up. Bait is but a small component, I do believe. Squirrels aren't rejecting the bait, they are usually rejecting the trap. Same with beavers. They end up avoiding the trap, not the bait or lure. Rodents seem to rely heavily on their sight more so than their nose.

These are the little things we notice with time.

A little bit on the front lip and bait the back will get most squirrels in the trap.

I've never had to stray from in-shell peanuts or a square of cardboard with a smear of peanut butter (for glue) pressed into a jug of sunflower seeds. Year round. I prefer positive sets, but catch plenty with either of these two baits.

So far the peanut butter and sunflower system works great!

For you and your customer. I once had a fellow bragging to me on how many companies he got over on because they used peanut butter. I think it was 3. He would watch the trap when a squirrel got caught he would remove the squirrel. put the trap back and put the butter right back on the same spot reset the trap. the wco would look at the trap and see the bait and walk away. when the squirrels was all gone he would call and fire the company because they did not catch the squirrels. at least color your peanut butter.

Jonesie: I set a live trap for red squirrels on a board about 5 feet off the ground, I used a squirrel paste on the pan with some sunflower seed pushed in the paste. Three times the trap was tripped with nothing inside. I thought someone was messing with the trap. So I set up a game camera. The bad guy was a deer. She would run her nose back and forth on the trap smelling the paste. Got three red squirrels and 5 chipmunks. Also a couple small birds. I do not use any peanut butter for anything.

25 in a night, removed 32 in 3 days, droppings everywhere on one side of the attic. The last few were trapped on the opposite gable where I seen no droppings or runs/ disturbed insulation. You set the right places and use good bait you'll remove them. We use all the same cages and bait for red, gray and flying squirrels. When I set for critters I don't overthink it, I set with confidence and through knowledge by studying the animal I'm trying to trap. It sounds corny, but When I setup on a job I setup with a purpose and that is to make money and solve the homeowners problems. Them pouncing on and around it seen on cam? Fiddling with multiple baits and overthinking jobs just don't fit into the budget.

How many traps did you have set to catch 25 in one night?

30 traps and the price of the job was $980 with a seal up which was a foot and a 1/2 cut out of rotted wood on the fascia board.

I'm no hero, but it is funny to me how complicated people make things out to be when it comes to trapping critters. Most think you need some supah dupah leet0 bait prepared by big named bait and lure makers or $200 traps..the list goes on. A lot of the jobs I do I start and finish before the individuals come to a conclusion on what kind of bait they are going to use on their jobs from reading on here. It's crazy. But hey to each their own.

I like when a homeowner says a trap is no good. Tossed out a perfectly good working trap, glad I spoke up and said instead of throwing it out I'll take it. My son was a little generous on the portion while baiting the trap, but he got it done. For a trap that was no good and squirrels wouldn't go near it. it sure did a bang up job on trapping a squirrel. The phone call from the client the following morning gave me a chuckle then ^5'd my son and told him to put his boots on.