My girlfriend is engaged in a war with ground squirrels… but I have never pursued this, does anyone have a bait suggestion?

Peanut Butter, Fruit, Seeds. For what kind of trap?

I can’t say anything has worked better than peanut butter for me.

I’m not sure if a Victor barnrat trap is sufficient otherwise a wooden cubby and small foot hold

Are we talking the 13 lined ground squirrel? I catch red squirrels and ground squirrels in my weasel boxes using Victor rat traps and it does the job just fine. Sunflower seeds, corn and peanut butter is my go to bait. Or place a #1 LS upside-down over the hole. No bait needed and takes them out quick.

Yes what kind of squirrels. Here we call them grey diggers but they are California ground squirrels. I have caught several hundred the last couple weeks, I use small live traps and cracked corn for bait. A little trail in to a small pile behind the pan. They are little pigs and can’t help themselves.



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No , talking about what we used to call gray gophers which are in fact a ground squirrel.

That’s more what I am talking about

I use the flat traps with two opposing doors, can't remember the name of them. This is what has plugged those traps for me......sometimes more than a dozen in one trap.

I use dry whole ear corn and dip them generously in peanut butter. I place the ears alongside the trap doors and all the way against the sides of the trap. The way I position the ears they get a little taste of the peanut butter from outside the trap, they are good as dead at this point. I have found that the whole ear corn works better when mice are around, and a squirrel chewing on an ear of corn gives the others more incentive to commit to entering the trap. The whole ear corn also has greater visibility from a distance. Place the traps near some natural cover, and not out in the wide open and your catch rates will go up.

I have been wanting to try placing something to cover just the top of the trap, so birds of prey don't add any unwanted attention.

I have had luck with “squirrel butter” made by Winter Wildlife Control in Minnesota. Not sure what’s in it but they go for it. The cheapest and easiest as others have said is PB and seeds, but you will also attract birds. Make sure traps are out of sight of birds. I use this trap tunnel

https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/WCSEVOTU-1.html

^^^^^ I buy a similar setup with traps included by Tomcat I think , they are about $25 . Peanut butter in the middle with sunflower seeds and cracked corn in and out of the the tunnel. From what I’ve seen every Eastern chipmunk I’ve caught has his nose in the skippy when he fires the trap.

Doubles are common .

Thanks folks, picked up a small live trap,haven’t set it because I can’t get my girlfriend to kill the critter with out shooting through the trap. So I borrowed her a.22 and she’s still got ground squirrels, she’s shy about immersing the trap in a barrel of water for dispatch.

Franklin ground squirrels is what you are working against.
Honeycomb cereal does not fall through the wire of the live traps. many researchers have used it, as they become addictive

Oregon Sugarpod peas worked for ground squirrel…one down