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Squirrel trapping

Posted By: Sask hunter

Squirrel trapping - 09/14/17 04:18 PM

A farmer friend is having troubles with squirrels at his farm. I setup a few weasel boxes with rat traps inside and the only small live trap I have. After a few days no luck. Any advice you can offer?
Posted By: TDHP

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/14/17 05:05 PM

Try and sprinkle some seed or squirrel food around the boxes, also I'd remove the front of the weasel box and position in a way chickens can't get their heads in. Small branches in front of the weasel boxes works good, squirrels will find the entry point. I'd screw snap traps up off the ground onto the structure they're causing trouble in or their activity area as well. I like to use lure when trapping squirrels, it helps to get them stubborn old timers to commit. Only downside to snap traps are mice will set them off.
Posted By: Aix sponsa

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/14/17 05:48 PM

I know a guy that gets good results using running pole sets when squirrels are tearing up his crops. He leans a 4-5 foot 1x1 against his trees and sets 110s, 115s, or snares. He wires or screws the narrow board to the tree to secure it.
Posted By: Sask hunter

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/14/17 06:36 PM

Originally Posted By: TDHP
Try and sprinkle some seed or squirrel food around the boxes, also I'd remove the front of the weasel box and position in a way chickens can't get their heads in. Small branches in front of the weasel boxes works good, squirrels will find the entry point. I'd screw snap traps up off the ground onto the structure they're causing trouble in or their activity area as well. I like to use lure when trapping squirrels, it helps to get them stubborn old timers to commit. Only downside to snap traps are mice will set them off.

No chickens to worry about just cats. His yards and shops are surround by a wind belt of pines and they are going to his steel shop and chewing hoses off fuel tanks and combines
Posted By: LAtrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/14/17 08:25 PM

Are the critters eastern gray squirrels or smaller red pine squirrels?
Posted By: DezertTrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/14/17 08:31 PM

What species? I do a whole lot of squirrel trapping....
Posted By: Sask hunter

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/14/17 11:21 PM

Should have said off the start regular red squirrels
Posted By: LAtrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/15/17 12:28 AM

If "regular red squirrels" are what I have heard referred to as pine squirrels the below hotlink may be of interest. We don't have that species down here.

Here is a link to trapper ron's tutorial on snaring red squirrels- https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads....irr#Post1126006
Posted By: Sask hunter

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/15/17 03:40 AM

Unfortunately the link doesn't work. I picked up some picture wire today and will be hanging snares on crossing logs tomorrow. Have I mentioned rat traps are scarier then 330's lol
Posted By: LAtrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/15/17 04:18 AM

Originally Posted By: Sask hunter
Unfortunately the link doesn't work. I picked up some picture wire today and will be hanging snares on crossing logs tomorrow. Have I mentioned rat traps are scarier then 330's lol


Revised link- https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads....irr#Post1126006
Posted By: DezertTrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/15/17 07:21 AM

Originally Posted By: LAtrapper
Originally Posted By: Sask hunter
Unfortunately the link doesn't work. I picked up some picture wire today and will be hanging snares on crossing logs tomorrow. Have I mentioned rat traps are scarier then 330's lol


Revised link- https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads....irr#Post1126006


Wow, what an amazing link!!! I'm saving that one.

Question. I don't know too much about red squirrels, I deal a whole lot with California ground squirrels...and they're a force to be reckoned with. Horrid overpopulation and damage problems. Do red squirrels forage from the ground primarily, or are they more interested in collecting food from trees, etc? Asking because I use a different method...and it works great for ADC work if you hit them hard at the right time of year. I've trapped 10K CA ground squirrels this year. Things are slowing down because they go to ground fall to early spring...but once they're back out, I'll probably double that number next year.
Posted By: yukonal

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/19/17 12:53 AM

Grey Victor plastic snap style rat traps, with peanut butter on the pan work very good for me. grin
Posted By: Probtrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/19/17 04:50 AM

'Annie, I would be very interested in knowing more about your method for catching Ca. (i.e. Ca. collard ground) squirrels. Anyone that can catch 10,000 of these things a year I am sure I could learn a few things from.
Posted By: DezertTrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/19/17 05:11 AM

Hey Probtrapper, I see you're in CA too? You're dealing with the same thing-or Belding's squirrels? Nasty, destructive, germy little buggers. We're in plague country down here...dunno about up there-but use PPE...it's not worth getting sick.

I use repeating traps...they are 24" x 24" and have two center doors, directly opposite of each other. No way I could use single traps...I'd literally need thousands of them.

I bait based on what time of year it is. Mid spring when things start to dry out here, cheap, greasy dog food and lure. Lure at all times.

If the dog food smells like bacon, even better. By summer I've switched to a combo of the same cheap dog food, but add dry corn. 50 pound bags at the feed store are around $13.00, and also add black sunflower. I went through prolly 600 pounds of dog food, 100 pounds of dry corn, and 25 pounds of black sunflower this season. They seem to go for those items until late summer, and then they're getting real thirsty, so any non-citrus, old fruit (grapes, apples, melon slices, etc. all work well...but I still keep the dog food/corn/sunflower going.

Using a lot of bait for big infestations is a necessity, as more squirrels enter, they just start eating and stuffing their cheeks.

I get my traps from a trap maker up in the Redding area. All hand made, no cheap, mass-made Chinese crap. You already know we have two choices, dispatch on site or release on site. Takes me maybe 3 minutes to dispatch a trap full of them...apparently we're not supposed to talk about dispatch methods I think...(I'm still kind of new here) so PM me and I'll tell you what I do. It's legal, cheap, and fast.

My record in one trap is 25...in 2 hours. My sets are always in the shade...something they're looking for when it starts to heat up.

I made rigid, cheap plastic covers that I can pop on the top of them with a rock..to keep them focused on going through the doors, and keeps ravens from trying to get bait (or at squirrels) from the top of the trap. I often use the same plastic (sheets of it at Lowes, Home Depot) for a few bucks, cut them 4" square larger than the trap's footprint...which keeps them from trying to dig under to obtain bait.

I'll edit my post when I find the link-his web site is sort of old...and I don't want to give you the wrong link!

These traps show a 1x2 mesh, but my newer traps are 1x1 mesh, and I like those a lot better. Keeps birds from stealing bait, and its too small for them to reach in far enough to steal bait.






Posted By: BigBob

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/19/17 05:12 PM

Have you considered digging a small hole UNDER the trap for the bait, and staking the trap down, so it can't be flipped or scooted?
Posted By: DezertTrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/19/17 06:31 PM

I have-once. They'll start to dig at the edge of the trap and straight to a bait hole in about 5 minutes, stuff their cheeks and off they go. Digging is what they do best. They also need to be able to see the bait from ground level, it helps lead them through the doors. I've never had them flip a trap...or drag one.
Posted By: BigBob

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/19/17 11:53 PM

In large square traps like those, Flipping/scooting is done by Dog's/Cat/s/Yotes/Coon's etc.
Posted By: DezertTrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/20/17 01:19 AM

True! I don't normally have problems, clients know that if traps are damaged on their properties, they're payin' for them. If on ranch land/large properties, I do stake just to be on the safe side...and now that I think about it, I need to get more rebar and a bender to make more. :-)
Posted By: Probtrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/20/17 05:00 AM

"Annie, I also have used the same trap as as you do and have had fair results with it. The only problem with it that I have had is birds. If a bird gets caught before a squirrel the squirrels won't go near it. Then of course my client calls and I have to make a trip out to turn the bird loose. Thanks for your in depth answer to my question,I found it very informative and interesting. Up here we don't have near the g.squirrel problems that you do. A 150 squirrel year is a good one for us. In my area I have found that the repeating traps work very well in late spring-early summer when the young squirrels of the year are out and about but as the year goes on I go to tube traps set at "hot" holes to be more effective for me. Almost all of my g.squirrel calls are for animals that are digging under a house or out building so its really not as labor intensive as trapping acreage. Most of my ranchers and orchard men use t-feeders and they seem to work well for them.
Posted By: DezertTrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/20/17 06:59 AM

Probtrapper-you get birds in them? Whoa, that has never happened to me. I did get a cottontail rabbit in on once, no idea why. The only birds I really have to worry about are ravens, and they're HUGE. With 1x1 mesh, they can't get those fat beaks through to the bait. Seems their cycles are a little different up north? Here it seems everybody comes on out when the younguns do, but...a couple always stay below. Then when all the food the younguns cheeked and stored runs out, then hold-outs hit the surface. I'm usually trapping acreage with a house, outbuildings, etc. so I get my exercise. Some of the adults I got this year were absolutely huge...I don't know how they fit through the door!
Posted By: Jim Comstock

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/20/17 02:08 PM

I guess those are ground squirrels. Might try that on grays. Just got 52 grays at on location in single traps while using a transfer cage so that traps didn't have to be swapped out, just rebated. The squirrels just run into the large transfer box in seconds. Can get a dozen or more into it quickly. I had the same thing happen with digging. After a while they started digging under the traps, so I put the traps on aluminum sheets, which worked pretty well, but a couple started rolling the cages even after the aluminum. For the smart ones I used an ear of corn with a larger trap did the trick. The mesh on the cages we used was 1/2 x 1 to make reaching in more difficult. I sometimes slide metal covers over the traps where the bait is. Peanuts seem to work well.
Posted By: DezertTrapper

Re: Squirrel trapping - 09/20/17 10:51 PM

I saw a video of Jim's transfer cage, and its brilliant! I want one of those and a bunch of those smaller traps for (non acreage) jobs.
Yep, those are CA ground squirrels...75% of my calls are GS related. Jim, I opted for rigid plastic after trying aluminum--with our air temps up to 115F, ground temps are far higher, even in filtered shade...and flat metal of any kind gets so hot that it radiates upward, and squirrels won't enter. With rigid plastic, I always toss some soil between the plastic and the trap...just enough to make it look "normal" and thin enough to keep the base of the trap at ground level.
Posted By: Bazza

Re: Squirrel trapping - 08/01/20 03:50 PM

Rather than trap the red squirrels, it would be really great if you could send some over the pond to the UK. Our reds are facing extinction having been displaced by the larger grey squirrel which is an imported alien species. It is bigger and more aggressive than our reds. The other factor is that the greys have immunity to squirrel pox which is endemic with them. The reds have no immunity and just die off. Our reds are limited to a few islands and hilly remote parts of Scotland.
We trap the greys here using the Fenn Mark4 trap which is made in the UK and I understand they are becoming more popular in the USA & Canada - although from a vey small base. The are good value and utterly dependable. Plus they don't damage the fur - but then I'm not an expert on pelts.

[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]
Vid if grey getting trapped and chomped by fox

[img]https://www.trapbarn.com/6ass/[/img] [img]https://www.trapbarn.com/200x200/[/img]
Posted By: Ringbill5196

Re: Squirrel trapping - 08/04/20 12:38 PM

Victor #50 Conibear and three nails as bracket on the inside of the set jaws. Trigger on top. Pu on a branch 6-10 ft off ground. Smear of peanut butter on the branch of the side away from the tree. Dead squirrels swinging in bodygrips all over the next morning. Traps off the ground and not threat to chickens, cats, coons, skunks, or chipmunks.

Advised the client with the shop the squirrels were munching on hose to inquire when buying hose to avoid any using corn or vegetable oil. It is amazing the way rodents can determine that stuff.
Posted By: Ringbill5196

Re: Squirrel trapping - 08/04/20 12:40 PM

If grays are your target I believe the double spring #60 is more worthy to insure a quick departure from this world. Even 120s work on them.
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