Squirrels and bats are ruining my builds

[Kainedogg]

Is there an effective way to trap and release squirrels? Maybe something I can buy. The are tearing through the insulation in my barn, eating the wires in my cars and defecating on cars pending paint work. I don't care to kill them, though my neighbor has offered to "off" them for me. What are my options?

It is illegal to kill or harm bats in anyway in Florida so my only option is to close the barn in tight and use the State approved Exclusion method.

Any good ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cyberbear]

Get Online and look at humane traps available, these should ease your mind about ridding yourself of the squirrels. Patch up the access holes to keep bats out, simple deal.

 

[404]

Is there an effective way to trap and release squirrels? Maybe something I can buy. The are tearing through the insulation in my barn, eating the wires in my cars and defecating on cars pending paint work. I don't care to kill them, though my neighbor has offered to "off" them for me. What are my options?

It is illegal to kill or harm bats in anyway in Florida so my only option is to close the barn in tight and use the State approved Exclusion method.

Any good ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If trapping and relocating mark or tag the squirrel and keep a diary to track how many times the same one gets relocated.

 

[Kainedogg]

If trapping and relocating mark or tag the squirrel and keep a diary to track how many times the same one gets relocated.

Not that involved my friend. Just want them off my property before my bud across the fence blows their furry little heads off.

 

[404]

Not that involved my friend. Just want them off my property before my bud across the fence blows their furry little heads off.

What I mean is that the same one comes back..

Sometimes violence IS the answer.

 

[CNGsaves]

Squirrels . . . . ie "rats with long tails" . . . . mix up peanut butter and rat poison and let them eat to their heart's content !!

Or put the PB/poison mix inside a cage with the trap door. If still alive when you get there, put whole cage in 55 gallon barrel of water to finish him off.

Give the mice/rats lots of OUTDOOR poison to chew on with bait box with hard poison. Look outside all exterior man doors on sides of buildings at Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc and you'll see the black bait boxes I'm talking about.

Bats . . . . gotta take away their access. That means repair any holes in eaves, soffets, etc to keep those raskels out of there.

Same prevention for mice/rats by closing off any holes with metal - - - they can't chew through galvanized flashing or tin !!

 

[Thumper68]

I have the same issue with the tree rats, 12 gage trap works great, oh wait you said you don't want to kill the cute little things.

Nope kill the little bastards, skin them and make your wife a nice coat. That there is a win win.

 

[IOWNJUNK]

Havahart live trap and sunflower seeds for the squirrels.

I would be ok with the bats.

 

[Fishplate]

For squirrels, I've used some of the spray repellents that use rotten eggs as an ingredient. We had squirrels eating the exterior of our house. A couple of days of spraying, and they went elsewhere. Now an application in the early spring and fall keeps them away.

We keep mothballs in the attic to keep our clothes fresh. Incidentally, we don't have bats nesting in the gable vents. Coincidence? Probably...

 

[APEowner]

Have-a-heart traps work great. Be prepared to make a ton of relocation trips early on though.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Squirrels don't do well in live traps. They panic and will end up dieing from stress, over exertion if trapped for too long. Assuming you do get to them still alive in the trap they'll probably come back unless relocated many miles away.

I suggest squirrel stew w/ polenta.

 

[G_P]

Squirrels are basically a never ending problem. You will spend more time relocating them then you will working in the shop.

Shoot them and be done with it. Friend of mines parents live in a log cabin and squirrels would constantly chew it up. Used to shoot a dozen or so a day nearly every day and it seemingly did not even put a dent in the local population. They are relentless. The problem never stopped until a new housing development was built nearby which took away the woods they lived in.

 

[vetteman1355]

All you need is a cage/trap and a rain barrel, we usually do a yearly clean of these pests !!

 

[67carl]

Seal all the holes/openings into the building. For bats, which are beneficial in keeping the insect population in check, build a simple bat house to give them an alternative to your barn.

http://www.batmanagement.com/Batcentral/batboxes/whyfail.html
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20165965,00.html

 

[James E]

Do a search on this topic--lots of good info in the Free Parking forum.

Reader's Digest version is this:

Trapping and "relocating" squirrels is ineffective since squirrels can range almost a mile from their nest in a day and so they have an uncanny ability to find their way home.

Killing them is the most effective method but since they leave a scent trail wherever they hang out, if you relocate or kill one, another will soon find his way into the same location by following the scent of the first.

I have found the most effective method is a combination of shooting, trapping (and shooting) and poisoning them. If you get most of the squirrels around your house and keep them down for a year or so, the newcomers are not so quick to get into your house and stuff.

Bats are a whole 'nuther animal. I like having bats around my house, I just don't want them in my house. Seal up any access points on the house and build some bat houses in sheltered places where they can set up housekeeping. Just make the bat houses more hospitable than the places they're nesting now.

 

[AnthonyJ124]

My squirrels have responded well to pellets... I don't know if they're talking, but they're staying out of my eves and keeping in the trees.

I do have a bat problem too. They love our large covered porch. Installed a bat box up and away from the house recently. No results to report.

 

[Moose364]

Dogs help and cats help with the tree rat problem, there is an old cat that hangs out in my shop and sleeps there, not much gets by her, plus we have Boston Terriers. squirrels don't have a chance cutting across our yard,
the Bostons look at squirrels as a toy God gave them to chase
and the Bats screen wire will stop them,

 

[wjamyers]

Crosman 3576 will take care of squirrels with ease. dirt cheap, can be had at any walmart, fast followup shots (10 round CO2 revolver) which is an important feature for squirrels. you don't have to kill them all, just a few and the rest get the picture.

 

[larry_g]

In the state of Washington it is illegal to relocate these animals. My sister was busted for this. Just trying to be humane and keep them out of her house. She relocated one to a park across town and the warden got her. So check your local laws.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Hephaestus29]

In the state of Washington it is illegal to relocate these animals. My sister was busted for this. Just trying to be humane and keep them out of her house. She relocated one to a park across town and the warden got her. So check your local laws.

lg
no neat sig line

Good point here, if whatever it is you
relocate is carrying something like
rabies, fleas or any other kind of disease
It will spread much faster.
Poison is a bad idea because something
else could eat it.
If you check the hunting regulations
which are available at most sporting
goods stores or walmart, kmart, etc.
you will read that you can take most nuisance
animals pests or rodents w/o a permit,
however some do require a permit.
In my opinion an air rifle is the best solution.

 

[SARG]

When I worked at a factory one of the guys used to trap the squirrels in a "have a heart" trap at his house ... and then he painted their tails with fluorescent green & orange paint. He'd then bring them to the factory and let them loose.

Made for interesting lunch times.

 

[KEH]

Kill the squirrels if you get a chance. Don't relocate, you are just dumping the problem on someone else. If you insist on being PETA compliant and relocate you will have to take them several miles away,preferrably across a large river.
A dog and cat or cats is the best solution.

Never had any dealings with bats. Bear in mind that bats can carry rabies and treat them accordingly.

KEH

 

[goneflyin2002]

Squirrels.. the damn things are stripping the bark of some of my trees. They must be using the bark for nest lining.

 

[wrench409]

Peanuts, raisins and cashews covered with a coating of plaster of paris. Leave some uncoated to get them to gather them all.

At least they're stomachs are full when the plaster of paris sets up in their gut.

No dead bodies to deal with, they die somewhere else, no driving anywhere to dump them live.


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[ZRX61]

Bats are protected in Florida & it's illegal to kill them etc.

http://www.americanbat.com/

 

[tadder52]

Squirrels: .17 HMR shoot them in the body. Leaves the head and the tail with some gooey string holding them together.

Bats: make a home that is better than yours.

 

[CJM8515]

Mothballs anywhere you think they are nesting or coming in at and shooting them. They just keep coming back and killing them off is basically the only real way to get rid of them.

 

[Acuratechva]

My family had a big squirrel problem. When the oak tree finally cam down squirrels went away...for the most part. Whats your vegetation look like ?Until then they made good target practice, till neighbors complained of corpses in their yard

 

[zoomzoomjeff]

Squirrels.. the damn things are stripping the bark of some of my trees. They must be using the bark for nest lining.

Same here. And they strip the bark off the new budding twigs, killing them and making them fall during the season.

But......they have effectively gotten rid of the Blue Jays. So what am I gonna do? Build hawk habitats I guess, because we have tons of hawks around here.

 

[goneflyin2002]

Same here. And they strip the bark off the new budding twigs, killing them and making them fall during the season.

But......they have effectively gotten rid of the Blue Jays. So what am I gonna do? Build hawk habitats I guess, because we have tons of hawks around here.

Really? We've got bluejays and squirrels galore here. They don't seem to fight much although the Jays are loudmouths.

 

[crf731]

Build one of these and launch them out of your yard.

 

[fireguy]

We use peanuts in a live trap. But we have to keep the trap out of the neighbors sight. They love the nasty things. After the squirrel trips the door, we put them in a large trash bag and fold the bag over the opening. I then insert a CO2 horn into the bag and very gently discharge some CO2 into the bag. The squirrel goes to sleep, a long sleep. We empty the trap into the trash can, at night.

We did have an environmentally safe way to control the squirrels, but the owl moved away. The owl liked the large fir tree. It would catch the squirrel and we noticed a correlation between the amount of owl droppings and the decline in the rodent population. I would rather pick-up owl **** than deal with the dead rodents in the trap.

 

[ozyborn]

Close off the holes and make several bat houses. For the tree rats? Sometimes violence IS the answer. Cat, Dog or pellet gun. Show no mercy.
I am lucky enough I have a 21 lb tomcat that hates squirrels. He loves to kill them.

 

[motofool33]

in florida the bats would roost on the eves of the house, so owners put 5 gallon buckets up under the eves, and when the bats drop down to fly they land in bucket and eventually die.

squirrels and blow guns are good

 

[MDSPHOTO]

I must have the smartest squirrels in the world cause Ive tried most of these methods and none have worked. They are not scared of us or our dog and stand right in front of us until we make a strong move toward them.

Rat poison with peanut butter- Never touched it. Found two dead crows on my roof assume they ate some of it. Put in my attic and it drew a swarm of ants.

Snap rat trap- baited with cheese, nuts, fruit- they ate all the bait and never set off the traps. Tried placing the trap in a cardboard box to hide it they never went inside.

Hav A Heart trap- They went half way in the trap to eat the bait while using their tails to hold the trap open. Did catch two birds in the trap.

Glue traps- Killed one flying squirrel who stuck to it with a blow gun. One gray squirrel got stuck to it, but ate his foot off to get free. Caught so many birds that my wife made me stop using them.

Fake owl from Wally World- kept them away for 2 days now they just walk right by them.

Red Fox Urine- Nope

Crossman Pellet pistol- Difficult to get a clean shot off when they are climbing on the house, fear of hitting neighbors houses or boats means I have a very limited sight line. Have killed one or two, but most times they are gone when I open the window or on hearing the air blast before the pellet gets to them.

Mixed hot pepper and vaseline and smeared all over the rain spouts they were climbing to get on the roof- No deterrent.

 

[wrench409]

Hav A Heart trap- They went half way in the trap to eat the bait while using their tails to hold the trap open. Did catch two birds in the trap.

Glue traps- Killed one flying squirrel who stuck to it with a blow gun. One gray squirrel got stuck to it, but ate his foot off to get free. Caught so many birds that my wife made me stop using them.

There's an answer in there somewhere.
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[LS6 Tommy]

In the state of Washington it is illegal to relocate these animals. My sister was busted for this. Just trying to be humane and keep them out of her house. She relocated one to a park across town and the warden got her. So check your local laws.

lg
no neat sig line

Same in NJ. you can't trap and/or relocate any wild animal.

Tommy

 

[davo727]

Paint squirrels purple....

If trapping and relocating mark or tag the squirrel and keep a diary to track how many times the same one gets relocated.

 

[KEH]

Question: Will a 17 cal. air gun delivering 1200 feet per second kill squirrels? Ruger has one selling for $90. I don't know if it's Made in USA or not. Supposed to be quiet. Comes with a 4x scope.

KEH

 

[brianh]

Question: Will a 17 cal. air gun delivering 1200 feet per second kill squirrels? Ruger has one selling for $90. I don't know if it's Made in USA or not. Supposed to be quiet. Comes with a 4x scope.

KEH

I have a Diana RWS 34 it is seriously accurate and powerful for a pellet rifle its rated at 1200 fps, I got it around 15 years ago and it still a great rifle at 150 yards it has no problem taking out small game.

If the Ruger has a rifled barrel sounds like a good deal