r1steele Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Id remove them, as squirrels aint thick, in my woodland I set up a feeding area and placed three kania traps in the trees, in the first two weeks we had caught four, but as we were not getting to the woods daily, the live squirrels probably saw their dead loved ones in the traps, now they wont go near them, and yes, we still have squirrels Sorry if I misread this but were you not checking the traps daily? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubby Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 (edited) Sorry if I misread this but were you not checking the traps daily? before putting brain into gear, check out what a kania trap is with any break back trap there is no law or need to check every day Edited January 23, 2014 by stubby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalmac Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Also be careful of pumping lead into a drey as apparently they can become resident to non target species such as owls... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berettadevon Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 i only ever use 32g of 6s, half choke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisheruk Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 before putting brain into gear, check out what a kania trap is with any break back trap there is no law or need to check every day I understand what you say about the legality of checking traps daily. Mark my words if you don't and have the misfortune to have a trap not kill outright and someone else finds a critter caught and not dead I wouldn't fancy your position in front of a court. And you would deserve every thing you get. IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubby Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 I understand what you say about the legality of checking traps daily. Mark my words if you don't and have the misfortune to have a trap not kill outright and someone else finds a critter caught and not dead I wouldn't fancy your position in front of a court. And you would deserve every thing you get. IMHO. the whole point of putting the artificial tunnel underneath is to stop any critter not going in correctly, the spring catch is too strong to get set off by birds etc and as they are deep within the woodland that I own, that has "get orf my land" signs on all the boundaries, I doubt very much that anyone would want to admit to trespassing as for getting hauled in front of a court, for using a legal break back trap, that I and hundreds of other pest controllers use on a daily basis, perhaps you could show me a link to those that have been convicted before, seems your in the know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nderfel Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 hi all, planning to head up to this permission tomorrow and try out some of your tips.... do squirrels come out and feed if its windy and wet? It might be a stupid question, I know bunnies do but wasn't sure about tree rats. Thanks Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalmac Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 I've shot them in the wet and wind, but they don't seem to go as far about. More staying closer to their dreys. Everything has to feed though eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalmac Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 the whole point of putting the artificial tunnel underneath is to stop any critter not going in correctly, the spring catch is too strong to get set off by birds etc and as they are deep within the woodland that I own, that has "get orf my land" signs on all the boundaries, I doubt very much that anyone would want to admit to trespassing as for getting hauled in front of a court, for using a legal break back trap, that I and hundreds of other pest controllers use on a daily basis, perhaps you could show me a link to those that have been convicted before, seems your in the know When I was working for a large pest control firm, we used to check lethal traps every week. Only live traps are 24 hours. Otherwise you'll be doing mole trap checking every day which would disturb the ground a lot. The chances of survival for a squirrel V's Kania trap are very slim too, those things are down right scary. We used to set them off in the dark with a stick to scare new technicians... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nderfel Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Cheers mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_w12345 Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 If they will come down to ground level with bait, then consider a fenn trap if you just want to thin them out. I used a mk4 (mk6 is for rabbits I think) baited with asda basics salted peanuts to very good effect (if they are cheaper than other feed) If you choose to use a fenn trap, be careful, they can break fingers, and be sure to cover so birds etc dont get caught see here: http://www.thehuntinglife.com/html/sections/articles/ferreting_trapping/fenn-trap.html baiting will also work if you want to shoot them with airguns (or even shotguns) but will take more time (waiting for them to come in) good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nderfel Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Went out baiting on Saturday. The weather was brutal which didn't help, trying to smear peanut butter on a fir tree in the wind and rain is harder than you'd think!! Still, got 2 squirrels a pigeon and a rabbit so not all bad. A fox wandered by too but I wasn't going to take him on with a sub 12 air rifle I shall return in a few weeks and do the same again Went out baiting on Saturday. The weather was brutal which didn't help, trying to smear peanut butter on a fir tree in the wind and rain is harder than you'd think!! Still, got 2 squirrels a pigeon and a rabbit so not all bad. A fox wandered by too but I wasn't going to take him on with a sub 12 air rifle I shall return in a few weeks and do the same again And I have no idea why I have an echo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubby Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 did you used to be a parrot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evo Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 keep at it nderfel, don't forget when fitting bait stations (boxes) it will take time for the greys to find them but if kept full you will find they will visit most days,they really do work well,, with reguards shooting the dreys mate,i wouldn't bother unless you have the gear to poke them, plenty of different wildlife will use the dreys when they are not occupied by the greys so its best to be safe than sorry, keep it up and you will reap the rewards atb Evo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks, I was using a 12g yesterday, I even tried a few 36g BB rounds on the damn things but all I did was rattle them slightly, the squirrel equivalent of junk mail through the letter box I suppose. a few feeders might work very well, you usually have to beat them off the pheasant feeders with a stick about now so that's not a bad idea. I would have liked to destroy the drays as well but I cant see that happening. would you just use pheasant feed or something similar? Wear safety specs use normal game shells or whatever you have and pump enough shells into it, discuss this with the tree owner first mind. Your not looking at gappy patterns and single high energy strikes (which will be more damaging to the tree) but lots of pellets. two other guns waiting for any bolters at strategic points helps. You cannot say those dreys can stand up to 8 strikes of number 7s at 60ft leaving the occupants alive or the drey still in place. Alter your angle to get it all out, new drey means a new squizzer has come in Once this is done I should try everything else till they are all dead, every single last one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nderfel Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 I might change my username to pretty Polly Thanks for the advice guys, I am going to leave the drays alone for the minute. The landowner is an avid bird spotter and I don't want to cause any problems on that score. The problem i have with bait stations is that it's a 2 hour drive away so I can't fill them up every day, once a week at best. I think the trick is going to be being there at dawn and dusk and just stalking about in the wood where they seem to have made home The best thing about the 2 I shot on Saturday was that my hands were freezing at that point so I carried them around a bit, thy made mega hand warmers.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonk Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 Grey squirrel hand warmers made me laugh. I've had great sport using air rifle on them good luck and keep at em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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