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squirrel control


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Refilled the bird feeders this morning, wet, cold and miserable day and then 4, yes 4 bloody squirrels turn up prowling underneath and digging about.

Total has now been adjusted and 2 now residents in the black bin, will see if we can make it 4 before the day's out.

TX 200 still earning it's keep.

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So is luminous Green really the only xxl thermal tights you had in stock?, I mused, as walking downstairs( resplendent in my new leggings) I was greeted by something akin to Toad of Toad Hall in the downstairs mirror. Soon fully armed I hopped into the Car and spent the short drive enjoying the roar of the 48 untamed Horses surging under the bonnet of the tiny Saxo till I parked up in one of the more affluent  parts of Milton Keynes ( strange how, despite there being nothing here under £450k, I always make sure the £300 banger is locked) - another short bout of swearing produced the desired outcome of marrying my feet with my wellies and off I set rather surprised to see immediately 2 potential furry pellet catchers running around on the grass in front of me.

First visit for me this season to this woodland and glad to see a fat Squizzer already enjoying an al fresco nut feast although surprised to see that Magpies and Jays were also busy around the Hopper? Into position after a short attempt at face veil Origami (I only have one eye so have to align the veil eye holes or suffer my ear getting cold) and within 10 minutes of my bum shuffling and Bramble wrangling antics my first customer settled in to feed. Range was perfect and I had a steady branch to lean on but somehow the pellet failed to drop him dead and he ran, in a somewhat unusual fashion, towards me and up a tree. Now he was clearly hit and hit hard yet he managed to scale the tree and disappear into a hole where he spent the next 10 minutes or so squeaking. This seemed to act like a school assembly bell and several Squirrels appeared out of nowhere to investigate the din. Clearly alarmed at whatever Nutty was still singing ( most likely a "One Direction" hit) they forgot their natural caution and 2 of them quickly followed each other earthwards.

Spent the next hour or so tidying around some of the other Hoppers but no more Squizzers were sited although going by the amount of feed gone they are clearly there - had to dash home in the end - urgent call of nature and there's no way I'm dropping my trousers in a public Woodland wearing luminous green tights :ermm:.

In honour of suburban shooter I have also written the above account in his own style...........................................

"Got three"

Edited by bruno22rf
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Just collected the camera chip from a location alongside some new build on the farm where I had shot 25 tree rats a month or so ago. I had refilled the flip top feeder with peanuts and was interested to see what was about...well ..after scrolling through 398 photos I can tell you....tree rats galore. One or two maggies and a couple of jays as well. Soooo ..tomorrow rain or shine I need to get a hide set up pronto. Had to take my old one down before it got flattened by a 360 but work is now almost complete so I can give it attention again.  Never ceases to amaze me how they come back into a place within weeks of apparently being wiped out.  Found another small oak tree copse with two hedgerows running from large woodland and the hedgerows are lined with big oak trees ..... good tree rat country, so a trailer load of pallets for another hide and a pheasant feeder to do two jobs.

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Well the afternoon at the golf course with the hmr got rained off about an hour ago and as l stood in the kitchen making a drink who should pop up in the bushes, yep 🐿.

A slow retreat to the cabinet and return with the TX200, a cautious unlocking and it's placed between a gap in the sliding windows and tufty busily digging away recoils from a 14.66gr field target trophy to the head.

Now sat looking out the window with the TX too hand in case anymore arrive.

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Just picked up the chip from the camera on the flip top shown above.  Having scrolled through 329 shots of tree rats doing all sorts of things, picked a couple out to show just how syccesful these flip tops are. Now I have shot27 off this one feeder so far in the last two months or so but they still keep coming back.   Counted three in this group of photos at one time but can't be sure just how many are visiting.  Shooting tomorrow and budy Wednesday so Thursday morning will be there crack of dawn, flask of coffee and pack of biscuits. See what we see.

The other camera I have on that farm covers just across from a high seat I was in and only left about 20 mins before this fellow arrived to have his picture taken.  The field is behind where the fox is photographed.

How many tree rats in the first photo ?

Anyone spot the maggie?

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Bye the way...these are all photos from those cheapy CamPak cameras.  Been out there rain and shine since purchase and just replaced batteries.

Edited by Walker570
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8 hours ago, Walker570 said:

How many tree rats in the first photo ?

Anyone spot the maggie?

At least 3 possibly 4, Is the magpie the white dot in the pheasant pic?

And I'm sure someone near you is breeding these squirrels there seems no end to them.

I had one appear on my sunflower seeds Saturday afternoon just as we were heading out, it'll be back.

 

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Nice to know you all have good eyes. Yes, the maggies have just started to infiltrate again..I have shot in excess of 300 there so we do not see as many as we used to.

That feeder is placed in a small offshoot of trees from at least a 1000 acres of woodland I do not have access to and is not shot over, so there will be a constant flow of tree rats as long as that flip top has a few peanuts in it.   The joy of those flip tops is you can drill some 3/8th holes around the sides and the little birds will come and feed as well ..I get four different members of the tit family , nuthatches, chaffinch, robins visiting.

Nice wet day today, so tomorrow the tree rats should be hungry:good:

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What a shame you cannot shoot that 1k woodland as you might have had to double next years squirrel total.

Agree with you regarding the weather, and will also be out tomorrow for some eradication purposes.

It was also good to see the 2k mark surpassed, my reckoning is a lot of people have not put their kills up and with a bit more "advertising" on the forum 2k could be 3k next year.

PS.

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1 hour ago, Pigeon Shredder. said:

What a shame you cannot shoot that 1k woodland as you might have had to double next years squirrel total.

Agree with you regarding the weather, and will also be out tomorrow for some eradication purposes.

It was also good to see the 2k mark surpassed, my reckoning is a lot of people have not put their kills up and with a bit more "advertising" on the forum 2k could be 3k next year.

PS.

Might well hit the 3000 yet when Jerry adds in his totals, 

Having a 1000 acre wood on your doorstep would certainly explain where all your squirrels are coming from Walker.

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Took the Dog and Daughter out for a walk down the woods today ( both on a lead!) - nearly tripped over the bloomin Squirrels running around - I've shot 14 here in the last few weeks and they are still everywhere - had 4 on Saturday from one feeder and there was 4 more there today playing silly bu**ers in the trees :unhappy:.

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Could well do that. I am out in the morning, then a day on a new bit of forest come Monday(pheasant feeders).  The woodland is part of the National Forest so I am happy to tempt the tree rats into my small area. Can't be everywhere which is a pity.  Yesterday I was on a driven shoot and my first peg was just back in the wood. One of the guns commented I was more likely to walk out with half a dozen squirrels than pheasants.... can't be classed as ground game in the tree tops can they:good: ...didn't see one but dropped three nice pheasants over the tree tops with the 410 and my home loads..but that's another subject:lol:.

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Not air rifle to start with, but will be. Have been asked to put a dent in a 90 acre stately home's squirrel population, there's been no control for over 10 years and the local birdwatching group have agreed it needs to be done, we went in 2.30 Sunday with a 20g hush power and managed 14!. 

Feeders are now up and full of peanuts in two hotpots (birdwatchers have hides that we can shoot from), so after a couple more hush power visits it will be super ten and HW110 time!

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4 hours ago, soulboy1957 said:

Nothing, the birdwatchers have got squirrel proof feeders, they gave us a big bag from their store. 

Great going soulboy, and really good news finding bird watchers that acknowledge the need for squirrel control. 

You probably don't need to use peanuts plenty of folk just use wheat or maize depending on what else is available, also people saying the squirrels like a bit of aniseed in there like folk do with pheasants.

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Today I had just walked in for lunch, greeted by our two Scotties, who were of course tucked up in their baskets and saw 2 squirrels on the bird table - one after the peanuts, the other on the fat balls.

I quickly sealed up the dog flap and grabbed the SMK 22.

The squirrel on the nuts dropped to the ground with a head shot. The other dropped down and sat on the lawn, looking bemused and wondering what had happened. A quick shot was aimed at that one, and as it scuttled off, I assumed that I had missed.

The dogs were now yipping to be let out, as they do when they hear the gun go off, so I quickly cleared up the dead squirrel, let them out and started on lunch.

I then looked up and saw that the two Scotties were having a good lunch themselves on the other squirrel. It must have just survived enough to get into our herbaceous border, where the two Scotties nabbed it.

So 2 more that I have added to the total.

 

Damn me if a third hasn't just shown up as well, however the dogs spotted it through the patio window and their racket sent it away before I could seal them in and grab the SMK

Edited by amateur
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