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squirrel control


Mice!
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28 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

On that one yes, but weather tends to seize them up and I now just put a length of strong wire through the lid and box which gives it a lot of play and rarely jams up.

That one is a bit over engineered.

With the wooden ones I make, I have a supply of aluminium lids with strips of piano hinge riveted onto them. When one seizes I can just do a quick exchange in the field. With a bit of WD 40 they last 12 months or so before changing. 
Like you we just tinker around and tweak the design to find what works and what is available to make it with. 

No such thing as over engineered if it works.

Like no such thing as over kill in shooting, dead is dead!

Edited by Fisheruk
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Well my breeding program is working well, except I keep shooting the breeders 😄

Strange morning, I had two squirrels go over the top of me into the feeder tree, then it's like something warned them and they just wandered off, another came towards the tree then did the same?

The birds were everywhere,  a handful of sunflower seeds and nuts was gone in 15 minutes,  the ground was a vole battle ground,  they were everywhere you looked.

After an hour a squirrel came through the deer fence maybe 4 metres away from me, up a sapling and into the feed tree, pfft and down with an almighty crack!

There had been another just sat on a bough for some time, which finally made it's way towards me, another came in first but the dead squirrel on it's back made it nervous,  the other came in twitched around some before going up above the dead squirrel to look down on it, pfft crack another down. 

Turned into a lovely morning out, I should have packed up at 830 but stayed because there were squirrels in the area, the second I got is one of the biggest squirrels I've seen a huge male.

Slow internet,  picks later.

 

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On 26/07/2020 at 19:54, Fisheruk said:

Well large feeders have their place in woods that you can’t shoot regularly. If you only go out once every six months and have someone else who can top up a feeder every week or so, you will achieve double figure bags so you can fill your freezer to keep your ferrets fed and what you have is a grey squirrel breeding program, but if you genuinely want to clear the area of Greys you’ve got to keep at them, reduce their numbers to stop them breeding or catch their offspring before they breed. It may mean sitting in the wood from time to time without seeing a single squirrel, that just means that you are being effective, unless of course you just want a grey squirrel breeding program!

Well David yes if you have had your head in the sand and not realised about corvid-19 and when nearly everywhere was shut down at the end of March. My feeders at one of my perms didn't get any feed at all until the 7th of July when i was allowed access to the grounds once again as you know it is a retirement home where NO ONE was allowed on their grounds...not even the good old gardener who tops the feeder up for me as he is 85 and his wife is 84 with breathing problems as they are still in lockdown. The first time i was able to shoot there i got 7 which i thought wasn't a bad bag considering that it hadn't been shot for a while and only just over a week since I topped my feeder up myself.  Also i  have another perm were again i wasn't able to go as the owners son has Cystic Fibrosis so was under lockdown and still is and god knows when i will be able to go. And finally before the lockdown i was going on a regular basis since Jan 5th till the lockdown i had 28 squirrels so my breeding program is doing great

 

Mick

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On 27/07/2020 at 08:13, Fisheruk said:

I agree with Mice! that when there are multiple squirrels about these can be emptied in a couple of days but my experience is that if they are topped up regularly then the Squirrels will still come to check. Sometimes it can be a long wait

But David they wasn't topped up regular as you know once a week with 8oz of nuts is not enough and it was emptied in a matter of hours

Mick

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On 27/07/2020 at 12:41, Fisheruk said:

It’s not going where you use to shoot, it is now even more restrictive there than when you and Mick C threw the towel in. 😳

You know why i threw the towel in, i don't know about Kev but for me you just became power mad not wanting mine and Kev's input keeping us out of meetings with the owners, starting new  communication groups so you could be the administrator so you could be in charge while the old group was quite adequate.

Mick

10 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

 

 

Mick

Edited by mick.c
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12 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

Might be worth remembering that just becuse you fill your feeders with a mountain of Beluga Caviar flavoured Walnuts, it doesn't mean they will feed - lots of variables with squirrels on feeders.

Your right there mate you wouldn't want to eat beans on toast all the time you have to have a change now and again

Mick

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I use a mix of whole maize, mixed corn and a smattering of peanuts and all this is laced with aniseed powder and cooking oil.  I have found that after taking a big bag... 7 - 8 - 9 of a feeder, then things go quiet for a week or so, with very little food intake and no appearances on my trail cams. Then a new bunch will move in. This will go on for maybe three times and then , certainly in my woods it is more than apparent I have wiped them out for the forseable future and it will be four or five weeks before I see activity again and often the whole sequence will go again.  At the moment on three of my feeders it has gone VERY quiet and the only feed being eaten is through the holes allowing small songbirds access, but they will be back.

Just taking the odd one or two here and there, so moving on to pastures new this weekend and setting up two new feed stations in relatively virgin woodland.  Watch this space.

Need just 17 extra to get back on my promise of one a day average this year due to this crazy corvid thing.

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On 30/07/2020 at 11:16, mick.c said:

You know why i threw the towel in, i don't know about Kev but for me you just became power mad not wanting mine and Kev's input keeping us out of meetings with the owners, starting new  communication groups so you could be the administrator so you could be in charge while the old group was quite adequate.

When I introduced you to that permission you knew the terms and conditions, which were quite specific, set by the land managers. I had been asked to take over the Grey Control there after the previous guy had an unfortunate encounter with a dog walker whilst he had a loaded shotgun. The rumpus had hit the front page of the local newspaper and the managers of the land set up the controls in conjunction with me to enable grey control to continue in a discreet manner. They were also very particular about hygiene and conservation, because of the prospect of Reds and Greys using the same feeders. I had been shooting there for more than 10years before you joined the team. The whole idea of having you and Kev to join the team was because I have other areas to do grey control and I couldn’t get to that site on a weekly basis. It all worked very well for a year or so until Kev’s work moved to Cumbria and he couldn’t get in so frequently and with your ill  health you were out of action for a while.

It was the management, not me that set the parameters to which we work. The final straw as far as the termination of your permission was the crude and vile post you made on the WhatsApp group, which the managers of the site were party to. 😳 We now have another two guys that are happy to have the permission to shoot the site and as Walker570 has said above it is all about building trust and respect with the owners or managers of land which unlocks further opportunities.

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10 minutes ago, Fisheruk said:

It all worked very well for a year or so until Kev’s work moved to Cumbria and he couldn’t get in so frequently and with your ill  health you were out of action for a while.

I was going to type about my mornings fail, I wasn't going to bother replying David but now I feel I must.

Keep telling yourself what you want to hear,  me and Mick were fed up turning up to empty feeders constantly,  for me going on my way home and possibly getting a squirrel was fine, but when you work late shifts getting out early morning to sit and see nothing is a waste of time, to be told don't question how things are done, don't rock the boat is nothing short of insulting.

You kept saying things worked as they were only they didn't because we were feeding the greys and not seeing many to shoot.

So I said I was going to put up a bigger feeder that would last a week, from there everything went wrong.

It had to be done your way, we should know our place and do as you say, yes sir no sir.

We were never anything but discreet,  respectful and committed, we got on with all the reserve staff, were happy to help and enjoyed being out on the reserve. 

We quit because we were fed up with you, with you going to management then telling us what to do,  not once were we involved or asked our opinion,  simply instructed. 

There is no I in team.

I'm asking @Mick C not to comment further, yes he had a rant at you, people have things going on,  I wouldn't have worded it the same but I fully understood where he was coming from.

I hope the two new blokes enjoy being there, I hope you involve them in things better.

--------‐‐------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm done with the issue.

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I was thwarted this morning!

In the wood just after 6 in position two, I've had a few squirrels come up to the deer fence and go away because I'm there .

As usual I'm watching the birds and voles, it certainly seems the different species wake at different times, had a small mouse coming and going right under my sticks 

I learned something today, I knew tree creepers only go up a trunk, the Nuthatchs go up or down but always head first.

I had my first woodpecker on the feeder this morning @Sciurus, but first it was in the feeder tree tap tapping away, watching it go up, it then came back on its self backwards down the trunk! Then up then down, tapping all the time, I've never seen a bird go backwards down a tree.

I'm happily watching the woodpecker when after an hour and a half a squirrel came charging into the feeder tree sending pecker away, it made it's way down towards the feeder, I'm not moving a muscle, BANG!!! The deer gate into the wood crashed shut, it's a couple of hundred yards away but the bang sent the squirrel away never to return

Best laid plans thwarted, and the traffic driving home was horrendous as folk headed for the Lakes and Blackpool. 

 

In other areas I had a look at my other feeder, it's been very quiet, I've not shot it this month. 

20200730_183129.jpg.3ca910eb477b60d3f1257307b70ab4e1.jpg

 

They really have got it in for this feeder, well there in for a surprise next week.

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I finished work this morning and went to the wood was later than I hoped this morning was set up about 6.45 sat around for nearly 2 and a half hours and I didn't see a single squirrel so called it a day. Before I left I checked the camera and there where still plenty of pictures 500 and odd but again the most activity is late morning then from half 4 onwards there is a lot coming to the feeder so I need an afternoon in there. 

This evening had my tea and desided I'd go and sit in the hide on the paddock for an hour before work tonight, walked through my back gate made my way to the hide just getting the bipod legs down as I look across to one of the feeders and there was a squirrel sat there, so I got set up and settled down for the shot the feeder is 40m from the hide so I lined her up squeezed the trigger and down she goes a healthy young female. Minutes later I see another one crashing through the trees but didn't hang around long enough for a shot. Kinda made up for this morning. 

I would upload pics but it's saying its too big to upload 😡 so I'll put pics on other forum 👍

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You should be able to reduce the size quite easily. I simply click edit photo and up pops a choice of things to do including resizing, click on the second one down 800 and something and job done. It just asks you to save.

It's funny but we all think of spring as mating time but tree rats appear to do it year round.  Had one big buck appear at end of ride, nose to the ground and it came a a pace up the ride and wasn't about to stop. My shot just went underneath and it took of into the brush.  It was definitely on the trail of a positive female in my view.

Edited by Walker570
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1 hour ago, Mice! said:

 

In other areas I had a look at my other feeder, it's been very quiet, I've not shot it this month. 

20200730_183129.jpg.3ca910eb477b60d3f1257307b70ab4e1.jpg

 

 

They really have got it in for this feeder, well there in for a surprise next week.

I don’t know why you go to the expense of feeding nuts to attract greys , this photo proves all they want is a bit of old plywood!😂😂😂

Good luck  thinning them out next week.

6 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

It's funny but we all think of spring as mating time but tree rats appear to do it year round.  Had one big buck appear at end of ride, nose to the ground and it came a a pace up the ride and wasn't about to stop. My shot just went underneath and it took of into the brush.  It was definitely on the trail of a positive female in my view.

He won’t be after you have emasculated him!😂

!

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Just now, Sciurus said:

I don’t know why you go to the expense of feeding nuts to attract greys , this photo proves all they want is a bit of old plywood!😂😂😂

Good luck  thinning them out next week.

He won’t be after you have emasculated him!😂

!

Hopefully :good:  It was walking a bit funny when it departed.... like with a bit of a flounce, front paw hanging limp like.

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48 minutes ago, Sciurus said:

don’t know why you go to the expense of feeding nuts to attract greys , this photo proves all they want is a bit of old plywood!😂😂😂

Crackers isn't it, few nuts in the bag but I'm out of chicken feed so it's was sunflower hearts,  they must be after the bits that get stuck in the cleaning gap, but the time and energy taken to chew through that it hardly seems worth while. 

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Out this morning at daybreak and up with a new feeder. This is a wood where I cleared the greys last year. Owner reported seeing a Grey again but there are still Reds in the wood. Nice and easy shooting from my pickup. Feeder filled with peanuts, whole maize mixture with aniseed oil. Out again tomorrow to see if they have found it.

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Edited by Fisheruk
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A quick 2 this morning, I didn't shoot this feeder last month because there wasn't much going on,  but if there going to chew it up.

20200804_083741.jpg.9ceb408017489c96588ee3eaece8702f.jpg

The feeder had mostly sunflower hearts in it and both squirrels came charging to the feeder through the trees despite the green pine cones they've been eating. 

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1 hour ago, Mice! said:

A quick 2 this morning, I didn't shoot this feeder last month because there wasn't much going on,  but if there going to chew it up.

20200804_083741.jpg.9ceb408017489c96588ee3eaece8702f.jpg

The feeder had mostly sunflower hearts in it and both squirrels came charging to the feeder through the trees despite the green pine cones they've been eating. 

Nice shooting mate hopefully more too come from this feeder then

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