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squirrel control


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5 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

Not my pennies, Goldfish, a nice charitable trust pays for the feed. Our owners do indeed use ex poison feeders but with a metal backstop welded around to prevent ricochets. The Squirrels pull out loads of feed before eating it but plenty falls on the floor, wonderful watching Nuthatches and the like mopping it up. Spoke to our estate manager re the new CO2 powered traps yesterday, the one set at the first feeder just over a week ago has been triggered once - I shot 4 there in  around an hour.

The Warfarin hoppers are great squirrel feeders, good idea using a plate on the back 👍

I have used the Goodnature pneumatic traps but don't rate them very highly at all, if you don't have reds then a Fenn in a tunnel is so much better and you can have 20 Fenn traps or 5 multi catch live traps for the price of one Goodnature however they do need visiting each day or at least bait and set one day and unset the next if you can't visit each day, you will still score better than with a Goodnature trap. If there is the potential for Reds than shooting is always the best option to ensure Reds don't inadvertently get killed or captured.

Well done to you all, as everyone here will be aware you need to put in serious hours to shoot squirrels at this time of the year, :good:

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30 minutes ago, Mice! said:

That's some big numbers of squirrels,  are you trapping full time then?

Yes Im employed to control deer and squirrels over thousands of acres of park and farmland for an estate with over a thousand acres of woodland. People forget trees are a crop and need protecting from deer and squirrels.

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23 minutes ago, Fisheruk said:

Interesting that you don’t rate the Good Nature traps, not many do! How many Fenns do you run on average? Do you use other bait on the Fenns or just a dollop of Peanut Butter? Really impressed with your numbers, fabulous job you have. Envy of many 👍

The Goodnature traps are a good idea but in my opinion not well executed, squirrels have to learn how to access the bait which is set too far in the trap with too small a hole, great for rats and how they behave.

I am running 100 Fenn traps and tend to get between 7 and 11 squirrels a day however it does take a few hours to walk the ground to check the traps each day, location being everything.

I tend to use maize as a lure to the doors of the trap as its visual and peanut butter on the trigger plate, maize is nice and cheap and you can judge whats eating it by the damage to the kernel.

Cheers, I love the work but you do need to put in the hours in all weather and results are a must so the pressure is on, hence the numbers.

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1 hour ago, Goldfish said:

Yes Im employed to control deer and squirrels over thousands of acres of park and farmland for an estate with over a thousand acres of woodland. People forget trees are a crop and need protecting from deer and squirrels.

That explains the numbers then 👍

I think that's what people forget with idea of the fertility drug ideas, the greys will still be doing damage to both flora and forna,  but we know that. 

I can only use live catch traps really where I am so they only get used occasionally,  I'd hate to trap a red that found it's way to my patch.

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22 hours ago, Morkin said:

Just watched the year in lake District and around Windermere is this any of you boys hunting ground ?.as they just filmed the reds not a grey in sight

Hi Morkin, the north half of Windermere is my patch, I am  glad they didn’t show any greys, there are some but they are constantly being controlled by the various red squirrel groups, so they are very wary. The dry stone Waller/abseiler in the film carries out a lot of grey control in our area. A great character.

@Mice!- I did say to you  yesterday,  I wondered where the females were!😇Good man for getting out in this freezing weather.

@GoldfishGlad you found this page, it is interesting to see how the professionals do it! The greys here are so well fed because there is still a lot of acorns about. I find that the greys really won’t eat maize unless they are desperate. Perhaps it’s because  I spoil them with sunflower seeds and peanuts as well!

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2 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

Not my pennies, Goldfish, a nice charitable trust pays for the feed. Our owners do indeed use ex poison feeders but with a metal backstop welded around to prevent ricochets. The Squirrels pull out loads of feed before eating it but plenty falls on the floor, wonderful watching Nuthatches and the like mopping it up. Spoke to our estate manager re the new CO2 powered traps yesterday, the one set at the first feeder just over a week ago has been triggered once - I shot 4 there in  around an hour.

I applaud your kill rate Goldfish, but I am now struggling to find tree rats to shoot on my areas, I seem to have severely reduced the population. My Flip top feeders work very well and they are also designed to give free access to all songbirds, must have had eight or ten nuthatches using the one yesterday and I have no worries about a £7 bag of whole maize once a month laced with peanuts and dressed with Game Keep.  All of my feeders are constructed from metal sheet, mostly panels from IBC containers.  They work fine.

What acreage are you covering by the way.

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1 hour ago, Sciurus said:

 

@GoldfishGlad you found this page, it is interesting to see how the professionals do it! The greys here are so well fed because there is still a lot of acorns about. I find that the greys really won’t eat maize unless they are desperate. Perhaps it’s because  I spoil them with sunflower seeds and peanuts as well!

Funny how different two areas can be, I haven’t seen an acorn since November, the Fallow, squirrels and pigeons ate them all weeks ago.

Peanut butter is a great lure 👍

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1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

I applaud your kill rate Goldfish, but I am now struggling to find tree rats to shoot on my areas, I seem to have severely reduced the population. My Flip top feeders work very well and they are also designed to give free access to all songbirds, must have had eight or ten nuthatches using the one yesterday and I have no worries about a £7 bag of whole maize once a month laced with peanuts and dressed with Game Keep.  All of my feeders are constructed from metal sheet, mostly panels from IBC containers.  They work fine.

What acreage are you covering by the way.

Great to hear your feeding the birds, to see 10 Nuthatches is testimony of the good work you have done, well done 👍 

The Squirrels will be back, they will be filling the void you have created soon and claiming new territory, just watch out for them sitting on the periphery of the trees and hedges eating the new growth in the spring.

Acreage, primarily a thousand acres of mixed woodland

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I wish, I wish. I do have access to close to that but this covid is preventing me travelling that far.  Hopefully the summer will open up.  My best total in 1 1/2 hrs was 19 from the Land Rover window.   22RF. on a flip top feeder.

Kep whacking and stacking.  We need to make up time this year if we can and try and hit 4000. Now there is a target.

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2 hours ago, Walker570 said:

I wish, I wish. I do have access to close to that but this covid is preventing me travelling that far.  Hopefully the summer will open up.  My best total in 1 1/2 hrs was 19 from the Land Rover window.   22RF. on a flip top feeder.

Kep whacking and stacking.  We need to make up time this year if we can and try and hit 4000. Now there is a target.

Hi

Just a comment, why is Covid preventing you travelling, vermin control is allowed regardless of distance?

314 in 3 days off feeders at the end of the game season was my best, hell of a weight to carry 🥵

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This is the ground at one of my feeders @Goldfish

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Acorns everywhere still.

I went out today, took down my feeder and put a smaller one up, its getting used, just not much and it will keep the birds fed.

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Then humped the bigger feeder up the hill with 7kg of mixed seed.

The light was going so I kind of abandoned it,  found a nice spot to shoot from with a good backstop and thought that will do, I might find I want to move it again,  but it's up the hill now, let's see what happens. 

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1 hour ago, London Best said:

I think Neville just met his match!

No contest. Me basic 55acres of woodland compared to 1000.  

Unlimited mleage for vermin control ......

I'll try telling that to the police patrol when I get stopped.  I do not think they will consider 140 mile round trip is a reasonable distance.

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2 hours ago, Goldfish said:

 

Just a comment, why is Covid preventing you travelling, vermin control is allowed regardless of distance?

 

I think that there is a grey area about travelling for work. 
It is obviously your paid employment @Goldfish, so absolutely no problem.Whereas for most of us Grey Control is voluntary. The police around here in Lancashire and Merseyside are hot on parked up vehicles which they check by Number Plate Recognition to be out of their home area. Not sure we want to risk the problem with our FAC and SC which might occur if issued with a fixed penalty notice.

Some on here only have standard power air rifles and as such there is not much of a sanction, apart from a £50 ticket.

Edited by Fisheruk
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23 hours ago, Goldfish said:

Funny how different two areas can be, I haven’t seen an acorn since November, the Fallow, squirrels and pigeons ate them all weeks ago

I think the answer is historical. The Lake District traditionally had a very industrial background, lots of quarrying and copper mining etc. To feed the great demand for gunpowder and charcoal, large areas were planted with oak, Beech, hazel, sweet chestnut etc and then coppiced and these woods still exist today. 

Later, very wealthy Victorian businessmen built very large holiday homes and planted up 10 or 15 acres of woodland with oak and Beech etc plus more formal gardens with exotic pines. These are now owned by NT or run as Country House Hotels. This is probably the reason why there is so still much natural food about up here  and the greys are very fat. I have mentioned before that my woodland trapping season literally stops on July 1 as food becomes available and the greys can’t be tempted by dried nuts.

3 hours ago, Goldfish said:

Just a comment, why is Covid preventing you travelling, vermin control is allowed regardless of distance?

Unless you are a pest controller, anyone who is not in a group is very wise to stay and shoot locally. No point in risking a gun licence.

The Trustees of our Red Squirrel Charity gave  us a letter confirming that we are carrying out “essential pest control for red squirrel conservation”

 I haven’t been stopped by police but the furthest I travel is only 7 miles.

 

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Guidance from  country land owners association 

Pest control services requested by a landowner or agent can be construed either as work (whether paid or unpaid) or voluntary service. The regulations do not impose any limits on how far you can travel.

A letter from the land owner giving permission is all that is required.

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@Mice! can’t believe the quantity of acorns you still have, no wonder the feeders aren’t going down!

@Sciurus sounds like perfect squirrel habitat, small woods full of beech and oak linked by hedgerows

@bruno22rf absolutely, if carrying out vermin control it would be sensible to get a letter or email  instructing you to do this activity as proof you are allowed to be shooting, regardless of whether your paid or not. Please don’t confuse the rules for the 1st lockdown with the current lockdown. It’s prime squirrel time, get out there 😁

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I think I will wait until 22nd February and see what other nonesense Boris and his advisors come up with.  I do have letters for my local farms and that only involves maximum 11 miles.    At least the estate in Lincolnshire has been sorted to a degree as the Keepers son has made a huge effort and killed well over a hundred in a couple of weeks just before Christmas.

 

As an aside ... one of the joys of sitting in a blind waiting for tree rats is that if you sit still the wildlife accepts your part of the furniture and yesterday I had litle wren come into my blind and check all the nooks and crannies then flitting acros and landing on the brim of my hat. Bent over the edge looked down and realised I was animate but did not panic , just flew across the blind and continued to search for insects. She/He was all fluffed up against the -3c temperature and cutting easterly wind. Brilliant.  I have had them land on my moderator before now but that was rather special.  

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16 hours ago, Walker570 said:

No contest. Me basic 55acres of woodland compared to 1000.  

Unlimited mleage for vermin control ......

I'll try telling that to the police patrol when I get stopped.  I do not think they will consider 140 mile round trip is a reasonable distance.

That’s the problem. It’s not for them to define reasonable. They may well disagree with your assessment in which case you go to court. I guarantee it would be thrown out or withdrawn as 99% of the fixed penalties are. The police are just using bully boy tactics to try to enforce things. Nobody is going to lose their tickets. 

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5 hours ago, Walker570 said:

As an aside ... one of the joys of sitting in a blind waiting for tree rats is that if you sit still the wildlife accepts your part of the furniture and yesterday I had litle wren come into my blind and check all the nooks and crannies then flitting acros and landing on the brim of my hat. Bent over the edge looked down and realised I was animate but did not panic , just flew across the blind and continued to search for insects. She/He was all fluffed up against the -3c temperature and cutting easterly wind. Brilliant.  I have had them land on my moderator before now but that was rather special.  

Little moments like that are truly magical 🥰

6 hours ago, Goldfish said:

@Mice! can’t believe the quantity of acorns you still have, no wonder the feeders aren’t going down!

@Sciurus sounds like perfect squirrel habitat, small woods full of beech and oak linked by hedgerows

@bruno22rf absolutely, if carrying out vermin control it would be sensible to get a letter or email  instructing you to do this activity as proof you are allowed to be shooting, regardless of whether your paid or not. Please don’t confuse the rules for the 1st lockdown with the current lockdown. It’s prime squirrel time, get out there 😁

It just shows how different areas can be, 5 miles away ish and I've had 9 in a fortnight which is good for me.

When I moved the feeder yesterday there was one squirrel nearby and the feed was down,  but its almost been like they just pop by occasionally rather than coming to feed.

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@Mice! From the photos and description I would say they have too much food and the only reason you are not overrun with Greys is because you are diligently popping them off before their numbers can explode. I assume you are doing this for tree protection and to protect the Reds, with such an abundance of natural food and so few squirrels your doing a cracking job 👍

The reason Im getting so many squirrels is because lockdown no.1 occurred in March and ran on for a number of weeks which allowed the Greys to produce litters undisturbed as we were banned from shooting. This lockdown has made an allowance, please everyone don't slow down, vermin control is permissible and mileage is unlimited as long as you don't go to Wales or Scotland from England, OK if you live there 😆

 

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