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squirrel control


Mice!
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Things just never went right today even though I shot two greys. Got to the hide and could see split grain below the feeding box, wriggled my way in to the hide and was faffing about getting things ready when I looked up and there was a gery on the box tucking in, so now being silent got the gun lined up and took the shot, a nice head shot with a resounding thunk but sometimes you just know thats it's not fatal and so I went straight out to check and indeed although it probably would have died fairly quickly I gave it another shot and took the body back to the hide. Settled in again and had a brew, after about half an hour later had another visitor, I let it get settled in to a feeding pattern and took the shot, a complete miss, it just ducked down right down for some more grain at that precise moment, the pellet struck the metal backstop a right clank and the squirrel shot two foot in the air and took off. Well I'll never see that one again but another did turn up an hour later and would you believe but the same thing happened, took the shot when he ducked his head down to get some more grain. This squirrel just looked around and went down the branch I had propped up against the tree on to the ground, he ate some of the splilt grain but I couldn't get a shot until he sat on a tuft, this time I knew the shot wasn't right at all, I had aimed at the head but I think a ricochet off a twig sent it in the body, it was disabled but needed a coup de grace shot. I would rather have a clean miss than a wounding.

Thinking back on the feeding squirrels with the wheat cut maize I was using in the feeding box there didn't seem to be a regular time between one mouthful and the next whereas with peanuts it seems you have more time to shoot between each peanut,bigger so they take longer I suppose.

Cross my fingers I don't have another day like that in a while.

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It happens and that is why I always get ready to shoot at the instant the squirrel picks it's head up BUT still get a miss for the same reason ....  it happens  and they are tremendously tough little animals. I have had runners even with the 17HMR on occasion.  As I have said before ... just glad they do not grow as big as labradors.

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2 hours ago, ratchers said:

Things just never went right today even though I shot two greys. Got to the hide and could see split grain below the feeding box, wriggled my way in to the hide and was faffing about getting things ready when I looked up and there was a gery on the box tucking in, so now being silent got the gun lined up and took the shot, a nice head shot with a resounding thunk but sometimes you just know thats it's not fatal and so I went straight out to check and indeed although it probably would have died fairly quickly I gave it another shot and took the body back to the hide. Settled in again and had a brew, after about half an hour later had another visitor, I let it get settled in to a feeding pattern and took the shot, a complete miss, it just ducked down right down for some more grain at that precise moment, the pellet struck the metal backstop a right clank and the squirrel shot two foot in the air and took off. Well I'll never see that one again but another did turn up an hour later and would you believe but the same thing happened, took the shot when he ducked his head down to get some more grain. This squirrel just looked around and went down the branch I had propped up against the tree on to the ground, he ate some of the splilt grain but I couldn't get a shot until he sat on a tuft, this time I knew the shot wasn't right at all, I had aimed at the head but I think a ricochet off a twig sent it in the body, it was disabled but needed a coup de grace shot. I would rather have a clean miss than a wounding.

Thinking back on the feeding squirrels with the wheat cut maize I was using in the feeding box there didn't seem to be a regular time between one mouthful and the next whereas with peanuts it seems you have more time to shoot between each peanut,bigger so they take longer I suppose.

Cross my fingers I don't have another day like that in a while.

I only use flip top feeders and just as Nev says I aim to take the shot as soon as they have selected the nut and sit back to eat it. I find it useful to position for the shot as they have their heads buried in the feeder selecting their nut as there is no movement when they come out to settle down for their meal. They don’t have eyes in the back of their head!

 

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16 hours ago, ratchers said:

Thinking back on the feeding squirrels with the wheat cut maize I was using in the feeding box there didn't seem to be a regular time between one mouthful and the next whereas with peanuts it seems you have more time to shoot between each peanut,bigger so they take longer I suppose

I've been feeding mixed seed and poultry feed, it's cheaper simple as that,  I found that instead of sitting up nice giving you   6-8 seconds while they ate a nut they were like pigs at a trough, plus they might suddenly twitch or move, I started adding a handful of nuts the morning I shoot , few on the ledge and in the feeder, brings the birds in then the squirrels,  big difference in the time you get to place your shot.

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5 hours ago, Mice! said:

I've been feeding mixed seed and poultry feed, it's cheaper simple as that,  I found that instead of sitting up nice giving you   6-8 seconds while they ate a nut they were like pigs at a trough, plus they might suddenly twitch or move, I started adding a handful of nuts the morning I shoot , few on the ledge and in the feeder, brings the birds in then the squirrels,  big difference in the time you get to place your shot.

Yes I know what you mean, if I have peanuts on me I do that with a open feeding box.

With a flip top I will take some out and put them on the ledge, if no squirrels come at least I'll get a few song birds.

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Another mature female from a loaned trap. He’s now had 5 by using the trap. To start with the homeowner was convinced he on had two. The wood that he’s pulling them from is 200 metres away. This one was a mature female weighing 700 grams.

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It is amazing how far they will travel.  I watched one the other day appear at the end of a ride I know to be 200yrds long. It never paused and was on a mission. It come all the way to me and then went across a 100yrd of open ground into an adjacent wood. It never paused and was running flat out.  I still have very little movement in my own local sets. There was a lot of movement all day over in Lincolnshire and hope to get back there next week.  Had my second jab Tuesday and the nurse said that I may feel under the weather about three days after ..... yep, feel under the weather this morning, so the tree rats are safe until tomorrow.

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Well, nice sunny morning here so I visited two of my flip tops. One had not been touched for ten days and the other just showed a couple of dimples in the top so I sat on that one for an hour and three quarters and watched the myriad little birds enjoying the peanuts I had put out. I hen pheasant and one wood pigeon, nothing else, so looks as if I have definitely thinned the tree rat population there.  Will check another spot this afternoon, different farm and then back to Lincolnshire tomorrow.

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We have a privately owned conservation wood of 100 acres, close to where I live.

There have been 20000 mixed native trees planted over 15 years ago and the owner doesn’t want grey squirrels because of the damage they do to the trees. I’ve been popping them off for a few weeks from one of my flip top feeders.

Last week we started on a two week trapping push. There are six in the team and we are using 12 live catch traps. We’re using live catch traps because the occasional Red which has been seen. 
 

The wood is bisected with a brook and we started by setting the traps on the north side wood.


Having just completed one week of trapping we finished with a tally of 15 grey squirrels.

Yesterday we moved the twelve traps into the wood on the south side of the brook.

Just looking forward with interest as to how many greys we’ll get this side and this week.

We share the trap checking and setting in pairs throughout the two weeks, which means that it is not too onerous on any one person.

 

After the two week trapping session I will top up the squirrel feeders again and keep a watchful eye for any remaining greys and any new ones which decide the wood might be a useful spot to set up home. 

Edited by Fisheruk
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Back out filling feeders tomorrow,  I've had two weeks on days and it feels like months.

Feed is all in the car ready to go, rifle filled and did a zero check as I've not touched the gun in a fortnight. 

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I was gutted,  I pulled the last shot, it was almost perfect,  after 7 had landed nicely I very nearly just stopped. The interesting thing is firing into lead, there is no impact noise,  it's very strange. 

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1 hour ago, Mice! said:

Back out filling feeders tomorrow,  I've had two weeks on days and it feels like months.

Feed is all in the car ready to go, rifle filled and did a zero check as I've not touched the gun in a fortnight. 

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I was gutted,  I pulled the last shot, it was almost perfect,  after 7 had landed nicely I very nearly just stopped. The interesting thing is firing into lead, there is no impact noise,  it's very strange. 

That's the problem. I had a pal who just could not accept his rifle was on and would say "I'll just put another down" and pull one slightly but would blame the rifle make adjustment and spend the next half hour chasing holes across the target.   If it's on it's on the next should be in something soft snf furry.

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10 minutes ago, Morkin said:

I hope your not that far to the right off centre ? Ha Ha . So the Total number will go up next week then ? Go for it mate.

Ha ha indeed, my scope isn't much cop for paper punching,  I normally put red dots on to make things easier to see, at 9/10 mag the pellet strike is pretty much covered by the reticle,  but its lovely and clear when your in the woods.

2 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

That's the problem. I had a pal who just could not accept his rifle was on and would say "I'll just put another down" and pull one slightly but would blame the rifle make adjustment and spend the next half hour chasing holes across the target.   If it's on it's on the next should be in something soft snf furry.

I was happy at three shots mate, but thought I'll do the full mag, then pulled the last,  I'm always impressed when when people put a full mag in the one hole, the first few are easy enough then the pressure on yourself builds, still made me smile 😁

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23 hours ago, Mice! said:

Ha ha indeed, my scope isn't much cop for paper punching,  I normally put red dots on to make things easier to see, at 9/10 mag the pellet strike is pretty much covered by the reticle,  but its lovely and clear when your in the woods.

I was happy at three shots mate, but thought I'll do the full mag, then pulled the last,  I'm always impressed when when people put a full mag in the one hole, the first few are easy enough then the pressure on yourself builds, still made me smile 😁

 

On 12/04/2021 at 21:13, Mice! said:

Back out filling feeders tomorrow,  I've had two weeks on days and it feels like months.

Feed is all in the car ready to go, rifle filled and did a zero check as I've not touched the gun in a fortnight. 

 

I wondered why you had been out of action. 🤔

I thought maybe you were just protesting at golfers tramping over your patch 🤣

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10 minutes ago, Fisheruk said:

 

I wondered why you had been out of action. 🤔

I thought maybe you were just protesting at golfers tramping over your patch 🤣

No just tied up elsewhere,  but I'm also not seeing much, probably going to have to wait for the kits to be born, and look at other areas of the big wood.

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I've been out two morning's this week, basically just to fill feeders, two big feeders were completely empty,  but its been over two weeks since I filled them so it was expected,  great watching the birds come in this morning,  I filled up and took a walk, spotted a squirrel in the distance but couldn't get near it, I didn't see any others just a fox.

When I circled back to the feeder the birds were all over it,  the cherry on the cake being the woodpecker squeezing out a nut from the gap at the bottom.

Beautiful morning but no squirrels. 

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I have never seen so many nuthatches and wonder if that has anyhting to do with the reduction in tree rat numbers in my areas. I normally feed whole maize laced with GameKeep and just put a sprinkling of peanuts mainly for the birds.

Numbers here still very low, have not seen one for a week or more here and flip tops are not being touched.

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3 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

Still plenty around here visiting the feeders, problem now is that the peanuts are getting nabbed in 10-15 minutes by a constant stream of Nuthatches 🤥.

Brilliant aren't they 😁😁 unless they are completely emptying the feeders, sounds like you need some sort of lids, I put some DPM over my open feeders to slow the birds down,  the Nuthatch's and tits just squeeze under it.

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So I'd been out twice this week, predominantly to fill feeders and see what's about, I've not been able to get out for two weeks so expected things to be empty and they were :facepalm:
Golden rule, don't let your feeders run dry.

Tuesday I was at the golf course, I topped up, looked around a bit of wood, but only spotted a pair high up, the ground is bone dry, mix of bramble and dead stuff so keeping quiet on the move was impossible.

Wednesday I was heading upwards to the hill feeder, I've got an open feeder here, only small and the bigger feeder up the hill, it had only been getting used lightly, but you guessed it empty.

I topped up, grateful to get the weight off my back then had a mooch about, saw very little, plenty of birds, a fox, one squirrel high up and far away.

I circled back to the feeder, the birds were having a field day, the feeder was empty but they were soon back at it:), show the squirrels where the food is.

On to Thursday morning, it was a great morning, the sunrises have been fantastic every day, I've tried taking photos before but they never really show it.

I was in two minds this morning, go out or go to bed? I decided I'd go take a walk, look around and see if I bumped any squirrels or find another spot for a feeder.

I got quite a shock, the drive from work to the wood is around 15 miles, 2/3 degrees but -2° when I arrived, the fields had suddenly gone white!!

I was thinking well that's blown it, the squirrels won't be out now, until I look into the wood and see branches bouncing around as a squirrel makes it's way through the canopy, game on.

I headed up the path and spotted a squirrel straight away, they don't normally hang around here, and it didn't, but it didn't go far, then it moved into full view, a long shot for me but number one dropped clean. Female. 

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In the sun it was lovely, again I saw a pair of squirrels but they vanished, I slowly made my was further up the hill towards the feeder, thinking I'll have half an hour then head off.

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I decided to sit in a different position, behind a dry stone wall, a bit more comfortable for me and a better angle, I settled in and watched the birds enjoy the free easy food. Like Bruno and Walker have said there are an abundance of Nuthatch's,  plus various different tits, pigeons,  blackbirds,  woodpeckers, Robins, tree creepers, wrens all busily going about there morning. 

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Maybe 15 minutes go by before a pair of squirrels run past behind the feeder, I'm fully alert now and waiting, but they don't show!

Ten minutes go by before the branches start moving and a squirrel appears up and behind the feeder tree, it pretty much got out a sun lounger, spread itself out and relaxed.

It wasn't moving, I pinged it with the range finder maybe 4 or 5 times, 37/38 metres every time, I was sat, leaning on the wall and the squirrel is perfectly still, no breeze at all, I gave it an inch of hold over and the shot was away.

I know some people say the BSA trigger on the R10 isn't up to much but I really can't complain, the JSB heavy did its thing and squirrel number dropped out of the tree, this one had armpits full of ticks again, a skinny male.

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That was pretty much the position it was in in the tree, but its head was extended more,  I'm sure it would have gone to sleep if I'd have left it be.

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Even at range these pellets give a right whack, I wasn't expecting an exit wound. 

I watched the birds for another ten minutes, the woodpeckers especially making me laugh as they squeeze out nuts from the gap in the feeder then it was time to head off.

Beautiful morning out and a pair of squirrels.

@Sciurus I'm starting to quite like 177 😅😅

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Well after two weeks concerted effort trapping in a 100acre wood and the tally was 31. 12 traps set and checked morning and evening a combined effort from a team of 7.
So after the trapping push for two weeks it’s back to me to fill the squirrel feeder and see what it left to finish off the stragglers.

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15 minutes ago, Fisheruk said:

Well after two weeks concerted effort trapping in a 100acre wood and the tally was 31. 12 traps set and checked morning and evening a combined effort from a team of 7.
So after the trapping push for two weeks it’s back to me to fill the squirrel feeder and see what it left to finish off the stragglers.

Good timing and effort to get those out of the wood.

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