squirrel control

[Mice!]

I shot as many today in big wood as I did in October!!

Checked feeder one, food in but looked untouched so I didn't hang around,  that's coming down next week.

So up the hill  

Is it mist or fog? Coming off the wet fields, although they look like lakes.

Scanning as I go I spotted two squirrels playing kiss face near where I shot last week's, they weren't frantically chasing just sniffing and playing,  till the female fell out the tree, which really surprised the male, he was up and down, calling before he kept still for too long, and joined his mate on the floor.

Female is the top one, and a good deal bigger so this could have been one of her kits?

I saw another pair off in the distance,  then a few singles before another single paused on a trunk, wrong decision. 

Another female. 

I found more sweet chestnut trees,  turns out there are quite a few up here, I think the squirrels have been coming down to feeder two from up here.

It's all looking pretty nice at the moment. 

I did drop another from near the sweet chestnuts,  but it dropped down a fairly sheer rock wall and I wasn't climbing down to look for it.

So the first official winter shoot was a good one, you could feel the difference in the temperature and plenty of leaves had come off the trees.

I walked out past feeder two, it had been licked clean, topped up with black sunflower seeds,  but I'll be changing things around next week.

Winter is here 😁

[Walker570]

Very nice report. Superb country. They look like well fed tree rats to me.  I shot two on the golf course last week and wished I had scales with me both very fat I think probably the biggest I have ver seen. It seems it has been a good feeding year although very few acorns around here.

[Mice!]

37 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Very nice report. Superb country. They look like well fed tree rats to me.  I shot two on the golf course last week and wished I had scales with me both very fat I think probably the biggest I have ver seen. It seems it has been a good feeding year although very few acorns around here.

Cheers mate, the two females were a good size, but they are ferret food now.

[Sciurus]

@Mice! Great start to the month- I am surprised they don’t have webbed feet after the atrocious weather we have had for the last month.

What time of day did you get these?

[ratchers]

Lovely looking woodland Mice.

Just nice being out in countryside like that, better when its dry though but super views.

Topped my feeders up today, peanut ones empty and the wheat one rather wet and soggy!!

[sam triple]

And there it is 

[Mice!]

9 hours ago, Sciurus said:

@Mice! Great start to the month- I am surprised they don’t have webbed feet after the atrocious weather we have had for the last month.

What time of day did you get these?

I was out first thing after work mate, the clocks changing meant it was light ish by 7, could have been 8ish once I was up the hill after checking the first feeder.

Plenty of the footpaths look like streams, loads if water running off the hill.

2 hours ago, ratchers said:

Topped my feeders up today, peanut ones empty and the wheat one rather wet and soggy!!

Cheers mate, it is nicer when it's dry 😁😁Same as I found last week, wheat just doesn't compete with the natural food.

[Mice!]

2 hours ago, sam triple said:

And there it is 

Nice work fella 👏👏

I hadn't shot a squirrel at the golf course since September 16th, I was sat at 50 and thinking that between me the buzzards and owls I'm not going to get anymore.
I turned up this morning to find a lot of leaves have dropped, the area around the feeder now seems very open, and it's only going to get worse as more leaves blow away so that feeder is coming down next week.

Plus I saw nothing near the feeder again so I went walkabout.
It didn't take long to spot one with perfect thermal conditions, especially when she just kept still on a bough probably thinking I'd not seen her, Whack through the top of the head and drop to the floor.

Simply effective, gun, sticks, thermal with each complementing the other.

The only thing to take the shine off a lovely morning was spotting another playing peak a boo, just it's head poking out, I moved around to improve the angle, then off one knee and the sticks I took the shot, then loaded the gun and went again! Whack, down it fell, into a load of brambles Which meant I couldn't find it, but hopefully it's one for the buzzard and one for the fox.

[sam triple]

Filled new feeder last Sunday afternoon takes 5 gallons of food to fill it from empty, mate checked it this morning as he was filing the pheasant feeders and it was empty again , looks like they’ve found it and are hitting it hard , Saturday coming looks like fun , he also filled my 45 gallon food drum up 👍

[Mullard83]

Not sure if I had added to this group before. I have now taken 8 squirrels, 4 magpies & 3 jays from the feeder at work. We seem to have a lot of magpies & a good number of jays too. Normally I would leave the jays but seeing as quite a few were being spotted I was asked to curb a few of them too. I`m sure the songbirds, as well as the great number of lesser & greater spotted woodpeckers we have here will be pleased. Also we seem to have a couple of pairs of wild English partridge about too.

[Walker570]

2 hours ago, Mullard83 said:

Not sure if I had added to this group before. I have now taken 8 squirrels, 4 magpies & 3 jays from the feeder at work. We seem to have a lot of magpies & a good number of jays too. Normally I would leave the jays but seeing as quite a few were being spotted I was asked to curb a few of them too. I`m sure the songbirds, as well as the great number of lesser & greater spotted woodpeckers we have here will be pleased. Also we seem to have a couple of pairs of wild English partridge about too.

Have you added these on the vermin list. I don't remember seeing them there

click on Other shooting and then on pest control  then choose species

Edited November 4, 2021 by Walker570

[Mice!]

A satisfying single for me this morning,  I bumped one off the feeder when I arrived,  it got light quicker than I expected being a cloudless night.

I watched it go up and across taking cover, it hung around bu not in a shootable position,  I gave it an hour but decided it was time for a wander,  I'm just standing up when boom, another squirrel has come fro. Behind the feeder tree, through the Yew tree, looks at me and heads upwards,  but not alarmed or fast, but out of sight. 

So I sat back down and started watching and waiting.  It was up and down, in and out, seemed to be playing around,  which triggered the other one up at my 5 o'clock to start moving around!

I kept my eyes forwards,  this squirrel was really pale, and really stood out, I thought it was going to be a white squirrel,  all the time I'm sat there I can feel my foot going numb but I'm not moving. 

Finally after maybe 30 mins of this it was in the lower branches of the Yew, I waited but it was settled and not moving so I took the shot, PFFT Whack flop, result. 

I knew my foot was dead, I'd been trying to wiggle my toes but couldn't feel anything,  I pushed up off my right foot and started to slide down the bank, I couldn't work it out, my left leg just wasn't there or responding? I had to roll onto my side and give it a minute while the blood got going again 😭😭

Big chunky female,  in great condition and no sign of ticks. 

Then I had a quick walk up the hill, should have headed for bed but it was far too nice a morning,  and found more big sweet chestnuts,  no wonder I had a quiet October,  there's been an all you can eat buffet open.

I know where I'll be next September,  I had a root about but couldn't find a single good nut, just the offcasts that had been left.

Strangely enough I didn't see any other squirrels about?

I hope the weather stays like this, cold clear mornings,  gentle breeze and no wind, what more could you want.

 

[sam triple]

6 hours ago, Mice! said:

A satisfying single for me this morning,  I bumped one off the feeder when I arrived,  it got light quicker than I expected being a cloudless night.

I watched it go up and across taking cover, it hung around bu not in a shootable position,  I gave it an hour but decided it was time for a wander,  I'm just standing up when boom, another squirrel has come fro. Behind the feeder tree, through the Yew tree, looks at me and heads upwards,  but not alarmed or fast, but out of sight. 

So I sat back down and started watching and waiting.  It was up and down, in and out, seemed to be playing around,  which triggered the other one up at my 5 o'clock to start moving around!

I kept my eyes forwards,  this squirrel was really pale, and really stood out, I thought it was going to be a white squirrel,  all the time I'm sat there I can feel my foot going numb but I'm not moving. 

Finally after maybe 30 mins of this it was in the lower branches of the Yew, I waited but it was settled and not moving so I took the shot, PFFT Whack flop, result. 

I knew my foot was dead, I'd been trying to wiggle my toes but couldn't feel anything,  I pushed up off my right foot and started to slide down the bank, I couldn't work it out, my left leg just wasn't there or responding? I had to roll onto my side and give it a minute while the blood got going again 😭😭

Big chunky female,  in great condition and no sign of ticks. 

Then I had a quick walk up the hill, should have headed for bed but it was far too nice a morning,  and found more big sweet chestnuts,  no wonder I had a quiet October,  there's been an all you can eat buffet open.

I know where I'll be next September,  I had a root about but couldn't find a single good nut, just the offcasts that had been left.

Strangely enough I didn't see any other squirrels about?

I hope the weather stays like this, cold clear mornings,  gentle breeze and no wind, what more could you want.

 

👍

[Mullard83]

20 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Have you added these on the vermin list. I don't remember seeing them there

click on Other shooting and then on pest control  then choose species

No I hadn`t done that, but will do it now. Thanks for the heads up 👍

[Walker570]

No problem here to serve any tree rat whacker.

[villaman]

Spent the most of the afternoon filling up the 8 feeders with wheat . Looks like they have just started feeding of the feeders, probably had most of the natural food and stored for later .

so had the last hour of reasonable light on one part of the permission , with the FX crown .22 FAC all shot at 45 yards  with the best slug out at the moment ZAN 21 gr 

[Mice!]

2 hours ago, villaman said:

best slug out at the moment ZAN 21 gr 

Not heard that one mentioned funnily enough.

Nice shooting 👍

[sam triple]

2 hours ago, villaman said:

Spent the most of the afternoon filling up the 8 feeders with wheat . Looks like they have just started feeding of the feeders, probably had most of the natural food and stored for later .

so had the last hour of reasonable light on one part of the permission , with the FX crown .22 FAC all shot at 45 yards  with the best slug out at the moment ZAN 21 gr 

👍👍

[villaman]

10 hours ago, Mice! said:

Not heard that one mentioned funnily enough.

Nice shooting 👍

Probably the best slug on the market at the moment in .22 &.25 . Ordered on a Sunday arrived Tuesday morning at10am . Best packed slug or pellets 

Getting great reviews all over different forums and Facebook pages 

https://www.zanprojectiles.com/

Edited November 6, 2021 by villaman

[sam triple]

Up the woods this pm for a few hours checked on new feeder that was filled up on Thursday empty again😳, filled it went back to the old feeder had 3 and a Jay at 32m , back up new feeder and took 2 more not as good as I hoped but getting up there in the mornings is difficult at the moment 

[Mice!]

13 minutes ago, sam triple said:

Up the woods this pm for a few hours checked on new feeder that was filled up on Thursday empty again😳, filled it went back to the old feeder had 3 and a Jay at 32m , back up new feeder and took 2 more not as good as I hoped but getting up there in the mornings is difficult at the moment 

5s not to be sniffed at fella, morning might be more productive but needs must.

Good shooting. 

[sam triple]

1 hour ago, Mice! said:

5s not to be sniffed at fella, morning might be more productive but needs must.

Good shooting. 

Cheers Mice👍

[arjimlad]

@Mice! lovely pictures and report from last Tuesday, how touching that the first pair were united in death. Keep up the good work !

[Walker570]

They are not fully back on the feeders down here , some showing an interest and had two in live catch cages this last week but 4 out of five on the golf course are still snuffling around in the undergrowth and annoyingly will not sit still.

[Mice!]

2 hours ago, arjimlad said:

@Mice! lovely pictures and report from last Tuesday, how touching that the first pair were united in death. Keep up the good work !

Cheers mate, much nicer taking photos when it's dry.