squirrel control

[sam triple]

49 minutes ago, Mice! said:

Fellas, you will need a brew and biscuits,  or a beer if its later on 😉

I should have been in work today but needed to be home, should have booked half a day, but a full day meant I could go shooting,  and go I did. 

 

I'd topped up the feeders three weeks ago,  then again on Wednesday night, hard to beat the sounds and smells in a wood in the evening,  you can see the picture but can't feel it 

 

 

So I was walking towards my feeder by 7am ish this morning, gun out, loaded, safety on, sticks ready, thermal free of other straps, the feeder is positioned so you can shoot from two different angles,  there is often a squirrel on the feeder when it's light early and there was today,  sat at 90° to me quite happy. 

Sticks up, gun up and squirrel down, it just rolled off the platform without a twitch. 

Shooting position 

And zoom in.

 

I moved around and set up, it had rained hard over night, it was breezy as it said it would be, but the hollow I'm in is pretty sheltered,  just the tree tops blowing around unless it gusts.

 

Probably 40 mins before another squirrel shows up, like a pin ball, it came down, zig zags through the Yew tree, onto the feeder, spots the dead squirrel and rockets back the way it came 

I'm watching it go, look back and there's another squirrel on the ground by the dead one, I swing back onto it, settle Pfft Whack it went down,  sat up and rolled out of sight, I didn't like the way it reacted so got up to look.

It was dead bellow the tree, shot had gone in at the neck and down, I must have pulled left a touch. 

 

Now for the close ups, TICK ALERT

 

 

 

TICKS

I haven't seen many over winter on the squirrels but these two bucks had loads, throat,  head, mouth, eyes, ears, give it another few weeks and the first one I shot would have been a real mess.

 

Back into position thinking because I'd been out in the open that's it then, looking at my phone, msgd a couple of mates, @Sciurus and  watched the woodpeckers and the Nuthatch's look up and there's a squirrel on the trunk! Never fails 😁😁

Just it's head poking out, sat rock still going nowhere,  OK then, Pfft Whack,  it froze, tail came over, back legs gripping the bark, then dropped out of sight, but dropped clean, number 3 in the bag.

 

I watched #4 come through the tree canopy maybe ten minutes later, no hesitation straight in and onto the ground under the feeder, sits up nicely and takes a JSB HEAVY to the head, slammed down, went still then bounced around.

 

It was maybe 830 when #5 came in, I was replying to a mate again who I shoot with, I dumped the phone when I spotted the movement, straight down the trunk,  but a bit twitchy,  which I was expecting with there being two dead squirrels on the ground, it messed a bit before going to the feeder platform,  took something and as we like, sat nicely to eat,  Pfft Whack drop,  dead bellow the feeder, three in twenty minutes. 

I was hoping for a couple but really happy with 5.

 

Then I looked at my figures for last year, April and May I only took 8 squirrels from big wood for 6 visits, so I was happy again, despite not being out for weeks and being like a bear with a sore behind.

 

Bag for the day 

Where they've been sat munching the sunflower seeds. 

I'll hopefully get a few more next week.

Looks good mate, day and night, videos, just don't forget to charge it 😅😅

Very good Mice did those 2 a favour with the ticks on them thankfully not seen any down here as yet but I’m sure they’re about ! But I’ll tell ye something these these young nettles are bloody painful 

[Sciurus]

Sam, great set up and video.👍

mice, great report as usual - I have a confession- I was still asleep when you sent your morning  progress text!

By the way, Your wife must be a saint doing all the decorating whilst you go shooting (or didn’t you tell her!)😂

Ticks are a big problem round here - so many sheep and deer but oddly I have only ever seen ticks on squirrels once or twice and I am only a few miles up stream from mice’s wood and mice sees them all the time. Horrible things.

[Mice!]

1 hour ago, Sciurus said:

mice, great report as usual - I have a confession- I was still asleep when you sent your morning  progress text!

By the way, Your wife must be a saint doing all the decorating whilst you go shooting (or didn’t you tell her!)😂

Waiting on phone calls about trapped squirrels no doubt 😉

And she knew I needed some time in the woods, desperately 🤪🤪

Those 5 squirrels will be frozen by now and the ticks dying or dead.

[Sciurus]

@Mice! Actually, I already had two missed calls before breakfast, one to reset a trap set off by a crow and another to pick up a loan trap. Yesterday  I was welding a trashed trap.😡

Your wife is definitely a saint, allowing you to put tick ridden greys in the freezer! What are you doing with them- feeding ferrets?

[Mice!]

16 minutes ago, Sciurus said:

Your wife is definitely a saint, allowing you to put tick ridden greys in the freezer! What are you doing with them- feeding ferrets?

They aren't in my freezer, she'd kill me, although they could have gone in the garage one if it was on, normally a lad has them for his ferrets but this time someone has taken them for his hawks.

4 of the squirrels had exit wounds in the head, only one probably had a pellet in the body which I made him aware of,  apparently he skin's and checks stuff to be sure.

[sam triple]

side view of one out of the garden the other day 

[leakyseals]

Some activity starting around mine, but still quieter now than back in January. There is likely grey activity that Im not seeing as I am back on Mon- Fri dayshifts, so not able to monitor the garden as much.

Ive only bagged 2 of late, both taken in my Mk4 Fenn cage trap on April 28th and 11th of this month, rounding the total for my garden at 20 now.

I did almost run one over on friday morning on my way to work...at 05:20am, Ive never seen one active that early before!

[Walker570]

Yes I have one of those Sightmarks. Took a while to sort it but now impressed. 

Saw an intruder in our wood yesterday, the first for many weeks. Will have a sit down there later.

[Mice!]

2 hours ago, leakyseals said:

did almost run one over on friday morning on my way to work...at 05:20am, Ive never seen one active that early before!

As it gets light earlier they are often on the feeders before first light or shortly after, amazing what a trail camera will show up.

[sam triple]

Sat by my old feeder for 90 min nothing but 2 crows that unfortunately came onto the pheasant feeder each dispatched with no squirrels I moved up to the newer feeder that’s been devoid of any activity in weeks people say squirrels don’t like bluebells not sure if it’s true or not but with the bells dying back , the feeder started to produce again , 

1 came in and didn’t go home again 

no2 obviously no1s mate was barking jigged about for about 5 mins finally poked its head out and got a pellet in the side of it ,

no 3 arrived by the side of me as I was filling a magazine up it made its way to the feeder it’s final resting place 

another 2 came in but I missed them how I don’t know but I did 🙈

But pleased with what I had seen today , also saw a couple of really young ones probably this year’s offspring 

 

[sam triple]

1 hour ago, sam triple said:

Sat by my old feeder for 90 min nothing but 2 crows that unfortunately came onto the pheasant feeder each dispatched with no squirrels I moved up to the newer feeder that’s been devoid of any activity in weeks people say squirrels don’t like bluebells not sure if it’s true or not but with the bells dying back , the feeder started to produce again , 

1 came in and didn’t go home again 

no2 obviously no1s mate was barking jigged about for about 5 mins finally poked its head out and got a pellet in the side of it ,

no 3 arrived by the side of me as I was filling a magazine up it made its way to the feeder it’s final resting place 

another 2 came in but I missed them how I don’t know but I did 🙈

But pleased with what I had seen today , also saw a couple of really young ones probably this year’s offspring 

 

when I remembered to press record 

[Mice!]

1 hour ago, sam triple said:

another 2 came in but I missed them how I don’t know but I did 🙈

It'll be that dodgy sight mate 😅😅

[sam triple]

59 minutes ago, Mice! said:

It'll be that dodgy sight mate 😅😅

😂

[Walker570]

Nut behind the trigger no doubt, been there done that.

The one seen in our wood had the cheek to run across the clearing this afternoon but did not return. This is a half grown youngster. Probably in a trap in the 48hrs with a bit of luck.  Still waiting for grass to be cut so I can get at two of my flip tops.

[sam triple]

9 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Nut behind the trigger no doubt, been there done that.

The one seen in our wood had the cheek to run across the clearing this afternoon but did not return. This is a half grown youngster. Probably in a trap in the 48hrs with a bit of luck.  Still waiting for grass to be cut so I can get at two of my flip tops.

Saw one of what looked liked this year’s young tiny little squirrel bolting up a tree 

[Mice!]

33 minutes ago, sam triple said:

Saw one of what looked liked this year’s young tiny little squirrel bolting up a tree 

You always end up thinking there really far away 😳

[sam triple]

9 hours ago, Mice! said:

You always end up thinking there really far away 😳

I’m guessing they’ll be moving in to the area I’ve just cleared ,

[Mice!]

2 hours ago, sam triple said:

I’m guessing they’ll be moving in to the area I’ve just cleared ,

I mean because the youngsters are so small they look further away than they are, especially if there in the trees

[sam triple]

1 hour ago, Mice! said:

I mean because the youngsters are so small they look further away than they are, especially if there in the trees

Oh yeah 🙈😂

[Good shot?]

My mate had one on the feeder, first one he's had since early February and saw another one but no shot, meanwhile I had a wander with the shotgun and saw three and got two which are my first ones since late February, they have been very scarce.

We where pleased to see they have moved in again to give us some sport as things are very quiet on my perms lately.

I put them out for the  Fox and a local cat had the head off one of them before I chased it off.

[Mice!]

Well lads, it's two months to the day since I've been to this perm, the owners haven't been seeing anything and I've shot ten squirrels here this year, feeder was last topped up/shot 17th March.

I topped it up Sunday night and put up a camera 1930hrs.
Squirrel on the feeder tree following morning at 0615, then steady through Monday and Tuesday with a fair amount of activity around 1400hrs.

Must say I'm shocked at how quickly they are back to it, I put a fair bit out on the ground to bring the birds, but hopefully the squirrels will be shocked tomorrow, brolly and nets are up ready, but I got soaked doing it.

[sam triple]

8 hours ago, Mice! said:

Well lads, it's two months to the day since I've been to this perm, the owners haven't been seeing anything and I've shot ten squirrels here this year, feeder was last topped up/shot 17th March.

I topped it up Sunday night and put up a camera 1930hrs.
Squirrel on the feeder tree following morning at 0615, then steady through Monday and Tuesday with a fair amount of activity around 1400hrs.

Must say I'm shocked at how quickly they are back to it, I put a fair bit out on the ground to bring the birds, but hopefully the squirrels will be shocked tomorrow, brolly and nets are up ready, but I got soaked doing it.

No such thing as a free , as hopefully they’ll find out tomorrow, good luck 🤞 

[Martlandhw100]

I had this view this morning not a lot to aim at but the slug hit the mark and he didn't move a muscle 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Martlandhw100

[TIGHTCHOKE]

OUCH!

[Mice!]

9 hours ago, sam triple said:

No such thing as a free , as hopefully they’ll find out tomorrow, good luck 🤞 

Blanked!! It poured day late last night, and was very windy this morning??

So I went to fill another feeder and found squatters.

I'm quite sure this means there aren't any squirrels coming to this feeder!!

But it's taken some filling by that little blue tit.

I think she's using the feed point like a chimney?