squirrel control

[Morkin]

Sorry to here about ya hip WALKER 570 we need you to get out there, because I see we are down on numbers this year at this time last year , hope you soon get sorted and take care Buddy 👍 you will have to get the old 🪓🪓🪓 out🤣

[Morkin]

Went this morning, ended up with 1 bill boy, but I was there for 1 hour 1/2 and he must have sniffed every tree and then disappear , and then back again but not on the feeder to get shot off, and then he felt a bit peckish, whack😜 they keep comming ( slowly)🤔

[Fisheruk]

Well it’s good to have a new knee that’s working well. 
Out this morning -2c but beautiful.

Red Squirrel happily having the breakfast which I had provided. It started twitching its tail and then a Grey appeared. 35 metres with the FAC FX Verminator and the Red can feast easy.

 

[Mice!]

7 hours ago, Fisheruk said:

Well it’s good to have a new knee that’s working well. 
Out this morning -2c but beautiful.

Red Squirrel happily having the breakfast which I had provided. It started twitching its tail and then a Grey appeared. 35 metres with the FAC FX Verminator and the Red can feast easy.

 

Brilliant 👍

The short version of my morning is.....

[old man]

Out this morning again but different location.

Saw one at 50yds in the tree tops finally vanish somehow. An hour later 1 appeared 10yds away from my right shoulder only to zoom away as our eyes met. Finally an hour after that 1 appeared 15 yds away on the ground brash, as it looked away the S200 did it's bit. Unable to recover due to a new 4ft stock fence with double strand of barbed wire topping.

 

[old man]

A better week this one, 2 visits 9 down.

All shot from tree tops where they were feasting on new buds except a female trying to get with kitts on the ground. A satisfying free hand shot with a bit of hold over for 40yds. 

[old man]

2  today, 1 from the trees, 1 wandering in the floor brash.

[Fisheruk]

A thumping 685 grams pregnant female from beneath a woodland feeder this morning 

 

[Walker570]

Well done up there. We enjoyed the pic of the red.  Good letters in the Telegraph pointing out that greys are coniverous and will eat birds eggs and young and not just veggies.

Numbers here are low to nil. Have not seen one in our wood for couple of months and my neighbour had a sudden influx of three which he dealt with.  I have them returning to one of my flip tops at the farm so will have a look this week hopefully as I can drive and shoot from the car if I can't climb the steps up to the blimd. Unfortunately The Pear Tree flip top will be out of use for 12 months as that field is being ploughed and put to maize then back to grass, so going to be late autumn before I can get down there.  Still one or two at the golf club and as soon as it dries out enough not to mark the ground then I can drive to both flip tops there.  No news on the hip just two boxes of pain killers. I will give them a couple of weeks and chase them up a bit.   I had to fill in a questionaire..two pages....as to how the pain was effecting me. A choice of 5 for each situation.  Someone is being paid to collate all this rubbish, money down the drain.   GRRRRRRR I need a tree rat to show up.

[Mice!]

4 hours ago, Fisheruk said:

thumping 685 grams pregnant female from beneath a woodland feeder this morning 

It's good, but I had the lad weigh the 8 I took back in Feb.

714g
576g
734g
617g
615g
321g
709g
369g

And they weren't even pregnant,  just some big squirrels!

We've had more red news up here, we had reports of fleeting visits last year, and from very close by there have been pictures and videos this last week, apparently they haven't seen reds in their garden for a long time.

and after seeing a couple of reds they started getting greys showing up, and ended up removing 7 in a week.

unfortunately on the other end of the spectrum we see pictures like this, where control has been denied. 

So @Walker570 one bit of news will have you smiling and one will make your trigger finger itch.

[Fisheruk]

When you see and hear of Reds returning it makes it all worthwhile.

[jall25]

10 hours ago, Fisheruk said:

When you see and hear of Reds returning it makes it all worthwhile.

Great work by you guys 

[old man]

On 29/03/2023 at 10:42, Fisheruk said:

A thumping 685 grams pregnant female from beneath a woodland feeder this morning 

 

Carrying the next generation?

[ratchers]

Down on the farm for the the first time in a while and really wasn't expecting to see any greys especially right at the start of the wood where Iv'e never seen them before but there it was shinning up a pine tree,waited for it to give a clear shot which it never did but now there were two and I followed them through the upper tree branches until one stopped and gave me a chance lent on a tree for support and fired, heard the pellet hit and saw it rear up and then just stand there for ages,was about to shoot again when I heard it hit the ground, retreived it to see a clean head shot. Did see another grey where I normally see them but lost it in the branches.

[ratchers]

Just back from a very cold morning in the large wood in which I got four recently,had to scrape the ice off the car first! was in position by seven and first thing I saw was a very fit Doberman which eyed me up and then went, thank goodness. After a while the first grey came along and was at the base of the tree where the feeder was and I was justing waiting for it to go and get breakfast when off he went through the brash, oh well, suns up and starting to warm up slightly when after an hour finally get a grey on to the feeder where he receives a clean head shot, did see another grey but not close enough.Was hoping to see the red which was seen on the trail cam on the box, maybe next time I hope.

[Mice!]

4 hours ago, ratchers said:

Just back from a very cold morning in the large wood in which I got four recently,had to scrape the ice off the car first! was in position by seven and first thing I saw was a very fit Doberman which eyed me up and then went, thank goodness. After a while the first grey came along and was at the base of the tree where the feeder was and I was justing waiting for it to go and get breakfast when off he went through the brash, oh well, suns up and starting to warm up slightly when after an hour finally get a grey on to the feeder where he receives a clean head shot, did see another grey but not close enough.Was hoping to see the red which was seen on the trail cam on the box, maybe next time I hope.

Are the squirrels hiring guard dogs then??

Nice that you aren't seeing loads of you have a red about 👍

[arjimlad]

Bopped four on a walkabout yesterday. I was using my FAC Super10. When I had removed the buddy bottle to top it up, the seal popped although I had fired off all the air from the regulator. I inspected the seal visually and all seemed well. 

I entered a small triangle of woodland and stood waiting, then a squirrel announced itself behind me. Peering slowly round the oak tree I had been leaning against, I was able to see it & dispatch it. A large female with what felt like a litter on board. 

I then went off to a larger wood and again stood still until I saw/heard some squirrels, and I got two there, with two escaping due to unobserved twigs in the way. 

The last one of the day was next to a large drey at about 7pm, about 35 yards off.

The headshot was perfect, resting my arm against a tree trunk.

I then shot into the drey to see what would come out and the shot sounded weak, then the next shot was obviously under-powered so I stopped shooting altogether. Taking the magazine out & dry-firing suggested the regulator was empty. I presumed that the seal was leaking.

When I got home I went to remove the buddy bottle, though, and the gun was firing perfectly. I couldn't find my bag of buddy bottle o-rings... they'll turn up soon! 

[ratchers]

Out this morning and had to scrape the car again,was gonna be another cold un in the wood and yes I saw that doberman again, but maybe it was guarding a red, YES I saw a red squirrel for the first time in five years, all them cold mornings shooting greys had paid off and even though there are still greys in the wood, we have a red again, I spent five minutes watching it go up and down a large pine tree before it went. Pleasure over back to knocking the greys off, only shot one out of five seen but they all count,

[Mice!]

5 hours ago, ratchers said:

Out this morning and had to scrape the car again,was gonna be another cold un in the wood and yes I saw that doberman again, but maybe it was guarding a red, YES I saw a red squirrel for the first time in five years, all them cold mornings shooting greys had paid off and even though there are still greys in the wood, we have a red again, I spent five minutes watching it go up and down a large pine tree before it went. Pleasure over back to knocking the greys off, only shot one out of five seen but they all count,

It is a magical moment when a red pops up, even better when you know its there because of your efforts in tackling the greys 👏👏👏

[Mice!]

@Sciurus feeling hungry mate? I hope there local squirrels 😉

[Sciurus]

4 hours ago, Mice! said:

@Sciurus feeling hungry mate? I hope there local squirrels 😉

Funny you should ask that, I was wondering the same - they do have their own keeper, who used to do control in their woods- They are also very good supporters of our Society 👍

[Mice!]

Is no one going shooting anymore?

You know the drill lads, make a pot of tea, get the biscuits and come back.

There's been lots of filling feeders lately but no shooting because of work, well the shifts have swung so I'm back on em!
I went and topped up the two near feeders Thursday only to find them empty, it had been almost two weeks!
And I still didn't pick up my cameras so just went in blind on Saturday morning, I don't often shoot Saturday's, and might not again 😅

Brolley was up waiting so I arrived and sat down, ten minutes later I could see the first squirrel running towards the feeder, it took a morsel off the floor sat up nice, Pfft Whack flip around.
I hadn't started early because I knew it was going to be cold, so it's 710am.
I heard a squirrel above me almost straight away, it went over me, down the feeder tree then back up, and the noise started, at least 20 minutes of barking and squeaking, tail flicking, going up and down while I just sat and took the abuse.

It finally shut up suddenly, shot down onto the feeder, then the ground, then the feeder, but just wasn't happy. So when it pauses looking g my way it was Pfft Whack drop, two down in 30 minutes happy days.
I gave it till half 8 in case any more showed up, but it was just the birds, then the cock pheasant and Roe buck creeping up behind me trying to give me a heart attack.

Two males, pack up and move on.

Let the strangeness commence, it's a quiet little back road where I park, odd cars go by, and I park in a gate way.
Imagine my surprise when I follow another car that parks there? Then another car pulls in as well?
All I had to do was grab the gun, sticks and bag and get in the wood before them, I thought there probably dog walkers so I'll double time it and get up out the way then enjoy an hour or so.
There were two squirrels when I arrived chasing each other, so I thought good they'll be back, then the noise started
It was like a mix of laughter and a horse braying, plus conversation, if two or three people were stood on opposite sides of a rugby field!!!
I had squirrels coming in toward the feeder, but would stop at the noise, not commit and turn away?
I was waiting for them to walk by but they never did, but the finally quietened a bit, it was just odd chinking noises, like someone moving bottles??

Finally had a squirrel come into the zone, it was on edge, looked like a flight risk so Pfft Whack drop, one down.
I had another come in, but it wasn't happy with the noise or dead mate on the ground so it messed around then left
Then after a while another came in from straight ahead, it paused probably ten metres past the feeder, didn't look happy again, but this one I was already looking at through the scope, it lifted its front leg, listening to the odd sounds, and I threaded a JSB HEAVY between the leaves and branches, Whack and a back flip, a nice shot and that was enough for me.

Another two males, one on the left was huge.

I packed up and walked out, walking past the three folk, who may or may not have seen me, they were digging, what they were digging I've no idea, and I didn't go over because they'd just have noticed the gun bag, so I'll investigate next time I'm there, on a nice quiet Wednesday morning.

That was the morning done, it was beautiful and sunny, but that means taking a wander with the thermal is a bit pointless, and it's a Saturday so who knows what I might come across!

Two hour brunch and I was back out, I'll condense this though, I went to check out a new wood and put up two feeders, I know I'll move them again, but I wanted to get them up and running, plus I'll have help here monitoring and filling, absolutely stunning wood that I hardly went into, I'll definitely be taking an early morning walk and stalk at some point.

It took me three hours to put those up 😅

After that I went up to big wood, a feeder that I leave over winter was empty and the bigger feeder had been emptied after a week!

Topped up ready.

Floor covered in sunflower casings usually means squirrels. 

Then I spotted a squirrel up the hill, so lead a merry dance, and didn't see anything else till I was leaving.
Spotted a cracking Roe buck, then I was back at the car, I looked up into the field and Spotted two squirrels chasing each other, quite far out into the field?
Got in the car, set off but now there's 4 squirrels playing chase and acting like rabbits?
They weren't far from the first feeder, so I parked up and went up hoping they'd head that way, it was 7pm and I'd been out 5hrs.
I watched those rabbits sorry squirrels for 45 minutes, I've never seen squirrels go out into a grass field like that before, there have been sheep on it, so it's grazed but it was very odd behaviour?

Pretty safe to say I enjoyed my afternoon forest bathing, and I enjoyed my chippy tea because I was Hank Marvin 😋
So 6 feeders out, couple more I'm not counting, just not enough free mornings at the moment, I'll get the camera's up next week because I need to see what's going on.

Have a good day chaps 👍

[Longbower]

2 today with the HW95k , .177  . 
 

1 recovered  , 1 not (fell in the stream).

 

[Longbower]

Good old 95k with victim

[jall25]

On 16/04/2023 at 11:17, Mice! said:

Is no one going shooting anymore?

You know the drill lads, make a pot of tea, get the biscuits and come back.

There's been lots of filling feeders lately but no shooting because of work, well the shifts have swung so I'm back on em!
I went and topped up the two near feeders Thursday only to find them empty, it had been almost two weeks!
And I still didn't pick up my cameras so just went in blind on Saturday morning, I don't often shoot Saturday's, and might not again 😅

Brolley was up waiting so I arrived and sat down, ten minutes later I could see the first squirrel running towards the feeder, it took a morsel off the floor sat up nice, Pfft Whack flip around.
I hadn't started early because I knew it was going to be cold, so it's 710am.
I heard a squirrel above me almost straight away, it went over me, down the feeder tree then back up, and the noise started, at least 20 minutes of barking and squeaking, tail flicking, going up and down while I just sat and took the abuse.

It finally shut up suddenly, shot down onto the feeder, then the ground, then the feeder, but just wasn't happy. So when it pauses looking g my way it was Pfft Whack drop, two down in 30 minutes happy days.
I gave it till half 8 in case any more showed up, but it was just the birds, then the cock pheasant and Roe buck creeping up behind me trying to give me a heart attack.

Two males, pack up and move on.

Let the strangeness commence, it's a quiet little back road where I park, odd cars go by, and I park in a gate way.
Imagine my surprise when I follow another car that parks there? Then another car pulls in as well?
All I had to do was grab the gun, sticks and bag and get in the wood before them, I thought there probably dog walkers so I'll double time it and get up out the way then enjoy an hour or so.
There were two squirrels when I arrived chasing each other, so I thought good they'll be back, then the noise started
It was like a mix of laughter and a horse braying, plus conversation, if two or three people were stood on opposite sides of a rugby field!!!
I had squirrels coming in toward the feeder, but would stop at the noise, not commit and turn away?
I was waiting for them to walk by but they never did, but the finally quietened a bit, it was just odd chinking noises, like someone moving bottles??

Finally had a squirrel come into the zone, it was on edge, looked like a flight risk so Pfft Whack drop, one down.
I had another come in, but it wasn't happy with the noise or dead mate on the ground so it messed around then left
Then after a while another came in from straight ahead, it paused probably ten metres past the feeder, didn't look happy again, but this one I was already looking at through the scope, it lifted its front leg, listening to the odd sounds, and I threaded a JSB HEAVY between the leaves and branches, Whack and a back flip, a nice shot and that was enough for me.

Another two males, one on the left was huge.

I packed up and walked out, walking past the three folk, who may or may not have seen me, they were digging, what they were digging I've no idea, and I didn't go over because they'd just have noticed the gun bag, so I'll investigate next time I'm there, on a nice quiet Wednesday morning.

That was the morning done, it was beautiful and sunny, but that means taking a wander with the thermal is a bit pointless, and it's a Saturday so who knows what I might come across!

Two hour brunch and I was back out, I'll condense this though, I went to check out a new wood and put up two feeders, I know I'll move them again, but I wanted to get them up and running, plus I'll have help here monitoring and filling, absolutely stunning wood that I hardly went into, I'll definitely be taking an early morning walk and stalk at some point.

It took me three hours to put those up 😅

After that I went up to big wood, a feeder that I leave over winter was empty and the bigger feeder had been emptied after a week!

Topped up ready.

Floor covered in sunflower casings usually means squirrels. 

Then I spotted a squirrel up the hill, so lead a merry dance, and didn't see anything else till I was leaving.
Spotted a cracking Roe buck, then I was back at the car, I looked up into the field and Spotted two squirrels chasing each other, quite far out into the field?
Got in the car, set off but now there's 4 squirrels playing chase and acting like rabbits?
They weren't far from the first feeder, so I parked up and went up hoping they'd head that way, it was 7pm and I'd been out 5hrs.
I watched those rabbits sorry squirrels for 45 minutes, I've never seen squirrels go out into a grass field like that before, there have been sheep on it, so it's grazed but it was very odd behaviour?

Pretty safe to say I enjoyed my afternoon forest bathing, and I enjoyed my chippy tea because I was Hank Marvin 😋
So 6 feeders out, couple more I'm not counting, just not enough free mornings at the moment, I'll get the camera's up next week because I need to see what's going on.

Have a good day chaps 👍

 

Squirrels will go into the fields quite a lot actually Mice