My shed's infested with flying squirrels. . .

[EM_PS]

So spring cleaning is on the agenda, and I crack open the old backyard shed to see how well it weathered another harsh-ass MI winter. First thing i notice is a leafy nest some little critter(s) decided to make in my kids' 2-up collapsible stroller. Wonderful, I think. The whole shed smells like a giant hamster cage, and about looks like one, w/ little droppings everywhere. I wonder what it is that decided to take up residence. . .when, having the feeling something is watching me, i look up at trusses to see a wide-eyed flying squirrel peering down at me. [typ below]

Cute yes. . .but tonite i notice there's at least 3 of the little "Rocky's" banging around in there. Now its personal, and I want my shed back! Has anyone had to deal w/ a f'n flying squirrel infestation before? I'm planning on launching an assault tomorrow. . .probably be pics pending - unless the mission goes south . . .

 

[mudpuppy]

I've never had to deal with flying squirrels, but I have a lot of regular squirrels in my trees/yard. I hate them, but I can't shoot them here in the city. They dig up the yard and destroy the flowers and everything. I am interested to see how your mission turns out; maybe I can pick up a few tips.

 

[Freon]

I recommend either a high-end .22 cal pellet rifle, of something in the .22 rimfire family that will shoot CB caps or shorts.

Freon

 

[EM_PS]

I am under similar 'no-shoot' proviso as mudpuppy, unfortunately :brickwall:

 

[Freon]

You could go to the pound and adopt a cat.

 

[bigray76]

Poison Peanuts.... that will do the trick.

Don't forget, this is coming from a man who set a homemade snare to catch a groundhog (and failed)... FYI - the groundhog is now happily living under my neighbor (Jim)' s shed... and his daughter nicknamed him 'Hoggy'... we have a secret deal worked out for the borrowed Hav-A-Heart Trap and pellet gun in the spring...

 

[Dleg]

Regular old .177 pellets used to work just fine for me (though not for the squirrels....) At least, that is, using the pump-up type of air guns, pumped to the max (10), with a telescopic sight for beading in on their widdle heads....

 

[frazil]

Poison Peanuts.... that will do the trick.
Don't forget, this is coming from a man who set a homemade snare to catch a groundhog (and failed)... FYI - the groundhog is now happily living under my neighbor (Jim)' s shed... and his daughter nicknamed him 'Hoggy'... we have a secret deal worked out for the borrowed Hav-A-Heart Trap and pellet gun in the spring...

Well done bigray (moving him to your neighbors)! :appl:

Good luck EM! :lmao:

 

[Chucktown PE]

Benjamin Air Rifle. We have regular old squirrels in South Carolina. Those things would destroy our back yard when I was a kid. They would shred a pinecone into about a thousand pieces and with about 30 pine trees in our back yard, our back yard was turned into pinecone mulch. So my parents gave me a Benjamin Air Rifle for Christmas one year and put me to work. Those things are accurate enough to kill a squirrel to about 30 yards. The don't make a lot of noise so your excessive government regulation shouldn't be a problem. No gunpowder involved.

 

[Slugger926]

We used to live trap squirrels at my grandpas in Albany, GA. They loved pecans, and would go in the trap for some of the nice pecans compared to the others they had already chewed on all over the ground. I remember one squirrel we spray painted blue, and drove it 40 miles away. It was back in the yard two days later. Squirrels have a larger territory than most people realize, and the only way to get rid of them is with the .177 after trapping.

 

[MA_PE]

two words: ratpoison and Peanutbutter

 

[Road Guy]

can you just open the door and throw in a dog?

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

^ Get yourself a Westie and you'll be all set.

We had some sort of racoon or skunk terrorizing our plants a couple years back. We put down some coyote urine granules and it kept them away. Once you get rid of the ones you have, you might want to put that down to keep his friends away.

 

[FLBuff PE]

We had some sort of racoon or skunk terrorizing our plants a couple years back. We put down some coyote urine granules and it kept them away. Once you get rid of the ones you have, you might want to put that down to keep his friends away.

Coyote urine? That sounds expensive. EM, I say set up a perimeter around your shed by 'marking your terrotory' after some whiskeys on the rox.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

^ It was about $15 for a big container of it. You just sprinkle it around the area where you want to repel the animals. It worked pretty well, and a little goes a long way. Just don't sniff the jar...yuck!

 

[jeb6294]

Coyote urine? That sounds expensive.

I should think so...how much do you figure they've got to pay a guy to stand there with a cup while a ticked off coyote takes a piss?

 

[snickerd3]

Coyote urine? That sounds expensive. EM, I say set up a perimeter around your shed by 'marking your terrotory' after some whiskeys on the rox.

it's probably synthetic. collected once, reproduced in lab, then mass produced for sale. You'd be amazed how often synthetic pee shows up in things like lotion or other beauty products.

 

[csb]

It just so happens that my best friend has spent the last six years studying flying squirrels and she now has her PhD. Here is her response:

"They need to figure out where they're getting into the shed and stuff the hole with steel wool. Wrapping the steel wool around a mothball would also be a good idea. They don't like the smell. Before or after finding the hole, they need to trap them and put them outside. They can probably get small box, live-traps from the local humane shelter and then should bait the traps with a mixture of peanut butter, oatmeal, and molasses (it should be the consistency of cookie dough - sticks to itself and isn't too crumbly and is dark from the molasses)."

She also said you can e-mail her...PM me for the address if you want.

 

[csb]

more info....she says that if you wait until just after sunset, they'll have left to go foraging and you don't have to trap them. She also said that the three you have probably are not the only ones...so make sure to plug the shed up to get rid of them all.

 

[EM_PS]

Operation "Rocky: Meet thy Bullwinkle"

Ok, long ass day dealing with cleaning out a shed, and Rocky & all his pals - so here was ground zero - the nest (actually one of many)

and upon removing their little hives, this is the audience i get

. . . .and. . . .

and. . .. . . and the rogue's gallery close up

There probably had to be about 12 of these guys running around. I seriously thought i had my old Daisy Powerline 880 .117 BB gun buried in there somewhere, but alas, no. I even found my stash of BBs & pointed .177 pellets, which woulda made fast work of these clowns (wtf is my air gun!?). Anyways, i was able to corral a # of them out thru the door w/ a broom, and actually got to see some of them glide right out from the ceiling trusses - in the words of Spicoli: Totally Gnarly! Not killing 'em just to see that was worth it.

CSB - unreal. . .a phD in flying squirrels (so to say)? Fact is funnier than fiction - So i did find where they had gotten in, and replaced the chewed thru soffit board w/ some 3/4" plywood. The downside. . .not all of the critters left residence. However, I did leave the door open, and now that its past sunset, maybe try closing the door, and hope all them got out. Elsewise, I'll seed the place w/ mothballs, and try the same thing tomorrow evening. . .failing that, Daisy or Crosman will be getting some stimulus spending from me, and it'll be open season on Rocky! They are stoopid cute though. . .and my 4 yr old yelling in there at the squirrels to stop pooping on her Dora jeep was hilarious too.