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Old 07-29-2020, 02:25 PM   #61
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We bought a large cage trap from Harbor Freight for about $20 and also have a trail camera that we bought on Ebay for about $38. The trail camera records video or photos of any pests entering your property and helps you identify it so you can bait your trap. For squirrels peanuts in the shell work well. For rabbits use leafy greens. For possums apples work well. Since mid March we have caught and released 23 fox squirrels and one possum. The camera works day and night and is triggered by motion. My wife doesn't want to kill any animals. She initially called a trapping service regarding the squirrels that were menacing our vegetable garden. The trapper quoted $200 for each catch and kill. The trapper stated that the law allows you to trap fox squirrels but since they are non native and invasive, you have to kill them. At $200 a squirrel, I decided that the Harbor Freight cage was the way to go. So far we are 0 for 23 for killing these squirrels as they are too fast for us to grab them by the neck to choke them after we open the cage. Oh well!
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Old 07-29-2020, 03:22 PM   #62
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I live a small westerns cow town that you could walk blind folded across the busiest street in town and nevah get hit by a vehicle at any time of the day.

Even thou a small town no shooting allowed in town...
Check your local ordinances. I'll bet it's legal to shoot air guns as long as it's done responsibly and safely.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this should be your preferred method, simply that it's probably not prohibited as you assume because air guns don't qualify as "firearms" in most jurisdictions.
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Old 07-29-2020, 03:24 PM   #63
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We bought a large cage trap from Harbor Freight for about $20 and also have a trail camera that we bought on Ebay for about $38. The trail camera records video or photos of any pests entering your property and helps you identify it so you can bait your trap. For squirrels peanuts in the shell work well. For rabbits use leafy greens. For possums apples work well. Since mid March we have caught and released 23 fox squirrels and one possum. The camera works day and night and is triggered by motion. My wife doesn't want to kill any animals. She initially called a trapping service regarding the squirrels that were menacing our vegetable garden. The trapper quoted $200 for each catch and kill. The trapper stated that the law allows you to trap fox squirrels but since they are non native and invasive, you have to kill them. At $200 a squirrel, I decided that the Harbor Freight cage was the way to go. So far we are 0 for 23 for killing these squirrels as they are too fast for us to grab them by the neck to choke them after we open the cage. Oh well!
Funny!

But how do you know you caught 23 different fox squirrels? Maybe it was the same one! Or the same three.
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Old 07-29-2020, 05:40 PM   #64
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We bought a large cage trap from Harbor Freight for about $20 and also have a trail camera that we bought on Ebay for about $38. The trail camera records video or photos of any pests entering your property and helps you identify it so you can bait your trap. For squirrels peanuts in the shell work well. For rabbits use leafy greens. For possums apples work well. Since mid March we have caught and released 23 fox squirrels and one possum. The camera works day and night and is triggered by motion. My wife doesn't want to kill any animals. She initially called a trapping service regarding the squirrels that were menacing our vegetable garden. The trapper quoted $200 for each catch and kill. The trapper stated that the law allows you to trap fox squirrels but since they are non native and invasive, you have to kill them. At $200 a squirrel, I decided that the Harbor Freight cage was the way to go. So far we are 0 for 23 for killing these squirrels as they are too fast for us to grab them by the neck to choke them after we open the cage. Oh well!
On the sole occasion I needed to dispatch a raccoon caught in a live trap, I took him into the garage, put a sandbag behind the critter, and put a couple 22 slugs through its brain. Unnecesarily messy. If I have to do so in the future, I will use a bit of engine starter from the parts store (almost pure ether) to knock them out and then dump the trap and unconscious critter into a bucket of water.
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Old 07-29-2020, 06:26 PM   #65
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You move into a wooded area, plant food that attracts rabbits, and THEN complain there are rabbits there! Genius!

The rabbits think the neighborhood is being overrun by humans.

I do not think the problem here is the rabbits.
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Old 07-29-2020, 08:16 PM   #66
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If I have to do so in the future, I will use a bit of engine starter from the parts store (almost pure ether) to knock them out and then dump the trap and unconscious critter into a bucket of water.
And they said you didn't have a soft spot! When I saw the copious quantity of fox squirrels, I figured just dropping the whole trap in the bucket of water.
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Old 07-29-2020, 10:06 PM   #67
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Our problems were gophers and chipmunks, and mice. They feasted on our chicken's food and on tidbits from our compost piles. Two cats solved our problem. The chickens area is fenced with fencing that has 1 x 2 holes.

I made the 2 brother cats an indoor area in a pole barn. They get food, water, and a heated bedroom box, and a hammock to sleep in. They can come and go as they please, but they don't seem to stray far, and our rodent problems have been drastically reduced.

After being born in a friends wood shed its a big step up, lol. And we got them fixed. So far the coyotes haven't found them, or they outwitted them IDK. They seem well adapted and wary. I notice they rarely stray far from trees, unless were outside and come come to say hello.
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Old 07-30-2020, 02:17 PM   #68
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You move into a wooded area, plant food that attracts rabbits, and THEN complain there are rabbits there! Genius!

The rabbits think the neighborhood is being overrun by humans.

I do not think the problem here is the rabbits.
Are you trying to be funny or just being a wise guy
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Old 07-30-2020, 03:02 PM   #69
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You move into a wooded area, plant food that attracts rabbits, and THEN complain there are rabbits there! Genius!
This thread isn't about complaining - it's about solving problems!
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Old 07-30-2020, 04:55 PM   #70
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This thread isn't about complaining - it's about solving problems!
Oy Vey, I live in high density suburban neighborhood that is bordered by a green belt, and I never planted food that attracts rabbits, unless he considers a grass lawn in my fenced in backyard as rabbit food.
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Old 07-30-2020, 06:20 PM   #71
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Funny!

But how do you know you caught 23 different fox squirrels? Maybe it was the same one! Or the same three.
We released them on the other side of the freeway 8 miles from home in the Angeles National Forest at an elevation of 3500 feet. We live at 2000 feet elevation with a freeway passing in the valley below. There is no way they are going to track their way back. Plus we haven't seen a squirrel for over a month now.
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Old 07-30-2020, 06:24 PM   #72
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On the sole occasion I needed to dispatch a raccoon caught in a live trap, I took him into the garage, put a sandbag behind the critter, and put a couple 22 slugs through its brain. Unnecesarily messy. If I have to do so in the future, I will use a bit of engine starter from the parts store (almost pure ether) to knock them out and then dump the trap and unconscious critter into a bucket of water.
Another method is to go to an edge of a hillside and tilt the cage down and open up the cage and let the critter worry about grab onto the hillside rather than come after you.
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Old 07-30-2020, 06:51 PM   #73
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Another method is to go to an edge of a hillside and tilt the cage down and open up the cage and let the critter worry about grab onto the hillside rather than come after you.
My state has bizarre laws on live traps. You must either immediately dispatch the critter or release them within a prescribed time on land where you have the written permission of the property owner. Never mind that my hunting license entitles me to trap an unlimited number of furbearers in season. So I avoid live traps as a rule.
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Old 07-31-2020, 08:50 AM   #74
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My state has bizarre laws on live traps. You must either immediately dispatch the critter or release them within a prescribed time on land where you have the written permission of the property owner. Never mind that my hunting license entitles me to trap an unlimited number of furbearers in season. So I avoid live traps as a rule.
We are required to kill any non native species that we trap. But realistically in a pandemic, who is there to enforce that rule. My wife feels that squirrels are cute little creatures until they start ravaging through our vegetable garden and fruit trees. She doesn't want them killed and I don't want to pay $200 a pop to hire someone to do it. In any case the notion that squirrels don't survive after relocation is silly. Someone introduced these fox squirrels to the West Coast a long time ago. It's been about 3 weeks since the last relocation and we haven't picked up a single pest on our trail camera.
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Old 07-31-2020, 09:19 AM   #75
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We are required to kill any non native species that we trap. But realistically in a pandemic, who is there to enforce that rule. My wife feels that squirrels are cute little creatures until they start ravaging through our vegetable garden and fruit trees. She doesn't want them killed and I don't want to pay $200 a pop to hire someone to do it. In any case the notion that squirrels don't survive after relocation is silly. Someone introduced these fox squirrels to the West Coast a long time ago. It's been about 3 weeks since the last relocation and we haven't picked up a single pest on our trail camera.
Fox squirrels are considered native here, although there is a credible case that they showed up as pioneers came west along the Platte. I enjoy watching them and the dogs keep them scared enough to stay out of the garden. Rats are another matter.
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Old 07-31-2020, 09:45 AM   #76
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We had 3 rabbits that were eating our ornamentals and I was concerned they would also eat the few vegatable plants we had. Live in a rural location. I bought a Havaheart live trap and over a 2 week period caught two of the rabbits and relocated them about 5 miles away to a field next to woods. The third rabbit I could not catch, but soon disappeared after I relocated the other two. I used honey crisp apple chunks to bait the trap and had only one end (door) open (apple on far side of trip plate). This was after having both ends of the trap open and I just happened to be looking at the trap as it tripped and the rabbit inside ran forward and made it out before the door locked shut. Never saw a rabbit run so fast! Now, with only one door open and one way into the trap, after the trigger plate is tripped, the rabbit can't back out fast enough before the door locks shut.

Over the month I was using the trap, it caught 3 or 4 squirrels, as well (or the same one multiple times). I just let them go on site and hopefully the unpleasant experience of being trapped will keep them away. Honestly, the squirles seemed to be a lot more vicious than the rabbits. I was almost afraid to open the trap door with the crazy squirel bouncing back and forth trying to get out.
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Old 07-31-2020, 10:02 AM   #77
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We had 3 rabbits that were eating our ornamentals and I was concerned they would also eat the few vegatable plants we had. Live in a rural location. I bought a Havaheart live trap and over a 2 week period caught two of the rabbits and relocated them about 5 miles away to a field next to woods. The third rabbit I could not catch, but soon disappeared after I relocated the other two. I used honey crisp apple chunks to bait the trap and had only one end (door) open (apple on far side of trip plate). This was after having both ends of the trap open and I just happened to be looking at the trap as it tripped and the rabbit inside ran forward and made it out before the door locked shut. Never saw a rabbit run so fast! Now, with only one door open and one way into the trap, after the trigger plate is tripped, the rabbit can't back out fast enough before the door locks shut.

Over the month I was using the trap, it caught 3 or 4 squirrels, as well (or the same one multiple times). I just let them go on site and hopefully the unpleasant experience of being trapped will keep them away. Honestly, the squirles seemed to be a lot more vicious than the rabbits. I was almost afraid to open the trap door with the crazy squirel bouncing back and forth trying to get out.
Pound for pound, squirrels are tough customers. When hunting, I don't pick one up unless I am sure they are dead. Usually prod them before touching and they get another one in the head if I am in doubt. You do not want to get bit.
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Old 07-31-2020, 10:09 AM   #78
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Oy Vey, I live in high density suburban neighborhood that is bordered by a green belt, and I never planted food that attracts rabbits, unless he considers a grass lawn in my fenced in backyard as rabbit food.

When the firestorm blew through here two years ago, most of the animals were consumed along with the vegetation. Upon return to our rather bleak new reality, we noticed one thin, lonely, jackrabbit hanging around the house looking for something to eat. A small patch of withered lawn at a neighbors property appeared to be the only available green forage. Since they had dogs, Roger kept his distance at our place while waiting for nightfall and the opportunity to browse unmolested.
So......softhearted DW brought home a large sack of rabbit chow to set things right. We were not attempting to tame a wild animal, just to help rectify a bad situation.
Now the funny part - for some unknown reason, the crazy rabbit identified me as his* savior. Whenever I filled the dish, he came out of hiding running in circles and kicking his heels up in a fit of joy. He only did this with me. Although slightly more wary with age, Roger is still my pal even though I no longer feed him.
* not verified
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Old 07-31-2020, 10:51 AM   #79
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I bought a new diesel Rabbit about 40 years ago. Great mileage, around 42 mpg, but terribly underpowered. I was glad to get rid of it.
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Old 07-31-2020, 10:52 AM   #80
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Fox squirrels are considered native here, although there is a credible case that they showed up as pioneers came west along the Platte. I enjoy watching them and the dogs keep them scared enough to stay out of the garden. Rats are another matter.
I have not seen rats nor mice anywhere on our property. We have two great horned owls living in the tree behind us that are pretty efficient hunters. We also live at 2000 feet elevation and the area is swarming with raptors. The hill sides that surround our area are loaded with mice and other rodents that these raptors hunt.
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