South central KY . 57 degrees out @ 7 AM gusty wind 12Mph TWO full bird feeders , but no squirrels . Trees empty ? bummer for sure !
Hmmm no squirrels ?
- Thread starter beerthief
- Start date
Must of moved here .. seems i go from seeing none to a few to where the heck did all these come from.. lol.. just seems to run that cycle.
Upvote 0
It's been my experience that they hunker down when the tree tops are moving around. I guess it's not so safe jumping from tree to tree when they are moving. 
I bet as soon as the wind dies down you'll have multiple targets of opportunity.
As you know, a bird feeder is like a squirrel all you can eat buffet and they can't resist.
I bet as soon as the wind dies down you'll have multiple targets of opportunity.
As you know, a bird feeder is like a squirrel all you can eat buffet and they can't resist.
Upvote 0
yes , the squirrels hunkered down , heavy rain and wind for a few minutes , maybe the local weather people should pay more attention to the squirrels ?
Upvote 0
Man, I hadn't had a squirrel this year til yesterday. I figured they put me on ignore or something.
Upvote 0
I'm down at least 5 from what I got the last two years. I'm not sure the cause but I also noticed that there were no small ones. We had some unusually cold weather this winter and I'm wondering if maybe the young ones did not survive the cold weather. I've also had a hawk and an eagle flying around so they may have killed a few too.
Upvote 0
After a very active hurricane season in 2020 here in Louisiana, we have had very poor squirrel hunting, they’re starting to come back but it’s been tough. A biologist from wildlife and fisheries said that a combination of food loss from downed trees and parvo has caused the low numbers.
Upvote 0
Here in the northeast the acorn seasons have been pretty bad, abs without food, the squirrel numbers dwindle. I haven’t seen a decent amount of squirrels here for a few years now. The chipper numbers stay good though, so I’ll always have something to shoot at!
Upvote 0
Here in southern NH we had a heavy acorn mast in 2020 and 2021 leading to a population boom for t-rats and chippers. This past fall we had only 1 oak tree with acorns and the t-rats were all over it, stripping it clean in just a couple of weeks. I took several t-rats from that tree with my R7. I haven't seen a squirrel since December, normally I'd have several on my feeders every day. We had a cold snap in early February where temps got down as low as -18 degF, I imagine that a few starving t-rats froze to death that night.
Upvote 0
I literally shot every squirrel off of our property over the fall and winter of last year. Probably killed 25 off of my 2 acre back yard that is full of pecan and oak trees. We didn't see a squirrel for months and then all of the sudden one, then two, now three are showing up on the regular. Very small. We are not going to shoot any for another year and see what the population does. I've put out multiple feeders for them. So, I'm hoping by August 2024, I'll be back in business again.
Upvote 0
I don’t shoot the squirrels in my yard, though the reds are pushing their luck in the barn. My Jack Russell keeps them away from the house. So on any given day I see a half dozen doing their thing while I plink.
Upvote 0
Here in the mid Atlantic, it’s been a terrible season for me. I usually don’t start hunting them until January after I’m finished with deer hunting. Saw plenty of them during the fall but now rarely a sighting. Strange
Upvote 0
I had and still have lots of acorns in the yard. I also have out a bird feeder and I have seen squirrels under it eating what the birds dropped. Besides the weather I also lost a 75 foot tall oak that was the only oak on one side of my yard. I dubbed it my "killing tree". It got root rot and fell in late July of last year. I still have 6 oaks on the other side of the yard but I think loosing that tree probably reduced my opportunities too.
Upvote 0
I expect this is their mating season there, so that might change their schedule. It's also a good time to sleep in and try them early-mid afternoon, especially if it's cold.
Upvote 0
Almost hit 60 degrees with no wind tonight here in south central PA...sat by the feeder for almost two hours...nothing. Come to think of it I haven't see a tree rat in weeks.
I know they are here though; they keep devouring all the peanuts from the feeder. Won't touch the corn...
Upvote 0
@scubajeeper I have not heard of squirrels catching parvovirus. I’ve read of them carrying it. Are you certain that the biologist told you that squirrels have caught parvovirus?
Upvote 0
It was second hand info, I didn’t think too much about it at the time and had no reason to doubt it. All I really know we had squirrels before hurricane Laura and hardly any after.
Upvote 0