Squirrels faq / so you know.
- Thread starter markT
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I knew some of that, but not all of it . Thats very interesting. Thank you for sharing that.
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They have two litters per year. The fall litter over winters with the mother. Litters are born near the spring and fall equinoxes. This means a female can have up to 16 young every year.
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Didn't know they lived in groups or were territorial, I seen 7 at one time in the back yard around a feeder didn't see any fights just normal play.
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I have seen up to four squirrels in my area, It all started about four years ago when I seen one, I have putting out chicken scratch grain for them , They do not seem to like it much.
I need them to multiply a little faster and at a loss as to how to go about this, I do not think the population is enough for me to take any of them out.
Mike
I need them to multiply a little faster and at a loss as to how to go about this, I do not think the population is enough for me to take any of them out.
Mike
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Years ago I killed so many that I thought I had killed them all. I built squirrel boxes and put up four boxes all around my yard. Along with feeders. Wasn’t too long and they made homes and young. They like peanuts and sunflower seed. They don’t like corn so much unless really hungry.
Simce I relocated the red tailed hawks control the population around here.
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I live in a neighborhood bordering hardwoods timber, mostly pin oak, we have a lot of fox squirrels nesting around us and at any given time in the fall you can count 5 to 7 squirrels running around ours and neighboring yards. They're fun to watch and I can't find any reason to chase them away as they (and deer) help rid the yard of the small acorns of the pin oaks.
As another mentioned I don't see much territorial fighting either.....unless you consider the high speed animated chasing and spiraling around tree trunks fighting? I prefer to believe that is more of a mating - courtship ritual. Our nesting squirrels usually have just 2 kits per litter that I've noticed.
I've tried to acclimate these squirrels to in-the-shell unsalted peanuts and have had no luck doing so. They do like corn though, and will sit for hours gnawing and devouring only the inside goodness of the kernels.
Friends that know I'm an airgun shooter and once-upon-a-time hunter years ago, ask if I shoot the squirrels, and I tell them "No, I won't shoot them...because if my pension and SS ever go away I may need them to survive.....squirrel stew
" My wife says she will likely starve first.
As another mentioned I don't see much territorial fighting either.....unless you consider the high speed animated chasing and spiraling around tree trunks fighting? I prefer to believe that is more of a mating - courtship ritual. Our nesting squirrels usually have just 2 kits per litter that I've noticed.
I've tried to acclimate these squirrels to in-the-shell unsalted peanuts and have had no luck doing so. They do like corn though, and will sit for hours gnawing and devouring only the inside goodness of the kernels.
Friends that know I'm an airgun shooter and once-upon-a-time hunter years ago, ask if I shoot the squirrels, and I tell them "No, I won't shoot them...because if my pension and SS ever go away I may need them to survive.....squirrel stew
" My wife says she will likely starve first.Upvote 0
Thanks for sharing that information. Where I live the fox squirrels have slowly been showing up over the last couple years in the neighborhood. They have been highly concentrated in the “downtown” areas since I was a kid. They are slowly expanding outward and it cool to see them in the front yard once in a while.
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good info. gray squirrels frequent the feeders and will eat the suet, nibble the hearts of whole corn, eat all the safflower seeds, and eat or bury the in-the-shell peanuts i put out for them. the local feed store sells the peanuts, whole and cracked corn, and safflower seeds in 50lb bags. less than $40 gets enough feed for the entire winter. i make the suet cakes myself. at the moment we only have 4 squirrels regularly visiting the yard, if they get up to 8, that's when the culling begins. the cracked corn, suet, and safflower seeds are meant for the many different birds that visit.
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I only got into “hunting” killing squirrels due to the damage they did. The damage ranges from crop destruction ( pecans and figs) to damage to my domicile. Specifically gnawing on facia and entering the attic to nest and chew on electrical wiring. I think squirrels are funnier than a rubber crutch to watch. BUT they dang sure do a lot of damage. Eat them? No way. Older houses have lead in the paint and they chew and probably ingest some of the paint.
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markT,, I can understand your disgust and dislike of squirrels doing that kind of damage, pecans and figs sounds like a tasty food source for a squirrel.
I will shoot a Red Squirrel on SIGHT if I see one, Reds are the only squirrels I've ever had experience with that will chew their way INTO a structure. We don't have nuisance Reds in our neighborhood, but I have shot them at my mother in laws property for that exact chewing distruction.
I will shoot a Red Squirrel on SIGHT if I see one, Reds are the only squirrels I've ever had experience with that will chew their way INTO a structure. We don't have nuisance Reds in our neighborhood, but I have shot them at my mother in laws property for that exact chewing distruction.
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I discovered some more damage this morning. This is a top to a planter that is empty. Tree rat decided it was a good place to sharpen his teeth.
And some people think a single shot is enough. This sob will have a jsb in his skull soon. And all his da$n friends and family will die. Already got the feeder up too.
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First thanks for this post.
" Mothers squirrels are most vicious when defending their babies"
A customer of mine was attacked by a squirrel after shooting one squirrel from a tree. He said they was two squirrels in the tree, & he shot one, that fell dead to the ground. He said before he could shoot the second squirrel it attakced him, first frontal assault, then got on his back digging into his clothes and back. He said it went on for sometime , before he laid down on his back smashing the squirrel & it let loose and ran off.
I have used squirrel distress calls & they are really effective, especially early season with female fox squirrels. I have had to shoot them from the hip to prevent them from jumping on me. They think a hawk is attacting their young & really are deterimined to stop the attack. Nothing is as ferocious as pissed off mother protecting her young. While this call will locate grays & get them barking to reveal location, it works best on Fox Squirrels. They come running.
I have a shack in the mountains & a few years ago , stupidly I put t-111 on the bottom as underskirting. Everytime I go up there, I see two or three fox squirrels run off. They have nearly ate all the t-111 up. I am going to replace it with metal or cedar. I kind of think I deserve it as I have taken a lot of squirrels in over fifty years of hunting them,. I expect to be atttacked by one like my customer was. I will probably have a heart attack or at least poop my pants. Happy Huntin.
" Mothers squirrels are most vicious when defending their babies"
A customer of mine was attacked by a squirrel after shooting one squirrel from a tree. He said they was two squirrels in the tree, & he shot one, that fell dead to the ground. He said before he could shoot the second squirrel it attakced him, first frontal assault, then got on his back digging into his clothes and back. He said it went on for sometime , before he laid down on his back smashing the squirrel & it let loose and ran off.
I have used squirrel distress calls & they are really effective, especially early season with female fox squirrels. I have had to shoot them from the hip to prevent them from jumping on me. They think a hawk is attacting their young & really are deterimined to stop the attack. Nothing is as ferocious as pissed off mother protecting her young. While this call will locate grays & get them barking to reveal location, it works best on Fox Squirrels. They come running.
I have a shack in the mountains & a few years ago , stupidly I put t-111 on the bottom as underskirting. Everytime I go up there, I see two or three fox squirrels run off. They have nearly ate all the t-111 up. I am going to replace it with metal or cedar. I kind of think I deserve it as I have taken a lot of squirrels in over fifty years of hunting them,. I expect to be atttacked by one like my customer was. I will probably have a heart attack or at least poop my pants. Happy Huntin.
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I would not recommend cedar as I have a full length cedar porch on my house the local squirrels just love to chew the heck out of it. That does cost them some lives though, 75 last year! Started the new year January 1st one day into the new year and one dead squirrel I haven't had any back for a visit yet but there has been a couple run through the yard they didn't stop long enough to get killed!
RB
RB
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