Squirrel

Squirrels breed several times a year - but I would think she's just beginning to make a nest - gestation takes only a few weeks for a squirrel. A loud sudden nearby noise can sometime get a squirrel to run away temporarily but unless you have to immediately patch the all the entry points to rafter before she comes back. The trick would be to define all the entry points and have enough people to help you patch up the entry points before she comes back - squirrels are easily frighten but they soon come back.

 

we have red squirrel problems. they were in the house when we bought it in '04 and persistently try to re enter every spring. grey seem to prefer woodland living.

i think the best thing to do is let them leave the nest, then do serious examination of trim for entry points as walter says above. they can get in through very small holes and cracks.

now, as soon as i see red in the spring, i trap him/her and take about 20 miles away. seems to work, but must be done every year.

 

Method I:
Small live trap,
Peanut butter on bread.
Wire Screen.
Staples.

Done by Supper.

Method II:
Hungry 10 pound tabby cat.
Wire screen.
Staples.

Done by Lunch.

Method III:
.25 caliber (or larger) Pellet rifle - or .22 caliber rifle - depending on jurisdiction.
I prefer rifles capable of delivering at least 25fpe - don't shop for pellet rifles by muzzle velocity as they game the results worse than Ford and Nissan!
(Caution! Wait until the squirrel leaves the house before employing this method!)
Filet knife.
Cast iron pan.
Oil or butter.
Eggs.

Squirrel for breakfast!



When I used to live-trap squirrels, I took them onto a military reservation and then set them free.
I'm still semi-inclined to use this approach but also have a fairly powerful .25 cal pellet rifle that I can use to pop-rivet them onto the back lawn.
I have eaten them, but now I prefer to give some carrion eater an easy meal.

Good Luck!
Post results.

 

Young 'uns are more tender.

 

You don't have red squirrels in North America, do you?

So the solution is obvious.

You can pray the grey away.

 

see post #3.

 

Ahha. In Britain, we were always taught that red squirrels were native to Britain, and that grey squirrels were North American interlopers who were pushing out the plucky red squirrel. I was never sure that it was as simple as that.

I think we might have possums in our roof. I hear the occasional thump.

 

greys are tame compared to our reds. they have that the hot redhead temper. we have possums too, not in our house, are they a pain?

 

Very good.

Our possums are different to yours, I think.

Oooh. I've just found a comparative picture. Ours are cute. Yours look scary.



So Australian possums in the roof are just annoying because they tear up the insulation to make nests and stuff. Yours look like they might kill you. And enjoy it.

Possums are a pretty minor thing. When we lived in Hong Kong, we had terrible trouble with monkeys. Macaques, they were. They were really aggressive, and very scary. Oh, and water buffalo. They were nice, but big. I've seen a couple of people write off their Imprezas after hitting them at night.

 

i just delivered my third red this year.

 

They go hungry....or you can keep one as a pet.
Your call.
If you successfully capture/kill the adult squirrels then you can investigate to see if they've procreated.
They're very prolific breeders.
The Alaskan Squirrel population will not suffer too much if they're not able to use your house as a nest.

Opossums (or just 'possums' to some) are rather less 'minor' here, and they are one of the few animals that I will kill on sight without compunction or hesitation. I've used my live trap to capture perhaps two dozen of them over the last 15 years, although unlike squirrels Opossums do not get a free ride to the nearest game preserve of military installation.
In his book, 12 Years A Slave, author Solomon Northup wrote about how wonderful Opossums are to eat but one has to remember that American slaves were on a near starvation diet, and their masters were not willing to let them hunt with weapons more advanced than a stout stick or club.
Opposums are just about the only mammal that one can successfully hunt with nothing more than a stick.

Interestingly enough, they do not carry rabies nearly as much as domestic dogs do here in North America, but they are insidious infesters of attics and crawl spaces. Neighbors of mine report that they can and do take live poultry, although they seem to be more scavenger than hunter.

 

great flick! what do you call those? looks like a hybrid grey/red.

 

We have menu for colonial-era squirrel stew from George Wasington's Mt Vernon estate and can get that to you if you are up to skinning/cleaning it.
But maybe better idea is stuffing coarse steel wool in all gaps in eaves AFTER squirrel has left for its morning meal!
Wait a minute!
What am I thinking?
Can't you just spray your Spider-Man webbing at it to capture it?

 

not until next spring.