Gray Squirrels

crashbandicoot

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I had multiple squirrel feeders and would get bags of field corn for next to nothing from the local farmers in Columbia Mo, it helped a great deal as they loved the corn.

Another good way to get corn for free is to ask a farmer if you can go through his just cut fields and pick up the cobs and many times whole ears that come out the back of the combine,They,re not as efficient as believed and leave behind a great deal of corn on partial ears and sometimes the entire ear with the husks!I,ve filled up the bed of a pickup in just a couple hours doing this.You still have to shuck the kernels off the cobs but it comes off pretty easily or you can invest a few bucks in a hand machine that will take the corn off really fast.Then you can burn the cobs in your fireplace if you have one.I have great friends who grow corn and have no problems with them allowing this.Just a thought for those who use a lot of corn to feed.
 

fistfulladirt

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Do not feed raw peanuts to squirrels, they contain a carcinogen that can be fatal.
Poisonous mushrooms otoh, no problem for squirrels!
 

Treasure_Hunter

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Another good way to get corn for free is to ask a farmer if you can go through his just cut fields and pick up the cobs and many times whole ears that come out the back of the combine,They,re not as efficient as believed and leave behind a great deal of corn on partial ears and sometimes the entire ear with the husks!I,ve filled up the bed of a pickup in just a couple hours doing this.You still have to shuck the kernels off the cobs but it comes off pretty easily or you can invest a few bucks in a hand machine that will take the corn off really fast.Then you can burn the cobs in your fireplace if you have one.I have great friends who grow corn and have no problems with them allowing this.Just a thought for those who use a lot of corn to feed.


Correct, I was getting large garbage bags of field corn for just a few dollars. I bought farmer a six pack of his favorite beer and got 30 gallon bag of field corn, the kind given to cattle.
 

crashbandicoot

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Correct, I was getting large garbage bags of field corn for just a few dollars. I bought farmer a six pack of his favorite beer and got 30 gallon bag of field corn, the kind given to cattle.

That way you don,t have to go out in the field and pick it up!Good thinking.
 

newnan man

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Tn Mountains, is the RWS.177 an air rifle? If it is you're a good shot. I never hunted squirrels with anything but a single shot Remington .22. I seldom missed. My dog absolutely hated squirrels. I would stand still as a statue when Ginger barked at them. Eventually the squirrel would ease around the tree keeping an eye on the dog. Easy shot.
 

Treasure_Hunter

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Tn Mountains, is the RWS.177 an air rifle? If it is you're a good shot. I never hunted squirrels with anything but a single shot Remington .22. I seldom missed. My dog absolutely hated squirrels. I would stand still as a statue when Ginger barked at them. Eventually the squirrel would ease around the tree keeping an eye on the dog. Easy shot.


I hunted squirrels with a semi auto .22 when I was a young living in the country, from about 10 to about 15, then I moved to Tampa inside the city limits and the local police frowned on my using .22 to hunt them.

In the country we had 2 pecan trees maybe 30 foot high on the 10 acres I lived on and you could always count on them to give you your limit when pecans were in season, if there were no pecans the woods around my home provided plenty of squirrels, quail and dove.
 

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wainzoid

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Another good way to get corn for free is to ask a farmer if you can go through his just cut fields and pick up the cobs and many times whole ears that come out the back of the combine,They,re not as efficient as believed and leave behind a great deal of corn on partial ears and sometimes the entire ear with the husks!I,ve filled up the bed of a pickup in just a couple hours doing this.You still have to shuck the kernels off the cobs but it comes off pretty easily or you can invest a few bucks in a hand machine that will take the corn off really fast.Then you can burn the cobs in your fireplace if you have one.I have great friends who grow corn and have no problems with them allowing this.Just a thought for those who use a lot of corn to feed.

I've been doing the same for the last 35+ yrs. Although I use my atv and cart. My cousins own the 4 neighboring dairy farms, so lots of corn!
At one time I had a 8x12 tool shed that was my dedicated corn crib. One time in March a bear found out about it and tore the end out of the building. After several night's of repeated damage i moved the corn(more than a pickup load) onto a pile in the yard, and pointed my flood lights at it. The bear (4-500 lbs) returned every night for 6 weeks until he had ate it all. He would come at dusk and stay till dawn.
I remember trying to get my evening chores done before dark. And the constant feeling of being watched. I would no sooner get inside, take my coat off, and look out the window to see the bear was there.
I don't gather as much corn now, sometimes when they shell corn they have a spill and I will shovel up a couple drywall buckets full. My cousins usually pick a gravity wagon full of ear corn every year and park it in the tractor shed. It's there for family and friends to feed game, so I just grab a feed bag and fill it.
 

tinpan

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Hi So when the after dark raiders like rats come for a feast on your fruit trees who' is guarding ? Go buy a cheap clear plastic tree truck guard that stops climbing critters . Some introduced species in plague numbers can breed quicker than you can shoot them . I remember the days of rabbit and other species, Well where I come from there may not be squirrels but you will not stop a colony of fruit bats with guns, Are squirrels considered big game hunting? Apple trees is called horticulture and the implements used have nothing to do with guns. In the days of the fut trade I use to shoot fox for bounty , Big difference between urban and true wildlife, TP
 

pepperj

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We have the Chipmunks under control with this helper.
DSCN0905.JPG
Though it doesn't touch the red,grey,black squirrels at all.
Depending on the year they seem to be only a half dozen around at anytime.
The gypsy moth caterpillars have taken most of the natural food sources out this year for them.
Nature keeps most things in balance, just have to fit in some how.
 

Tpmetal

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I had multiple squirrel feeders and would get bags of field corn for next to nothing from the local farmers in Columbia Mo, it helped a great deal as they loved the corn.

There come issues with feeding animals like that...from creating unsustainable populations that will cause harm to other animal and plant populations, all tge way to creating a place for the spread of disease(look up what has happend with bird feeders and disease the past year or so).
 

pulltabfelix

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go to a shelter and get two young bonded cats. Keep them in your house/garage for the first 6 months to give them a sense of where their home and food is located. Then let them outside. Cat door in garage is handy.
Feed them, but do not over feed them. At six months they are mostly grown, can protect themselves and will love to hunt.

I have two such bonded cats now about 1.5 yrs old. No squirrels in my yard, no moles or voles and a few stupid chipmunks that the cats love to play with. no more holes being dug in my lawn sprouting up little oak trees.
A dog helps also. My dog hates squirrels but he is only in the back yard a little bit of the time. The cats are usually laying in wait to ambush a stupid chipmunk or squirrel. The squirrels get really po'd when they spot one of my cats and climb higher in my neighbor's trees and chatters at the cats.
 

Treasure_Hunter

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There come issues with feeding animals like that...from creating unsustainable populations that will cause harm to other animal and plant populations, all tge way to creating a place for the spread of disease(look up what has happend with bird feeders and disease the past year or so).

My choice was squirrels ate from the squirrel feeders or ate fresh produce from my garden, I chose they eat out of the feeders, I did shoot some but if I shot 50 it would have had little affect on their population, I put the feeders on the opposite side of my 3 acre property from my garden so they learned to eat away from my garden..
 

fistfulladirt

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go to a shelter and get two young bonded cats. Keep them in your house/garage for the first 6 months to give them a sense of where their home and food is located. Then let them outside. Cat door in garage is handy.
Feed them, but do not over feed them.
Our lean, mean rodent destroying machine?lol
 

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golddigger14s

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The problem with using cats to control rodents out doors is that they are indiscriminate killers. If it moves and it is small, they will kill it. Millions of song birds are killed each year by our well-fed pet cats.
My cat couldn't catch a cold. I have seen her watch a mouse walk through the living room. My cattle dog on the other hand has gotten numerous mice and baby bunnies. Will easily heard a 2,000 lb. cow out of our yard.
 

FreeBirdTim

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Squirrels are rodents, like mice and rats. Do you eat mice and rats as well? They are all carriers of diseases because they have fleas and ticks on them. Not worth the risk to eat them. Got this from the Critter Control website:


Squirrels are typically harmless, rarely biting unless they’ve been cornered or feel threatened. They are capable of carrying and transmitting a handful of diseases, however, which makes their presence occasionally dangerous. The following are five diseases that squirrels potentially carry:

  • Salmonellosis: Salmonella bacteria found in droppings causes diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever.
  • Lyme disease: Spread by the ticks squirrels carry, symptoms include nerve pain, stiffness, and inflammation of the brain or spinal cord.
  • Tularemia: Infectious disease that attacks the skin, eyes lymph nodes, and lungs.
  • Leptospirosis: Bacterial infection that causes fever, headache, vomiting, jaundice, and rash.
  • Rabies: Though rare, sometimes squirrels pass this virus onto humans via biting or scratching.
Many of these diseases are fatal when left untreated, so individuals should monitor for symptoms, and seek medical attention after coming in contact with squirrel urine or feces(Opens in a new window). Breathing in particles of the animal's excrement is the most common method of disease transmission.
 

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