Grey Squirrels

[Mike Hill]

Difficult to guarantee a safe shot with a rimfire, better use an air rifle or .410

 

Do you think thats what might have brought down that Airliner over the Ukraine?

 

My thoughts too.

[codlasher]

In the Chilterns, where the squirrels have much townie support the battle has been lost. This happened at least twenty years ago! Unless they, as a species, can be completely eradicated from oak, beech, sycamore & hemlock plantations there is not much point in bothering.

 

The so-called 'modern game keeper', who is only really a pheasant rearer for London shooting syndicates, has to be called out and take much of the blame for the population explosion. They couldn't be bothered to do proper keeping for a decade, if at all! The shoot captains who employed these people should also take a considerable amount of the same blame too for being ignorant to the forests needs and this horrendous problem. The next generations 'big trees' simply won't be there when this crop is either felled or comes to its natural end.

 

The spring trap is a good tool. The light-weight shotgun is also a good tool. Carrying a 12b all day is a heavy job. A 20b is a better option.

There is a prototype air powered rat trap that is lurking in the side-lines which may even the situation as it re-sets itself. It was so efficient in dealing with squirrels in the trials that there was a need for a counter to be fitted! I have heard nothing more of this so I can't be more specific. Plus I'm out of the squirrel killing loop.

The best time was during the foot and mouth crisis when all the public footpaths were shut and we waged war on the little blighters and tallied near to 1000 tails. This helped the trees for a little while. I took Adrian Hartley of Stalker Rifles round for a day to experiment with his fantastic air rifles and telescopic sights and we were all exhausted! I still preferred my 20b!

codlasher

[woodyguy]

Only issue to me of "killing" traps vs live is that about 1/3 of what I catch are hedgehogs!!

[Jon3012]

The so-called 'modern game keeper', who is only really a pheasant rearer for London shooting syndicates, has to be called out and take much of the blame for the population explosion. They couldn't be bothered to do proper keeping for a decade, if at all! The shoot captains who employed these people should also take a considerable amount of the same blame too for being ignorant to the forests needs and this horrendous problem. The next generations 'big trees' simply won't be there when this crop is either felled or comes to its natural end.

 

I think its a bit harsh to blame the keeper for an explosion in the squirrel population. You could also blame every person who owns a garden that a squirrel goes through the amount of keepered land in this countryhas been going down for at least 40 years and at the end of the day a keeper could kill a 1000 squirrels and not one single bill has been paid.

 

gas powered traps will be the way forward in all grey forests just check them once a month the trials in new Zealand were very positive but it takes so long to get a trap approved its like waitig for Christmas but its not coming.

[timbernut]

We have lots of trouble with the little bastards in our wood, for ages I thought much of the damage being done to hornbeams at ground level was muntjac but now realise it is juvenile greys in spring, apparently they get stressed in high population and do more random damage. We had several kania traps set up over 40 acres and only 1 trapped in 18 months, we put this down to the copious seed on mature hornbeam and pine/spruce cones. I've shot hundreds with air rifle but you just create vacuum and get more! There's a good FC pdf that states multi traps at specific times of year. Personally I reckon pine martens would be highly effective !!

[Alycidon]

Difficult to guarantee a safe shot with a rimfire, better use an air rifle or .410

 

I have killed greys with air rifles but they are very very tough. 22LR is to dangerous agreed, semi auto shotgun is best tool shooting wise. Personally with limited time I prefer to trap. 2 x Number 4s in a tunnel with peanuts in between usually works ok,

 

A

[jay2578]

We have recently set some live traps, mainly due to the fact we have a good population of reds, not had any success yet so might try the cashews/peanuts idea. Currently using maize and only had a few nibbles, which I reckon could be mice.

Traps are checked daily due to the resident reds.

Shooting would be a waste of time as there are only a couple of greys, just want to get rid before they become a problem.

[openspaceman]

We have recently set some live traps, mainly due to the fact we have a good population of reds, not had any success yet so might try the cashews/peanuts idea. Currently using maize and only had a few nibbles, which I reckon could be mice.

Traps are checked daily due to the resident reds.

Shooting would be a waste of time as there are only a couple of greys, just want to get rid before they become a problem.

 

Maize is used as an indicator that squirrels are taking the bait as they only incise out the germ and leave the rest, other rodents and birds take the lot.

 

Warfarin is very seldom administered properly IMO, in 1974 I ran both traps and hoppers to protect a 1000 acre woodland with some young beech and was as thorough as could be. Subsequently I worked on NT and a private estate where the job was done by estate staff or the landowner and was appalled at the correct prescription was not followed. Apart from killing non target rodents it probably led to a buid up of warfarin resistance.

 

BTW despite being of mature years I saw my first red squirrel between Skiddaw and Ireby yesterday, absolutely thrilled as despite my mother talking about a tame one here in Surrey in 1930 they are long gone. I don't dislike grey squirrel and was fascinated to see a black one in Boston but it's taking people a long time to realise their effect on native wildlife because of their catholic diet and resistance to parapox where the natives like reds and dormice are fussy eaters and reds don't seem to be building much resistance to the virus.

[woodyguy]

Jay, I found initially feeding them with the traps not set ie putting the nuts around a closed trap, meant that after a week, I was catching them as fast as I reset the trap. They're not as bright as they're made out to be.

[csservices]

Best way with greys is to get some Fenn MK 4 traps bury them for a couple of weeks to get the new smell off, in the meantime build yourself some plywood boxes about 18 inches long and just wide enough to sit the trap in when set and just tall enough when the lids closed to allow it to spring without the squirrel jumping clear, cut a 2 inch hole in each end set your traps in these and set them along hedge lines, ride sides or near trees you know the squirrels frequent, no need to bait they will go inout of natural curiosity, once trapped 280 greys in a mature oak wood this way in 6 months