kiver
NES Member
No but its a matter of time the little bastards eat a hole in your roof......Damn I have a lot of pest control issues
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Taking Down Squirrels
- Thread starter Ninsho
- Start date
No but its a matter of time the little bastards eat a hole in your roof......Damn I have a lot of pest control issues
Agreed, but if the options are a tree rat living in my attic, living somewhere out in the woods, or not living at all....I pick 2 out of the three as viable choices.
Bird feeder raiding is a gray area IMO...at some point the buggers will be looking for a place to sleep. I'd rather it not be my attic.
![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
Bird feeder raiding is a gray area IMO...at some point the buggers will be looking for a place to sleep. I'd rather it not be my attic.
M1911
Moderator
I think you'll find that is not a grey area at all, when it comes to an EPO or the court system. We've had a bird feeder for 17 years. We have lots of squirrels around. We've never had one try to get in the attic.
Baloney. Has never happened to us and we've got tons of them around, often running across our roof.
I'm not saying that I like to have a lot of tree rats around. I don't. But you really should understand the risks that you are taking.
Is a wrist rocket considered a slingshot and if so how come I could buy one at Dicks in MA?
Not arguing with you, just curious.
kiver
NES Member
I am not condoning anything here....I am just saying I have had a bunch of rodent problems in an old house due to poor upkeep by the previous owner...So I am a bit prejudice to attic rats. If they are not bothering anything, let them be.
If you ever have your home occupied by a red squirrel, you will rue the day you were born. We had to cut a ceiling open to finally get at the thing, and the nest was a vile, disgusting mess.
You city slickers and suburban sophisticates can do what you want. In the rural areas a pest is what you think it is. Messing with beavers is a no-no, but the remaining abundance of wildlife is negotiable. The EPOs here have better things to do than to monitor birdfeeders and air guns.
Agreed, but if the options are a tree rat living in my attic, living somewhere out in the woods, or not living at all....I pick 2 out of the three as viable choices.
Bird feeder raiding is a gray area IMO...at some point the buggers will be looking for a place to sleep. I'd rather it not be my attic.
I've had them chew wheels off a webber grill, handles off a shed and covers on plastic trash cans. You do purchase your feeders, correct? So if they are pests, they are pests. You can always trap them in a have a heart trap and drowned them. If they are not cotrolled, you will see house damage next. Talk to the animal control officer, he can give you permission to do what it takes.
in that case, a trash barrel, about 3/4 full of water does the trick too.
![[angry]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/008.gif "Angry [angry]")
M1911
Moderator
Yes, they do make a real mess if they get inside. No question. But we've had greys and reds here for 17 years. Not one in the house. Having squirrels at the feeder does not mean they will get in the house and therefore can be exterminated.
Hey, I never insulted you.
![[slap]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/025.gif "Slap [slap]")
What matters is not what you or I think is a pest, but what the legal system thinks is a pest. I don't think you'll find that the courts or an EPO would consider a tree rat at the feeder to be a pest.
In a rural area, no one is likely to know (or care) if you SSS. In the suburbs, however, your neighbor could see you, call the police, MSPCA, EPO, etc., and then you may find yourself in a lot more trouble than some people might expect. When the local animal rights wacko, over-educated, under-employed, neighbor housewife goes on the warpath, the authorities may feel forced to act, even if they think it is BS.
I'm not defending tree rats. I don't much care for them. We've gone through several feeders until we found one that (for now) they can't get into.
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We had one this summer chew its way through a window screen, come into my house, go to the kitchen and start eating my mom's Banana Bread lol
It got "guided" out the door by my dog and recieved a load of #6 shot from my 410 when it reached the treeline
It got "guided" out the door by my dog and recieved a load of #6 shot from my 410 when it reached the treeline
I've taken a squirrel with a compound bow with a bludgeon tip. I took the shot not 100% expecting to hit him, from around 15 yards. I hit him with a perfect broadside chest shot. It does take some practice to be able to hit things that small, but I actually enjoyed target shooting more than hunting with it, so that was fine by me.
I work for the phone company, and a notable percentage of the repairs we get are because squirrels love to chew the rubber covers off of phone terminals, and the plastic insulation off of the outside of wires.
Ask a local cop if you're in suburbia. it doesn't really matter what the law is , it matters if the police will arrest you for it.
FID/LTC Renewal - Q: Ever been arrested ? A: Yeah , I was shooting squirrels with an airGUN and when my stupid neighbor freaked out the new young cop arrested me .... but the judge threw it out .... really. Everything's cool ... Wait , ... come back ! ...
FID/LTC Renewal - Q: Ever been arrested ? A: Yeah , I was shooting squirrels with an airGUN and when my stupid neighbor freaked out the new young cop arrested me .... but the judge threw it out .... really. Everything's cool ... Wait , ... come back ! ...
M1911
Moderator
So I hear. Never tried them.
I swear im going to try eating one one of these days but I never have. I hear that the "chops" are what you want.
Good point. One of my favorite politicians, former Wyoming senator Alan Simpson, confessed that he was pinched, as a boy, for "shooting birds in a field". I don't know if he was gunning for the "red headed double breasted mattress thrasher" that he spoke of in later years during the Bork hearings. But today, a Massachusetts Chief might consider that a disqualifier.
Nice Avatar!
Sorry for the hijack I also was from southeastern MA and am a Huge hitman fan....
On thread, Anything above 1,000fps and a 4x scope should do. .177 pellets should wack a skull good!
Sorry for the hijack I also was from southeastern MA and am a Huge hitman fan....
On thread, Anything above 1,000fps and a 4x scope should do. .177 pellets should wack a skull good!
yanici
NES Member
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Mostly the claims for 1000 FPS air rifles is an inflated/false number. Also the manufacturer sets those high ratings with very light pellets that are not accurate shooters. A lot of the guns available at the local dealers are really not that good. You really need to buy online at a reputable place like Straightshooters http://www.straightshooters.com/ . With airguns you need perfect shot placement so accuracy counts, not power so much. Don't get tricked into buying the gun that advertises 1200 FPS. You'll end up with a harsh firing gun that won't group and waste your money.
There was a poster, earlier on this thread, that used a Beeman R9 for squirrels. That is a very good rifle. IMO Gammo makes a poor to mediocre product.
OK. I'm off the soap box. Just spend you $$$ wisely guys. Sorry if I'm a little overbearing. Just trying to help.
John
+1
Having owned a Gamo walmart special and a Beeman R9 currently there is a *major* difference in quality. In fact the Gamo was of such poor quality that when mounting a scope I had to use some shims to get the scope to zero.
Also I think you will find that in the world of airguns that once a pellet breaks the sound barrier (or gets close), accuracy suffers quite a bit. The real measure of an airguns power is muzzle energy which is a combination of mass of the pellet and the speed it travels. In Europe airguns are regulated not by the speed, but by the amount of energy the pellet delivers to the target.
Another thing to know about airguns is that they are hard on scopes. Don't ever put a nice or semi-nice scope on an airgun unless the scope is rated for it.
Bass Pro Shops is the only local place I know of that has a decent selection of airguns with a few higher end models.
Having owned a Gamo walmart special and a Beeman R9 currently there is a *major* difference in quality. In fact the Gamo was of such poor quality that when mounting a scope I had to use some shims to get the scope to zero.
Also I think you will find that in the world of airguns that once a pellet breaks the sound barrier (or gets close), accuracy suffers quite a bit. The real measure of an airguns power is muzzle energy which is a combination of mass of the pellet and the speed it travels. In Europe airguns are regulated not by the speed, but by the amount of energy the pellet delivers to the target.
Another thing to know about airguns is that they are hard on scopes. Don't ever put a nice or semi-nice scope on an airgun unless the scope is rated for it.
Bass Pro Shops is the only local place I know of that has a decent selection of airguns with a few higher end models.
Weird..I was going to just say this exactly. The Big Cat is awesome. If you use the 1200 FPS rounds (PBA) its pretty loud, and those rounds are expensive. You can hear a loud crack from the pellet breaking the sound barrier and a nice echo. I use lead hollowpoints and have...hit some targets... You may want a better scope than what comes with the gun however. Couldn't recommend it more.
Fixxah
NES Member
On one of my jobs in Wayland I saw a squirrel that was black. I thought someone had painted it to see if it would come back when released in new locale, but they were every where. I have seen a bunch of them and it is the only area I have seen them. They are black as coal. If I find a roadkill I am going to have the skin tanned.![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
On one of my jobs in Wayland I saw a squirrel that was black. I thought someone had painted it to see if it would come back when released in new locale, but they were every where. I have seen a bunch of them and it is the only area I have seen them. They are black as coal. If I find a roadkill I am going to have the skin tanned.
my aunt has one around her house in Wilbraham, Ma. its the only one i have ever seen
Go into the village of Marion and you're more likely to see black squirrels than gray ones. In my neighborhood I'd say the black squirrels are about 5% of the population.
I hear they taste the same.............
I hear they taste the same.............
We have some black squirrels here, too. I think the story is that they escaped from some scientist type in Westfield years ago. They're a chromatic variation of the grey squirrel. Something to see.
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I'm not in any way advocating hunting squirrels this way, but when I shoot Aguila colibri (primer-only) 22LR out of my Browning lever action rifle, the loudest sound is the hammer falling. It is significantly quieter than an air pistol.
