How do you catch squirrels?

[stanleyman]

Answer: Have a one night stand with a dirty tree was one of the least helpful suggestions recently given to me following my ongoing problem. Another is that squirrels are afraid of pythons and if you leave python poo in your loft it will deter them! Does anyone know if this is true or am I going nuts?

[logman]

Hi stanleyman, In my neck of the woods, magpies like to eat them but usually only after they have been well tenderised by car tyres! Dont know about the python poo, maybe its time for a trip to the zoo with a doggy bag.

What about some recordings of eagle owls in the loft, that are activated by motion ?

[sense4all]

Next door had squirrels in the loft, they contacted the council and the pest officer came out and helped with the situation.Noisy little bleeders aren't they - you have my sympathy!

[woofgang]

my sister had the same problem. She had to get a man out who trapped and shot them. The whole thing is controlled quite strictly, must be a humaner trap, must be checked at least every 24 hours, then the squirrels, if grey must be humanely destroyed and not released. Then block up the holes in your roof real quick!!

[WendyS]

Hello stanleyman - is that wretched squirrel still in residence and gnawing his way through your house? I think he must have read the squatters rights legislation and thinks he's a full blown member of your family by now. He's probably ever registered on the electoral roll by now. Seriously, it must be getting beyond a joke after all this time and I don't underestimate the frustration you must be feeling..

If he's not in the loft, and actually down in the house somewhere, is it worth trying soaking a few nuts in brandy and trying to get him drunk so you can catch him? I don't know whether alcohol would repel them or not. If he's in the loft, would some high frequency whistles or equipment force them out. I'm sure that if you involve your local council it will cost a minimum of �35. Does your local library stock CD's? Maybe if they search their catalogue they can find one of animal noises like wolves howling, or hyenas, (or even dogs barking) which might just scare the s**t out of him and encourage him to move on on.

I'll ask around my friends and see if anybody can come up with some practical suggestions.

[stanleyman]

Trouble is they only appear every few days and I'm not entirely convinced it is squirrels. My neighbour has the same problem and is convinced it's rats, could be mice or all three! I've searched the loft and only found a few mouse droppings, nothing else but a moving lump under the insulation once. When I tried to shoot it with my son's water blaster it all went down my sleeve. Can't find any obvious holes. What about the python poo?

[Lonnie]

Hi stanleyman, you could try some rags soaked in strong disinfectant, hopefully the smell should drive them out, in the days before it was made illegal, they used to use creosote for this, but because of the smell, possibly you should only use this method in the attic.

[reddoggy]

My neighbour has been driven mad by squirrels eating the nuts she puts out for the birds. She was told that squirrels are afraid of snakes so she put several large rubber snakes in the trees, near the bird table and in the shrubbery - no more squirrels to date, really!

[reddoggy]

I should add that her garden is now looking quite tropical with snakes dangling hither and yon but if it works, eh?

[dilf]

put salt on their tails. this also works with bats but not fish of any kind whatsoever except tench i think or rudd

[Toureman]

Use a Shotgun, works every time for me.

[WendyS]

If you're looking for something smelly to drive whatever it is out of your loft, how about painting some of the roof beams with a strong solution of Jeyes Fluid?. It's pretty potent and in a confined space, possibly the smell won't dispense too quickly.

[stanleyman]

Thanks everyone. I'll think about the smelly solutions but remember, they stole my sons dirty socks so they may be tougher than we think!

I did think about a shotgun and it reminded me of someone we know who had a dovecote that was being got at by a fox. He borrowed a shotgun and although he'd never fired one, sat and waited for it to appear. When it did appear he inadvertantly fired both barrels, completely wrecking the dovecote and killing half of his birds. The fox got away.