# Crazy Squirrel



## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

All of a sudden I've got this squirrel that has taken to climbing up the screens on my porch & going up to the roof line, where he may not be able to go any further because of the vinyl siding.

My concern is that if this continues he will tear up the metal fabric screening or cause other damage. There are no trees at all around my house or shrubs of any kind. There are squirrels however living in the trees about thirty feet from the house. There are a number of them residing in those trees, but this is the first time we have had one brave enough to come over to the house & climb up the porch screening. 

Are there any kinds of squirrel guards or devices I can use to stop or discourage this behavior. I don't want to harm them, but neither do I want them climbing on the house. I already have an issue with a couple of bats nesting in my attic vent & I don't need another wildlife problem. Thanks.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

If you live in town, trap him and haul away to release. Not in town, get a 22 cal rifle.
Unless you want to go to the trouble of covering the screens, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having them.


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

Yodaman said:


> If you live in town, trap him and haul away to release. Not in town, get a 22 cal rifle.
> Unless you want to go to the trouble of covering the screens, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having them.


I live out of town. The suggestion to shoot them is a little over the top because its just not a squirrel I have in the tree line here. There all over the place & pretty amusing to watch. I can't be shooting up my own property & I certainly can't exterminate the whole forest out here. Sometimes killing is not an option even though the human instinct to do so says to do it. Thanks, appreciate it but not practical in this situation.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

Allow pests to take refuge at your own risk. They can do massive amounts damage in short order.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

My question is, why is he climbing that screen? I would be worried he is going some place, like your soffits or inside a wall. Where a flat section of vinly might be difficult for them, any corner or valley would be easy. Maybe a game camera to watch where he goes?

Trap and release and hope others don't take his place. I've seen videos on people trying to keep them away from bird feeders and they are very smart.

Bud


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Your trees are over populated. The 1 day breeding season for red squirrels ended about a week ago and gestation is about 35 days. She is looking for a place to have a litter of babies and your attic looks very attractive. The porch surely doesn't need screens in January so just remove them for about 30 days to stop the climbing and she will find an alternate location.

A house cat or an outdoor calico cat will usually solve the squirrel problems of house invasion.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Then how do you get rid of the cat?

I read that squirrels hate cayenne pepper & the smell of peppermint. Maybe you can coat the screen with one of those.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

Get one of these traps . They like peanut butter on crackers.


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## hkstroud (Mar 17, 2011)

> Allow pests to take refuge at your own risk. They can do massive amounts damage in short order.


Agree.

Maddog1's next post will be "Why is my roof leaking?"


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

I picked up a "Squirrelinator" at Family Farm & Home. It'll catch quite a few of the little bast.... uh, I mean, stinkers. Then you drive them out into the forest and release them or, some people say you can eat them. Haven't tried using it yet, but there are video's on youtube.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

We call them tree rats around here and I wish they would all vaporize from our yards. They have acres of woods around me to live in. But they come in my yard and dig holes to bury walnuts and they never come back to get them in the winter. :vs_mad:

Allow squirrels to get in an attic and see what it (they) will do to the electrical cables ran on top of the ceiling joists. They sharpen their teeth on them. $$$ damage to replace and a fire hazard.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)




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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Greg, I understand what you're saying about animals would rather live in your house than some trees. I saw the same thing with birds when I was painting in nice house on the side of a hill, in what I would call a forest. You guys would just call it a wooded area. Anyway, the birds were buildings nests on the side of the house. All those trees weren't good enough.


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## hkstroud (Mar 17, 2011)

> some people say you can eat them


Of course you can. They are all lean meat so best cook in a rice perlo.

Saw a fox catch a squirrel once. Sitting in my truck in the parking lot of a small town house community. Saw the fox come thru and hid under a vehicle about 10 to 15 foot from a tree. A squirrel came down the a tree and was about five feet from the base of the tree. Now squirrels are fast, but that fox was faster. Fox shot out from under the car and got that squirrel before he was a foot back up the tree.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

hkstroud said:


> Of course you can. They are all lean meat so best cook in a rice perlo.
> 
> Saw a fox catch a squirrel once. Sitting in my truck in the parking lot of a small town house community. Saw the fox come thru and hid under a vehicle about 10 to 15 foot from a tree. A squirrel came down the a tree and was about five feet from the base of the tree. Now squirrels are fast, but that fox was faster. Fox shot out from under the car and got that squirrel before he was a foot back up the tree.


Did he shake the squirrel to keep from getting bit? I'm betting he did unless he caught the squirrel by the nape of the neck.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> We call them tree rats around here and I wish they would all vaporize from our yards. They have acres of woods around me to live in. But they come in my yard and dig holes to bury walnuts and they never come back to get them in the winter. :vs_mad:


They didn't bury the nut to come back and eat later. At least the Red Squirrel doesn't. In many instances we humans screwed up the canopy for them and planted lawn. The walnuts are buried to correct their canopy and the buried nut spacing is correct for their tree travel. In this respect they are wiser than we humans looking into the future for their offspring.

I didn't keep tally how many I've touched with a drop of Glysophate on a leaf or two.


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## hkstroud (Mar 17, 2011)

> The walnuts are buried to correct their canopy and the buried nut spacing is correct for their tree travel.


Squirrels are smart but I think you are giving them to much credit. Squirrels bury nuts for a winter food supply out of instinct. They don't remember where they buried them but when winter comes they look for food in the same likely places.

And just like in human society they probably have the industrious ones and the welfare recipients.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

I will say one thing, and that is it has been a bumper crop for walnuts this year. I have several dozen walnut trees in my wooded lot and there are thousands of walnuts on the ground this year. From what I can tell their favorite place to stash the nuts seems to be in my fire wood shed. A perfect nesting place, under cover with open sides.


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## hkstroud (Mar 17, 2011)

> their favorite place to stash the nuts seems to be in my fire wood shed.


Does that make you the welfare recipient?


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

Yodaman said:


> I will say one thing, and that is it has been a bumper crop for walnuts this year. I have several dozen walnut trees in my wooded lot and there are thousands of walnuts on the ground this year. From what I can tell their favorite place to stash the nuts seems to be in my fire wood shed. A perfect nesting place, under cover with open sides.



Nice wood storage building you have there ! I was brought up to the old adage, " If the trees are heavy with nuts, its going to be a bad Winter". Made sense to me, and also the wooly worm as a forecaster. 


Nowadays I just flip on the TV to get the weather forecasts rather than hunting for nuts. Hmmmm. I think I see more on the TV now, than I see on trees.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

SeniorSitizen said:


> They didn't bury the nut to come back and eat later. At least the Red Squirrel doesn't. In many instances we humans screwed up the canopy for them and planted lawn. The walnuts are buried to correct their canopy and the buried nut spacing is correct for their tree travel. In this respect they are wiser than we humans looking into the future for their offspring.
> 
> I didn't keep tally how many I've touched with a drop of Glysophate on a leaf or two.



For a while years ago at our other home, I messed up their "canopy" with my .22 pellet rifle. Today at our home now, the neighbors are too close and the tree rats are not worth me risking getting a visit from a LEO. 

So my yard looks like it has been blanketed with microscopic land mines that were detonated. :smile:


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## maddog1 (Aug 21, 2012)

hkstroud said:


> Agree.
> 
> Maddog1's next post will be "Why is my roof leaking?"


Hi! Thanks for the sarcasm. Maybe your lack of comprehension caused you to be sarcastic. You should go back & read my original post. Everyone is offering suggestions, some of which are just out of the question-like Remove the screens". It can't be done because the screens are NOT removable. 

I can't be shooting them off the house either. And I can't be hunting them down in the tree line because it's FOUR Acres of trees. I hope this clears up the comprehension problem your having. Your next post will probably suggest "Just burn down the house".

I want to thank all those who have made some really good suggestions. If those squirrels cause my roof to leak, I will get back to you. Thanks!!!


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

maddog1 said:


> Hi! Thanks for the sarcasm. Maybe your lack of comprehension caused you to be sarcastic. You should go back & read my original post. Everyone is offering suggestions, some of which are just out of the question-like Remove the screens". It can't be done because the screens are NOT removable.
> 
> I can't be shooting them off the house either. And I can't be hunting them down in the tree line because it's FOUR Acres of trees. I hope this clears up the comprehension problem your having. Your next post will probably suggest "Just burn down the house".
> 
> I want to thank all those who have made some really good suggestions. If those squirrels cause my roof to leak, I will get back to you. Thanks!!!


 Another 20 question game because of a lack of detail. I'm out, and off to the add to the ignore list.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

This is how I keep the pesky varmints off my buildings.


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## DR P (Dec 16, 2017)

I was going to post a crazy squirrel (actually have many crazy 
squirrel stories) but then read where maddog got mad...?

so if local government entity won't offer assistance 
& local squirrel lady/society can't offer you assistance
then you gonna most likely have to call a private professional 
to identify & weed out your Evil Knievel squirrel-friend...

& I was raised if you kill it its because you're gonna eat it - 
first meal I fixed for my (future) wife 
was a lovely meal of fried rabbit hind quarters 
with a side dish of (family recipe) Brunswick stew ;
While She wasn't having anything to do with brer rabbit...
she did enjoy 2 bowls of stew - declared it very tasty
care to guess what 2 proteins were in the stew 
unbeknown to her at time? she didn't ask so I didn't tell...

Peace


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Yodaman, we have the twins to your pups. Odd. Ours are a little over 3 years old and full of energy. Oh, and they HATE moles.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

Definitely look like they all could be brothers. Our two, we picked up at a rescue facility. They are two years old now and weighing in at about 95 lbs. The all brown is afraid of his own shadow while the white one, the great white hunter, brings me squirrels, rabbits, wood chucks, and occasionally a bird. But together they keep the rift raft off my property.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

Apparently, squirrels are trainable and are creatures of habit. I see the same ones (I think) at the same time jumping onto my roof. They come around at the same time to take peanuts out of my neighbor's hand. So maybe they could be untrained with long shots of pepper spray, lying in wait like a fox?


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## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

chandler48 said:


> Yodaman, we have the twins to your pups. Odd. Ours are a little over 3 years old and full of energy. Oh, and they HATE moles.


I think someone could make a business out of mole-hunting dogs. Moles are darn hard to get rid of.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

ChuckF. said:


> I think someone could make a business out of mole-hunting dogs. Moles are darn hard to get rid of.





Yes, but fare warning, mole and ground hog hunters = many holes dug on your land. :smile:


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## doortrouble (Feb 16, 2019)

Yodaman said:


> They can do massive amounts [of] damage in short order.


The perfect summation for human beings. 

MadDog, 
You're smart enough to know that killing the squirrel is not going to solve your problem; it may not even be the same squirrel. I would contact your local wildlife agencies and ask around until you get an answer that works for you. You might find a squirrel expert. If not, Roger Applegate is a Wildlife Biologist at the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and he is a squirrel expert (I've asked him squirrel questions before). You can Google the agency and get a number.


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