Excluding varmint (ground squirrels) ?

[jeromedawg]

Hi all,

Looking for some tried and true methods (that you have used) to rid yourselves of ground squirrels. I'm in SoCal and our property backs a sloping hill with brush. So there's wildlife. In fact, my poor wife witnessed a couple hawks swoop down and grab a small ground squirrel and rip it to shreds (thanks hawks! lol). We've seen a coyote or two (might have been the same one we saw twice). But neither are able to effectively control the #s of squirrels around here.

In any case, there's a litter of these bastards on the hillside and they easily get into our yard since it's a steel fence. Previous owners put up chicken wire in attempts to block things out but those little jerks keep getting in. Previously we had rabbits easily getting in but adjusting the chicken wire and blocking off the larger entry points where I observed the rabbits traveling through seems to have excluded them, at least for now. Right now the ground squirrels are just digging up and eating our grass which is fine because we want to get rid of it. But my concern is that they'll have easy access to eat anything else we decide to plant in our yard. They've managed to steal over half the apricots that were on our apricot tree in the front yard. Now that those are all gone, they don't have a food source but I'm just prepping for the future at this point. These things can dig and climb - so far now holes dug in our yard but I noticed a few tunnels they dug between our yard and the neighbors. It is legal to shoot these guys (because they can be so destructive) but I'm hesitant about doing that out of fear that there could be a ricochet and it would hit a neighbor's window/house/property (We are at the end of the cul-de-sac so there's no neighbor on one side - we only share a fence with one neighbor). Otherwise, I would have already picked up a pellet gun. Otherwise, there are traps but these would have to be trap-to-kill and not to relocate as it's illegal to relocate these. I've read another way to control the population is by fumigating their burrow holes. I can see at least 1-2 holes on the hillside. But this seems like a pretty expensive method.

[cool7hand]

A friend of ours rescued a varmint breed of dog. No more varmints.

[SunnyDays]

In my experience, squirrels of any kind are pretty much impossible to get rid of.  As soon as there is a vacancy in the area, others will move in.  They breed quickly and produce a lot of offspring, which doesn't help.  It's probably easiest to just make your property as uninteresting to them as possible, as in don't plant things they like.  Can you plant some things they do like on the hillside to keep them there?

And yeah, a ratter dog of some sort might help or even a cat or two.  Just don't put out poison, too many risks it will kill unintended animals.

[Morning Glory]

You can put bubble gum in their holes to kill them (no need to pre chew: they are attracted to the sugar but can't digest the gum) but you'll keep getting more. They burrow under the fences. Best just to accept that they will be there.

[jeromedawg]

You can put bubble gum in their holes to kill them (no need to pre chew: they are attracted to the sugar but can't digest the gum) but you'll keep getting more. They burrow under the fences. Best just to accept that they will be there.

Haha nice, I just threw a bunch of pieces of old Orbit chewing gum over the fence - the squirrels are frequently running around out there so hopefully they'll pick them up and start chewing them. We have stucco bases bording the property which the steel (or iron) fence is sitting on - I don't think the squirrels are burrowing deeper than the footers as I haven't seen any holes or mounds in our yard but they easily are just coming in either slipping under the chicken wire or climbing right over it hahaha.

[BudgetSlasher]

My experience is with grey and red squirrels, grey in suburban and red in rural areas. They are very intelligent and will eventually figure a way around any obstacle given enough temptation and time.

The two are well suited to their environment and well-populated. Even if using lethal control measures it wasn't very long before a new one appeared.

If ground squirrels are as intelligent, populous, and determined as their cousins I suggest you make peace.

The only way I had long term success protecting against squirrels was either to offer them something they liked more than what they were destroying or to offer them something they liked well enough while making it more difficult/dangerous to get the thing they really like.

[lthenderson]

I have been battling ground squirrels for the last decade. As stated above, I will get a period of peace before a new one moves in and it is game on again. I have found commercial baits to be ineffective with them. I have had a little success using mole traps set at the entrance to their holes but I would say a good 80 to 90% of the time they are just too fast, too light for them to work. If there aren't pets or other animals around, anticoagulate poisons, like rat/mice poison seems to work. I will mix it with the dirt of the burrow hole as I fill the hole back up and this seems to prevent them from redigging it. I don't know if they eat it and die or the spell of it repels them. But the most effective way for me is to dispatch them with a long barreled pellet handgun. I can pick them off pretty easily at about 20 feet. I've been told pellet guns were a gray area in my town so I only do so when I can pick them off unobserved. Fortunately my neighbors are quite away from my house so I've never had the sound reported. It doesn't sound like a normal gun and more like a screen door slamming or a book being dropped to a flat surface. When I get new activity, I will go out in the early morning hours or late afternoon hours when they are active, spread a few seeds or nuts around nearby and then create a blind and wait. Usually within 15 or 20 minutes, they are out investigating and I take my shot. I've removed two this spring and now I'm in a lull, probably until fall.

Note: I only take action if they are digging up next to my house's basement, otherwise I leave them to the hawks.

[jeromedawg]

I have been battling ground squirrels for the last decade. As stated above, I will get a period of peace before a new one moves in and it is game on again. I have found commercial baits to be ineffective with them. I have had a little success using mole traps set at the entrance to their holes but I would say a good 80 to 90% of the time they are just too fast, too light for them to work. If there aren't pets or other animals around, anticoagulate poisons, like rat/mice poison seems to work. I will mix it with the dirt of the burrow hole as I fill the hole back up and this seems to prevent them from redigging it. I don't know if they eat it and die or the spell of it repels them. But the most effective way for me is to dispatch them with a long barreled pellet handgun. I can pick them off pretty easily at about 20 feet. I've been told pellet guns were a gray area in my town so I only do so when I can pick them off unobserved. Fortunately my neighbors are quite away from my house so I've never had the sound reported. It doesn't sound like a normal gun and more like a screen door slamming or a book being dropped to a flat surface. When I get new activity, I will go out in the early morning hours or late afternoon hours when they are active, spread a few seeds or nuts around nearby and then create a blind and wait. Usually within 15 or 20 minutes, they are out investigating and I take my shot. I've removed two this spring and now I'm in a lull, probably until fall.

Note: I only take action if they are digging up next to my house's basement, otherwise I leave them to the hawks.

My cousin had a Gamo Whisper rifle (well, a golf club too for the finish/clean-up hahahaha) that he used to dispatch a crow whose murder was harassing him and the neighbors at their apartment complex. He explicitly got it for the noise factor. This was in a urban apartment building setting too btw...lol. So it is something that has crossed my mind. We have two sets of french doors that open up to the yard so getting a clean shot from inside the house shouldn't be that difficult. In any case, I've seen as many as half a dozen or more smaller squirrels from the recent litter on our lawn! In one sense it's cool, but considering the destruction they can wreak it's a bit concerning. I'm 99% sure these guys are the ones who ripped the apricots off our tree. Previous owners' decided to plant it right near a wall, so it's kind of hard to exclude them and keep them off the tree at that point. My main concern is just not letting these guys ruin any new plants that we plan to plant.

[Morning Glory]

Not sure if this would be a problem given how small squirrels are, but my husband shot a raccoon once when we had rural property and it crawled under the deck and died. Once the smell got bad I made him fish it out. I can't remember why he was perturbed by them now.

[cchrissyy]

is there anything you can do to make the area more attractive to hawks?
nothing leaps to my mind, since their food source is already there.
but if there was anything you could do to encourage them, they will be happy to handle the problem.

[jeromedawg]

is there anything you can do to make the area more attractive to hawks?
nothing leaps to my mind, since their food source is already there.
but if there was anything you could do to encourage them, they will be happy to handle the problem.

I've heard you can put up T-shaped posts on your fencing to encourage them to perch. I'm not sure where the pair my wife spotted tearing a squirrel up came from but one was standing guard on the fence while the other was ripping it to shreds on the ground lol.

[jeromedawg]

Well, I decided to buy a live trap (and then figure out how to dispatch the critters after). I got the trap yesterday and set it up with PB, some chocolate flavored almonds, and some old stale Trader Joes truffle 'cheetoes' lol. Within 4 hours, this was the result:


What's strange is that the poor guy was already dead so I'm really not sure what happened. I have a couple theories:

1) it was stuck in there for a long time (possibly went right in shortly after I set the trap) and died of dehydration after a couple hours of being stuck.

or

2) a hawk came over and started toying with it and eventually got its claws on it. I didn't see any blood or signs of struggle but you never know.

Anyway, I tossed the carcass over our fence and into the shrubs/bushes on the hillside. Hopefully a scavenger was able to pick it up. This morning, coincidentally, I saw a hawk perched on our fence which was really cool! Wondering if this whole ordeal possibly drew him back to "patrol" our yard.
 
Re the trap: I wasn't checking the thing every 15-30 minutes since this was in the middle of the work day. I figured it would take a while for anything to get caught so assumed it would be fine just to wait and leave it out there. I guess I should have set a camera up to monitor it. I'll probably do that from now on.

On a related note, an idea crossed my mind as an alternative to a pellet gun: Mini Crossbow! There are some that can be had for $50-80 on Amazon. This seems like a great solution for something quiet and that wouldn't really ricochet, while still being accurate and deadly. I want to see how this trapping effort goes though. I may try the bucket/water/sunflower seed trick too at some point. For the time being though, I'd just like to try to get them under control a bit. They are stealing the apples of our crab apple tree as well. It would be nice to enjoy the fruits from our yard. I don't want to imagine what these guys would do to new young plants that we're just trying to establish and paid a bunch of money for.

[SunnyDays]

Poor little guy!

You know this will be a life long battle you have no chance of winning, right?

[RyanAtTanagra]

This has been a battle for me in our new house as well.  I use ground squirrel/gopher smoke bombs.  Throw it in a hole, cover it up, look to see if the smoke starts coming out any other nearby holes and cover those up too.  It works for smaller boroughs but not the bigger ones.  Last year I was getting on top of the population, but this year they came back with a vengeance.  My next step is to blow air to help distribute the smoke further through the tunneling systems.  After trying to brainstorm how to do this (I was leaning towards a cordless hair drier, but they're all $$$), I read a tip of cutting a hole in the bottom of a 5gal bucket and put a battery powered fan in it.  Then put the bucket upside down over the hole and let it push the smoke.   If your yard is small enough that running an extension cord isn't an annoyance, a shop vac on reverse works well.  Our property is just too big, I need something portable.

Here are the bombs I use, though I've heard road flares are essentially the same thing and burn longer/create more smoke:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GUQKPBM/

[jeromedawg]

This has been a battle for me in our new house as well.  I use ground squirrel/gopher smoke bombs.  Throw it in a hole, cover it up, look to see if the smoke starts coming out any other nearby holes and cover those up too.  It works for smaller boroughs but not the bigger ones.  Last year I was getting on top of the population, but this year they came back with a vengeance.  My next step is to blow air to help distribute the smoke further through the tunneling systems.  After trying to brainstorm how to do this (I was leaning towards a cordless hair drier, but they're all $$$), I read a tip of cutting a hole in the bottom of a 5gal bucket and put a battery powered fan in it.  Then put the bucket upside down over the hole and let it push the smoke.   If your yard is small enough that running an extension cord isn't an annoyance, a shop vac on reverse works well.  Our property is just too big, I need something portable.

Here are the bombs I use, though I've heard road flares are essentially the same thing and burn longer/create more smoke:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GUQKPBM/

Yea, fumigating the burrows would be a challenge because I'd be on the city's property/land at that point.  Multiple neighbors have a clear view of this same land as well, so they would clearly see what I'm doing or at least be wondering lol. If these things produce a fair amount of smoke, the fire dept might even get called which wouldn't be fun.

[JupiterGreen]

They are relentless. I used to try to keep them off my bird feeder, but they are so smart. This may not be an option for you but I just live with them now. I've even named a few and started feeding the squirrels along with the birds-- they are all good entertainment.

[Metalcat]

I understand your epic battles with rats inside your house.

But why own outdoor space if you are intolerant of generally benign wildlife?

Other than encouraging their natural predators to hang out more on that land, I find all of the other suggestions to be horrifying.
Gum? JFC

Maybe I'm not understanding the horror of backyard squirrels properly? Are they awful little scourges that cause property damage? Like, will their digging lead to erosion and destroy your foundation or something?

[RyanAtTanagra]

Maybe I'm not understanding the horror of backyard squirrels properly? Are they awful little scourges that cause property damage? Like, will their digging lead to erosion and destroy your foundation or something?

The ground squirrels here destroy everything we plant.  They eat leaves and dig underneath the plants and kill the roots.

[Metalcat]

Maybe I'm not understanding the horror of backyard squirrels properly? Are they awful little scourges that cause property damage? Like, will their digging lead to erosion and destroy your foundation or something?

The ground squirrels here destroy everything we plant.  They eat leaves and dig underneath the plants and kill the roots.

Yeah, skunks did this to our gardens. And we couldn't grow vegetables because it would attract too many deer and the moms would be aggressive with our dogs.

It would never have occured to me to kill them in response. We just stopped growing vegetables and constantly tidied up the destroyed garden patches.

I'm just not accustomed to people talking about killing backyard animals unless they're posing a danger to structures, people, or pets. It's just not done where I'm from.

But I guess it's a common thing in some areas?

[RyanAtTanagra]

I'm just not accustomed to people talking about killing backyard animals unless they're posing a danger to structures, people, or pets. It's just not done where I'm from.

But I guess it's a common thing in some areas?

In the country, yes.  If you're trying to have a garden or orchard.  We put up 1000' of deer fencing to keep the deer out, so we shouldn't have to take any of those, but ground squirrels are destructive to plant life and you can't keep them out (if I could I'd go that route).  You don't need a hunting license in California to kill ground squirrels, and there's no limit.  Being California, that probably says something about them :-)

[Metalcat]

I'm just not accustomed to people talking about killing backyard animals unless they're posing a danger to structures, people, or pets. It's just not done where I'm from.

But I guess it's a common thing in some areas?

In the country, yes.  If you're trying to have a garden or orchard.  We put up 1000' of deer fencing to keep the deer out, so we shouldn't have to take any of those, but ground squirrels are destructive to plant life and you can't keep them out (if I could I'd go that route).  You don't need a hunting license in California to kill ground squirrels, and there's no limit.  Being California, that probably says something about them :-)

Yeah I grew up in the country. But we don't have ground squirrels here. That's why I'm open minded that perhaps they are destructive enough to make sense of this casual killing of them.

[RyanAtTanagra]

I'm just not accustomed to people talking about killing backyard animals unless they're posing a danger to structures, people, or pets. It's just not done where I'm from.

But I guess it's a common thing in some areas?

In the country, yes.  If you're trying to have a garden or orchard.  We put up 1000' of deer fencing to keep the deer out, so we shouldn't have to take any of those, but ground squirrels are destructive to plant life and you can't keep them out (if I could I'd go that route).  You don't need a hunting license in California to kill ground squirrels, and there's no limit.  Being California, that probably says something about them :-)

Yeah I grew up in the country. But we don't have ground squirrels here. That's why I'm open minded that perhaps they are destructive enough to make sense of this casual killing of them.

Think moles or groundhogs, but worse damage and in higher numbers (they're destroying about a solid acre of our property).  I had a groundhog problem in Ohio, which I trapped and relocated, but I only had to do that for 5 groundhogs before I ran out.  I tried to trap these first, but they're less gullible to traps than groundhogs, plus there are more so they move in faster than you could trap them anyway.

[techwiz]

Maybe you just need to encourage some snakes to live in your yard..... I assume you might not want snakes so you could use fakes ones in your yard.

A natural method that is harmless to squirrels, is using a fake snake to guard your planters.

1. Cut a 12- to 16-inch section from the old garden hose or bicycle tube. If you are using a toy snake, you may skip this step. You can also use homemade snakes in addition to toy snakes.

2. Lay your snake in the planter. If using a homemade snake, adjust the snake so it is shaped like an S as it lays in the planter. Toy snakes are typically formed with an S-curve and won't need to be adjusted once placed in the planter.

3. Move the snake every three or four days. Squirrels are observant and will eventually learn your fake snake isn't alive if you leave it in one spot all the time. Moving the snake's location, position or shape keeps the squirrels guessing.

[GuitarStv]

Maybe you just need to encourage some snakes to live in your yard..... I assume you might not want snakes so you could use fakes ones in your yard.

A natural method that is harmless to squirrels, is using a fake snake to guard your planters.

1. Cut a 12- to 16-inch section from the old garden hose or bicycle tube. If you are using a toy snake, you may skip this step. You can also use homemade snakes in addition to toy snakes.

2. Lay your snake in the planter. If using a homemade snake, adjust the snake so it is shaped like an S as it lays in the planter. Toy snakes are typically formed with an S-curve and won't need to be adjusted once placed in the planter.

3. Move the snake every three or four days. Squirrels are observant and will eventually learn your fake snake isn't alive if you leave it in one spot all the time. Moving the snake's location, position or shape keeps the squirrels guessing.

I don't have experience with ground squirrels, but have worked in pest control and have experience dealing with rodents.  If ground squirrels are remotely like regular tree squirrels, I think that you're suggesting is a nice idea but will be a lot of work for something that is unlikely to be a deterrent.  Tree squirrels are very intelligent and figure things out quickly.  I doubt that they would be taken in by a length of hose to begin with, but if it did scare them once they would soon be back to test the actual danger.  It wouldn't be more than a couple hours (at best) before they're ignoring it.

[Cassie]

Squirrels ate our garden so we just quit planting. There’s no way I was going to kill them. You can’t relocate them because squirrels are territorial and will be killed by the local squirrels.  I find it sickening that people kill them.

[GuitarStv]

You guys know that squirrels are just rats with bushy tails and better PR, right?

[techwiz]

I don't have experience with ground squirrels, but have worked in pest control and have experience dealing with rodents.  If ground squirrels are remotely like regular tree squirrels, I think that you're suggesting is a nice idea but will be a lot of work for something that is unlikely to be a deterrent.  Tree squirrels are very intelligent and figure things out quickly.  I doubt that they would be taken in by a length of hose to begin with, but if it did scare them once they would soon be back to test the actual danger.  It wouldn't be more than a couple hours (at best) before they're ignoring it.

Might have to go with some high-tech fake snakes to keep the squirrels from ignoring them.

[RyanAtTanagra]

A natural method that is harmless to squirrels, is using a fake snake to guard your planters.

Well, we don't have planters.  We're starting a homestead.  Planning about 500sqft of vegetable gardening area, not counting the orchard or vineyard.  I do encourage real snakes on the property, in that I leave the non-rattlers alone.

[Metalcat]

You guys know that squirrels are just rats with bushy tails and better PR, right?

And I love rats. Love them. Way more than squirrels.

You're right though, rats have terrible PR.

[HPstache]

Pellet gun seems entertaining... I'd take up a new hobby of hunting and preparing squirrel to eat.  Or just hunting.

[RyanAtTanagra]

Pellet gun seems entertaining... I'd take up a new hobby of hunting and preparing squirrel to eat.  Or just hunting.

I try that too but the ground squirrels only seem to be active at dawn, and have supernatural hearing.  I can't open a door quietly enough w/out them booking it for their burrows.

We're looking at guinea fowl, and maybe a farm cat, to possibly keep them scared away, as well.

[JupiterGreen]

Maybe I'm not understanding the horror of backyard squirrels properly? Are they awful little scourges that cause property damage? Like, will their digging lead to erosion and destroy your foundation or something?

The ground squirrels here destroy everything we plant.  They eat leaves and dig underneath the plants and kill the roots.

I didn't realize you had different squirrels in CA, interesting.

[RyanAtTanagra]

Maybe I'm not understanding the horror of backyard squirrels properly? Are they awful little scourges that cause property damage? Like, will their digging lead to erosion and destroy your foundation or something?

The ground squirrels here destroy everything we plant.  They eat leaves and dig underneath the plants and kill the roots.

I didn't realize you had different squirrels in CA, interesting.

Yea we have eastern grey tree squirrels too, which are annoying, but not a focus of our attention, as we don't really have anything they want yet.

[lthenderson]

Pellet gun seems entertaining... I'd take up a new hobby of hunting and preparing squirrel to eat.  Or just hunting.

I try that too but the ground squirrels only seem to be active at dawn, and have supernatural hearing.  I can't open a door quietly enough w/out them booking it for their burrows.

I turn my house into a hunting blind. I start with a few seeds scattered in plain site within can't miss range of my pellet pistol. I crack open a sliding door with the curtains shut and lay on the floor with the barrel just poking out of the gap. Then I simply listen to a podcast with earbuds and wait until the varmint decides those seeds are tasty enough to throw caution to the wind and make my shot. I've found this to be much more effective than trying to sneak up on them.

[RyanAtTanagra]

I turn my house into a hunting blind. I start with a few seeds scattered in plain site within can't miss range of my pellet pistol. I crack open a sliding door with the curtains shut and lay on the floor with the barrel just poking out of the gap. Then I simply listen to a podcast with earbuds and wait until the varmint decides those seeds are tasty enough to throw caution to the wind and make my shot. I've found this to be much more effective than trying to sneak up on them.

Yea, that's my plan for if the tree squirrels become a problem.  The ground squirrels are harder to bait.  Or maybe I'm using the wrong bait.  They wouldn't take the nuts I laid out.

[BudgetSlasher]

Years ago, maybe decades not, I had an eccentric plant biology professor who had extensive gardens. He claimed that a dead squirrel would deter other squirrels from entering the area, but it had to be fresh the impact wore off after a day or two.

[jeromedawg]

Pellet gun seems entertaining... I'd take up a new hobby of hunting and preparing squirrel to eat.  Or just hunting.

I try that too but the ground squirrels only seem to be active at dawn, and have supernatural hearing.  I can't open a door quietly enough w/out them booking it for their burrows.

I turn my house into a hunting blind. I start with a few seeds scattered in plain site within can't miss range of my pellet pistol. I crack open a sliding door with the curtains shut and lay on the floor with the barrel just poking out of the gap. Then I simply listen to a podcast with earbuds and wait until the varmint decides those seeds are tasty enough to throw caution to the wind and make my shot. I've found this to be much more effective than trying to sneak up on them.

So since posting this I purchased a crosman 1322 and have been busy modding it lol. The best 'investment' was adding a moderator to silence it so it doesnt sound like a loud nail gun where my neighbors are all wondering whats going on.

Anyway, I got one today. I took a similar approach to yours. Except i use my blink cams with motion alerts. Got a motion alert earlier, confirmed a ground squirrel, rushed downstairs, 8 pumps and loaded a pellet, slowly cracked open the french door, pointed the barrel out and took the shot (have to be careful walking around the yard in broad daylight as the neighbors up the hill have a pretty clear view of our yard currently). Got him as he was trying to hide behind a bamboo planter. It was an instant humane kill, fortunately.

[jeromedawg]

I turn my house into a hunting blind. I start with a few seeds scattered in plain site within can't miss range of my pellet pistol. I crack open a sliding door with the curtains shut and lay on the floor with the barrel just poking out of the gap. Then I simply listen to a podcast with earbuds and wait until the varmint decides those seeds are tasty enough to throw caution to the wind and make my shot. I've found this to be much more effective than trying to sneak up on them.

Yea, that's my plan for if the tree squirrels become a problem.  The ground squirrels are harder to bait.  Or maybe I'm using the wrong bait.  They wouldn't take the nuts I laid out.

Ive had decent luck using sunflower seeds and peanut or almond butter. My neighbor would use peanuts in the shell to attract them into his trap. I think it may depend on the time of year too and what they typically will forage for during those times.

[jeromedawg]

I understand your epic battles with rats inside your house.

But why own outdoor space if you are intolerant of generally benign wildlife?

Other than encouraging their natural predators to hang out more on that land, I find all of the other suggestions to be horrifying.
Gum? JFC

Maybe I'm not understanding the horror of backyard squirrels properly? Are they awful little scourges that cause property damage? Like, will their digging lead to erosion and destroy your foundation or something?

As Ryan mentioned: they'll tear out and destroy plants, especially newly planted stuff. We are planning to do some landscaping and plant stuff back there so I'm trying to get a handle on the local population. There has definitely been a reduction in activity but time is yet to tell. As a side, I've also heard that if they happen to get into the attic it can be really destructive. Its scary how fast the population of these squirrels can explode with easily accessible food sources and places to hide. Dana Point harbor nearby is a classic example. Just google "dana point harbor squirrels" lol

[Metalcat]

I understand your epic battles with rats inside your house.

But why own outdoor space if you are intolerant of generally benign wildlife?

Other than encouraging their natural predators to hang out more on that land, I find all of the other suggestions to be horrifying.
Gum? JFC

Maybe I'm not understanding the horror of backyard squirrels properly? Are they awful little scourges that cause property damage? Like, will their digging lead to erosion and destroy your foundation or something?

As Ryan mentioned: they'll tear out and destroy plants, especially newly planted stuff. We are planning to do some landscaping and plant stuff back there so I'm trying to get a handle on the local population. There has definitely been a reduction in activity but time is yet to tell. As a side, I've also heard that if they happen to get into the attic it can be really destructive. Its scary how fast the population of these squirrels can explode with easily accessible food sources and places to hide. Dana Point harbor nearby is a classic example. Just google "dana point harbor squirrels" lol

I am just going to have to trust your judgement on their level of destruction.

But I just can't wrap my mind around "they dig up plants, so we poison/shoot them" as a cultural norm outside of commercial farms.

Again, not a judgement. I'm just fascinated that there's such a different cultural perspective on backyard critters where you live vs where I'm from.

Poisoning or shooting rodents in their natural habitat because they damage gardens would just so not be acceptable where I'm from. Like, good luck getting served at the local pub if folks found out you did that.

One guy poisoned crows and he might as well have murdered a baby.

[SunnyDays]

^^^^^^^^

I find a vast difference in opinion on this based on country vs city people where I live.  I'm not talking farmers, just folks with acreages and such.  One guy I knew would shoot magpies and then just leave them where they fell to deter others from coming around (don't know if this worked or not - my guess is not).  My sister who lived in the country would trap squirrels because they chewed up the trees.  Well yeah, that's what they do and there's no getting rid of them either.  City people on the other hand tend to either just ignore wildlife or feed them.  My dad lives in a big city and has more squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and birds in this small yard than I ever get in my large yard in a smaller town.  Seems to me that the more property one owns, the more anxious one is to keep everything else away.

[Metalcat]

^^^^^^^^

I find a vast difference in opinion on this based on country vs city people where I live.  I'm not talking farmers, just folks with acreages and such.  One guy I knew would shoot magpies and then just leave them where they fell to deter others from coming around (don't know if this worked or not - my guess is not).  My sister who lived in the country would trap squirrels because they chewed up the trees.  Well yeah, that's what they do and there's no getting rid of them either.  City people on the other hand tend to either just ignore wildlife or feed them.  My dad lives in a big city and has more squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and birds in this small yard than I ever get in my large yard in a smaller town.  Seems to me that the more property one owns, the more anxious one is to keep everything else away.

I'm sure that's a factor, but I grew up on an acreage in a rural community surrounded by farms. So that's certainly not the factor at play in the attitudes of my particular location of upbringing.

My elementary school was in the middle of forest, and we would occasionally have to stay out of half of the school property because of foxes, aggressive fishers, etc. Never would anyone have thought to trap or kill them, we just modified where we were allowed to go. We had tons of land and woods, so we adjusted to the animals.

If a bear was around, we stayed inside or on the cut lawns and didn't go into the woods at all.

I'm guessing it has more to do with the major indigenous influence in the area. The concept that the animals were as entitled to their space as we were was a pretty pervasive concept.

It's just occuring to me now that that's not necessarily normal.

[GuitarStv]

^^^^^^^^

I find a vast difference in opinion on this based on country vs city people where I live.  I'm not talking farmers, just folks with acreages and such.  One guy I knew would shoot magpies and then just leave them where they fell to deter others from coming around (don't know if this worked or not - my guess is not).  My sister who lived in the country would trap squirrels because they chewed up the trees.  Well yeah, that's what they do and there's no getting rid of them either.  City people on the other hand tend to either just ignore wildlife or feed them.  My dad lives in a big city and has more squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and birds in this small yard than I ever get in my large yard in a smaller town.  Seems to me that the more property one owns, the more anxious one is to keep everything else away.

I'm sure that's a factor, but I grew up on an acreage in a rural community surrounded by farms. So that's certainly not the factor at play in the attitudes of my particular location of upbringing.

My elementary school was in the middle of forest, and we would occasionally have to stay out of half of the school property because of foxes, aggressive fishers, etc. Never would anyone have thought to trap or kill them, we just modified where we were allowed to go. We had tons of land and woods, so we adjusted to the animals.

If a bear was around, we stayed inside or on the cut lawns and didn't go into the woods at all.

I'm guessing it has more to do with the major indigenous influence in the area. The concept that the animals were as entitled to their space as we were was a pretty pervasive concept.

It's just occuring to me now that that's not necessarily normal.

That sounds very weird.

Where did you live?  Here in Ontario, standard practice with a bear found in a town is to call the MNR who will try to chase it away or fo a trap and release thing.  If it won't leave, or comes back regularly they'll shoot it.  Ignoring an animal like that is very dangerous.  Bears get pretty big, and if they're allowed to get accustomed to people they will break into houses for food, kill pets, and are a great nuisance as well as danger to human life.  I spent my whole childhood in a small Northern community and had quite a few encounters with bears (mostly black bears).

At the native reserve next to town they wouldn't call the MNR.  They'd just immediately shoot and eat bears that wandered close enough.  My friends on the reserve hunted most of the meat they ate, and didn't risk their sled dogs (who all lived outside).

[JupiterGreen]

I understand your epic battles with rats inside your house.

But why own outdoor space if you are intolerant of generally benign wildlife?

Other than encouraging their natural predators to hang out more on that land, I find all of the other suggestions to be horrifying.
Gum? JFC

Maybe I'm not understanding the horror of backyard squirrels properly? Are they awful little scourges that cause property damage? Like, will their digging lead to erosion and destroy your foundation or something?

As Ryan mentioned: they'll tear out and destroy plants, especially newly planted stuff. We are planning to do some landscaping and plant stuff back there so I'm trying to get a handle on the local population. There has definitely been a reduction in activity but time is yet to tell. As a side, I've also heard that if they happen to get into the attic it can be really destructive. Its scary how fast the population of these squirrels can explode with easily accessible food sources and places to hide. Dana Point harbor nearby is a classic example. Just google "dana point harbor squirrels" lol

I am just going to have to trust your judgement on their level of destruction.

But I just can't wrap my mind around "they dig up plants, so we poison/shoot them" as a cultural norm outside of commercial farms.

Again, not a judgement. I'm just fascinated that there's such a different cultural perspective on backyard critters where you live vs where I'm from.

Poisoning or shooting rodents in their natural habitat because they damage gardens would just so not be acceptable where I'm from. Like, good luck getting served at the local pub if folks found out you did that.

One guy poisoned crows and he might as well have murdered a baby.

I'm having a similar reaction. Frankly, this gives me a sick feeling in my stomach but I keep checking this thread hoping there will be a humane solution to the problem. Mind you, I too grew up on a farm and we never once shot anything because it was a nuisance (food is a different story).

Perhaps you can shift your thinking and plant things these squirrels don't care for, like native plants? Admittedly, I don't live in CA and don't know the problem so perhaps they are especially invasive. But generally when we have wildlife encroaching it is because we've overbuilt into their area. Because of this, I feel the onus is on us to adjust to them (killing them would be a last resort in my book). There are many ways to protect a vegetable garden by going with a greenhouse, digging down under and protecting over. If the squirrels are killing the purely aesthetic stuff maybe that is for the good, we've got a water crisis going on after all. Probably best for all of us to let the grass and water thirsty plants go (or at least minimize) anyway.

There is this proverb I heard (can't remember where it comes from) that has stayed with me. Anyway it goes like this:
You are angry because a mouse has moved into your house. So for this precious time in your life you walk around mad trying to conjure solutions to rid yourself of this pest. Maybe you set out traps in an attempt to kill it but it doesn't work. So you are sitting around one day pondering how the mouse got in and why it is there. This reflection makes you realize you have been neglecting the cleanliness of your home and so it inspire you to fix holes/gaps and clean the entire place thus making it not that interesting to the mouse and it moves out. In the end, the pests we encounter can sometimes be seen as a blessing rather than a curse. They inspired us to see the bigger picture of how we are living, make important changes, and pivot our point of view encouraging a lifestyle that fits more harmonically with those around us.   

[Cassie]

My folks owned a summer resort in northern Wisconsin and we avoided the wildlife and certainly didn’t harm them in anyway. We have encroached on their territory not the other way around.

[ATtiny85]

Pellet gun seems entertaining... I'd take up a new hobby of hunting and preparing squirrel to eat.  Or just hunting.

I try that too but the ground squirrels only seem to be active at dawn, and have supernatural hearing.  I can't open a door quietly enough w/out them booking it for their burrows.

I turn my house into a hunting blind. I start with a few seeds scattered in plain site within can't miss range of my pellet pistol. I crack open a sliding door with the curtains shut and lay on the floor with the barrel just poking out of the gap. Then I simply listen to a podcast with earbuds and wait until the varmint decides those seeds are tasty enough to throw caution to the wind and make my shot. I've found this to be much more effective than trying to sneak up on them.

So since posting this I purchased a crosman 1322 and have been busy modding it lol. The best 'investment' was adding a moderator to silence it so it doesnt sound like a loud nail gun where my neighbors are all wondering whats going on.

Anyway, I got one today. I took a similar approach to yours. Except i use my blink cams with motion alerts. Got a motion alert earlier, confirmed a ground squirrel, rushed downstairs, 8 pumps and loaded a pellet, slowly cracked open the french door, pointed the barrel out and took the shot (have to be careful walking around the yard in broad daylight as the neighbors up the hill have a pretty clear view of our yard currently). Got him as he was trying to hide behind a bamboo planter. It was an instant humane kill, fortunately.

Nicely done. Keep at it. My dad had to shoot about 30 one time to finally keep things somewhat under control.

[lthenderson]

I'm guessing it has more to do with the major indigenous influence in the area. The concept that the animals were as entitled to their space as we were was a pretty pervasive concept.

I'm pretty live and let live when it comes to animals. But the tipping point for me was when they started digging their homes right next to my basement foundation. Left untouched, they can create tens of thousands of dollars of damage to a finished basement by funneling water up next to the foundation when I have worked so hard to funnel it away from my basement foundation. In fact when I moved into this house, I had to repour the sidewalk and driveway to the tune of $15,000 due to damage caused by ground squirrel burrows that were left unchecked by previous owners. After years of trying unsuccessfully to deter or rid them by other means, I resorted to killing those that choose to live near my house and that has taken care of the problem. 

[RyanAtTanagra]

Mind you, I too grew up on a farm and we never once shot anything because it was a nuisance (food is a different story).

Perhaps you can shift your thinking and plant things these squirrels don't care for, like native plants? Admittedly, I don't live in CA and don't know the problem so perhaps they are especially invasive.

It IS a food issue, and yea maybe the level of 'nuisance' isn't clear.  They're beyond nuisance.  The eastern grey tree squirrels, which is probably what people are thinking of when we say 'squirrel', I can (and have to) get a nuisance hunting license if I want to kill them.  The ground squirrels I do not.  That should indicate the level of destruction everyone here understands they do.  They will kill everything you plant, and will go from having none on your property to your entire yard completely torn up with burrows within a month.  I'm originally from Ohio and we don't have anything near this destructive there.  It's honestly insane.

In fact when I moved into this house, I had to repour the sidewalk and driveway to the tune of $15,000 due to damage caused by ground squirrel burrows that were left unchecked by previous owners. After years of trying unsuccessfully to deter or rid them by other means, I resorted to killing those that choose to live near my house and that has taken care of the problem. 

Yep, I get to do driveway repair this year thanks to the squirrels.

[GuitarStv]

Mind you, I too grew up on a farm and we never once shot anything because it was a nuisance (food is a different story).

Perhaps you can shift your thinking and plant things these squirrels don't care for, like native plants? Admittedly, I don't live in CA and don't know the problem so perhaps they are especially invasive.

It IS a food issue, and yea maybe the level of 'nuisance' isn't clear.  They're beyond nuisance.  The eastern grey tree squirrels, which is probably what people are thinking of when we say 'squirrel', I can (and have to) get a nuisance hunting license if I want to kill them.  The ground squirrels I do not.  That should indicate the level of destruction everyone here understands they do.  They will kill everything you plant, and will go from having none on your property to your entire yard completely torn up with burrows within a month.  I'm originally from Ohio and we don't have anything near this destructive there.  It's honestly insane.

In fact when I moved into this house, I had to repour the sidewalk and driveway to the tune of $15,000 due to damage caused by ground squirrel burrows that were left unchecked by previous owners. After years of trying unsuccessfully to deter or rid them by other means, I resorted to killing those that choose to live near my house and that has taken care of the problem. 

Yep, I get to do driveway repair this year thanks to the squirrels.

I had to repair a couple thousand dollars damage that tree squirrels did on my roof two years ago when they chose to nest up there.  They can be surprisingly destructive little creatures if you ignore them.

[iris lily]

Ugh. Squirrels.

At our city property we had 20+ fruit trees. The tree rats would, just as fruit hit ripe stage,pick the apples, the peaches, the apricots, the plums, the pears.  They took one bite and threw them to the ground. Evil, wasteful shits.

 They stole tomatoes to the point where one of our neighbors asked why we were tossing tomatoes into their yard. Ah, we weren’t—it was the fooking varmints.

Fortunately we always had enough tomatoes that they didn’t wipe us out but most years they got ALL of our fruit crops. The only food they didn’t take was cherries, and the birds got much of that. But I didn’t mind because the top of the tree was for the birds and the bottom part was for me.

DH spent years trapping tree squirrels and “sending them to a better place” with a pellet gun. A good day was a 3 squirrel day. I hate them and they don’t even bother my ornamentals. They are just so mindlessly destructive.

Here in our new small town the most destructive beasts are deer. Ugh, they are awful. There  are tree squirrels here, too, as well as ground squirrels. I confess to finding the little ground squirrels very cute. They do not look like Jeromedog’s dead squirrel, ours are prettier.