This year we noticed a number of animal holes in our yard (we live in a near city suburb). I think they are squirrel holes.
The holes are ugly and mess up the lawn.
I wouldn't mind killing them or chasing them far away since I don't want them to nest anywhere on our property -- and certainly don't want them tunneling into our attic.
Any suggestions? Would rat poison work?
Note we are way too urban to use things like guns and I don't want to use anything that will turn our yard into a Superfund cleanup site. On the other hand, I have nothing against accepted methods of chasing/killing animals.
I feel your pain. I deal with Utah rock squirrels and pocket gophers.
Squirrels DO make tunnels, but not knowing what part of the country you are in, they might be gophers. Gophers make a cone shaped mound, mostly without a tunnel showing. Mechanical gopher traps work good, you just have to know a couple of tricks about setting them. Identify what it is you are dealing with as your first step. You'll see squirrels. You will rarely see gophers. Moles and voles are smaller, and have smaller dirt hills.
DO NOT use poison. The critter eats the poison, then a dog or cat in the neighborhood eats it, and some child may be very sad. Plus, you cannot control where they die, and they just might pick your garage wall.
Depending on the animal, different methods are used. For squirrels, HavAHart makes traps. They last forever, but are spendy. Sportsman's Guide at
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has a two set of traps on sale right now for $35 for the pair. The smaller one looks big enough for squirrels, and the other one would be handy to have around if you ever get a feral cat or raccoon or skunk. Call the local animal control, as they have traps you might borrow, but you sound like you will have an ongoing problem.
As stated, dump the whole trap in a barrel of water, and come back in 15 minutes. Relocating them just moves the problem, and animals have been known to return from a great distance. Stabbing and gruesome ways of dispatching them might cause them to spray an odorant that would make the trap suspicious to subsequent animals. And don't forget they bite, so use gloves, and never get your fingers or fingertips where they can get you, because they will be in a pissy mood.
It has become a game with me, and I am designing a 55 gallon barrel with a trap door, or a balanced piece of short PVC that if they go into, will drop them into water deep enough to drown in. The mechanisms will reset, so be essentially automatic.
5 gallon buckets with a beer can on a wire work beautifully for mice. String the can across the top and smear it with peanut butter. They go out, the can rolls, they drown. Efficient, and free.
Just be damn sure to check them daily, as they get REAL skanky if they sit there for more than a day. And I mean REAL skanky.
Keep us posted, or if you need pics. I'll post pics on flickr of the new ones as I build them.
Oh, and keep your work secret, lest some busybody squirrel lover turn you in and cause you more grief.
Harbor freight's traps won't last forever- but I've left mine outside for 3 yrs now & it is just starting to show a little surface rust. [the havahart has been out off and on for 20 and shows no signs of rust]
Squirrel size is $8 - they go on sale for $5.
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Worth saying again- drowning is more humane, more ethical [and likely more legal] than relocation.
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Mice & chipmunks.
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I'd like to see the results of the squirrel drowner when you figure out how deep the water needs to be--
Put out poison and you might be killing neighbors pets, put out a trap. You likely have grubs, several animals dig for them at night. Is a few holes worth worrying about.
I've got woodchuck living under my trailer. I keep waiting for sale on traps, at HF, and I'll buy one. In my part of the world, woodchuck are massively over populated.
I know what he means since I have holes sometimes as well. Not tunnels; they just dig eight inches or so. I suspect squirrels as well. We're city also and only have them, possums, and raccoons. Well, and cats. We feed and neuter the cats though.
But I'm not up for killing the digging critters; they're all kind of cute and just trying to survive. I just fill the holes and the lawn looks pretty good again. It seems to happen every other week or so. I suspect they rotate to other folks lawns so the grubs and stuff get a chance to resupply.
Get a big Victor rat trap. Use dried fruit for bait, they love it. I slice a dried apricot in the middle and put it on the trip lever. Sprinkle a couple raisins and dried cranberries around it, maybe half a cashew. In short time you will have a squirrel, chipmunk, rats, mice and a few other things in your compost pile dead. I was catching stuff every other day until they were all gone.
blueman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@consult.pretender:
man, you are so stupid. YOU move into the animal's habitat and now you want to kill them. It'd be great if you stepped into one of the holes and snapped your leg off. Maybe you could snapp off both legs.
It may be squirrels burying their nuts for the upcoming winter season. Contrary to what some believe, squirrels do not have secret nut mines from which they replenish their larder. If so, you can throw together some "Nut Huts." They look like bird houses except much deeper into which Sammy the Squirrel can lay away provisions to tide him and his furry family over the lean months ahead.
As for being "way to urban to use guns," I take it you're not in Chicago (where guns are banned).
My son told me about the same issue in his yard last evening - he has lived in the same home about 7 years and has never seen the number of holes all over the yard before. Perhaps squirrels know there will be a more severe winter, or something. The holes aren't deep, and are filled in, so I suppose the worst likely result is a lot of new oak trees. Mower will take care of them. Said he has seen deer with huge racks, as well - usually only see does and fawns in his yard. Small town, not city - lakes and woods nearby. Good pike and bass fishing :o)
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