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Post by tickranch on Jul 2, 2024 19:45:07 GMT -6
Along with probably everyone else, the dang tree rats are eating all my maters. I set out a live trap with some maters in it & no luck, they take the ones off the vines. Today I set out 2 more live traps using corn for bait, hopefully they’ll try that. Anyone got any better ideas, other than sitting out there all day with a .22? Thought about some conibears, but I’d probably have to have a ton of them to properly cover the garden.
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Post by Walleye Joe on Jul 3, 2024 5:09:22 GMT -6
I quit trying to grow maters a few years ago because to the danged tree rats. Now I discovered this yesterday. They chewed a large hole in the lid to one of my feeders. Looks like I'd better zero in the Marlin .22 rifle.  |
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Post by krank on Jul 3, 2024 6:24:40 GMT -6
Rabbits and squirrels hate blood meal. Available at lawn and garden stores. Dogs love blood meal and roll in it.
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Post by tickranch on Jul 3, 2024 9:23:23 GMT -6
Well, I caught a little grey this morning. From the sign I’ve been seeing, he may be the only one…but I doubt it. Going to reset & try again. Thanks krank, I’ll have to try the blood meal. Seldom see loose dogs around here, so hopefully they won’t be a problem. Unless a yote passes by.
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Post by tickranch on Jul 3, 2024 9:28:35 GMT -6
I quit trying to grow maters a few years ago because to the danged tree rats. Now I discovered this yesterday. They chewed a large hole in the lid to one of my feeders. Looks like I'd better zero in the Marlin .22 rifle. I’ve had them do that to my feeder, but it wasn’t in a critical area, so just duct taped it up. I had a problem with coons climbing the poles & steeling the corn out of the feeder, so I put one of those cage things around the spinner. Stopped the coons, but then the tree rats figured out they could climb the poles & stick their paws in there & spin the spinner. After going through 200 lbs of corn in about a week, I took the feeder down. I’d shoot them and it didn’t make much difference, as more of them would move in from deeper in the woods. |
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Post by Walleye Joe on Jul 3, 2024 10:08:48 GMT -6
I used foil-faced furnace duct tape. Several layers. My plan is to find a galvanized trash can lid and bolt it to this lid. Next it will be the feed drum.  |
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Post by bigjohn on Jul 3, 2024 10:45:15 GMT -6
I keep a pellet rifle on a bench in my garage. Back door is in line with my bird feeders. I'm up to around 40 squirrels killed off the feeders this year. Best year was 56 squirrels.
I've snared a few with picture wire but don't like having them flopping around for the neighbors to see lol.
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Post by bigbob on Jul 3, 2024 14:16:30 GMT -6
Go buy a bunch of boxes of egg noodles and simmer them with the tree rats! Yum!
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Post by Walleye Joe on Jul 4, 2024 6:19:37 GMT -6
Go buy a bunch of boxes of egg noodles and simmer them with the tree rats! Yum! They will definitely be on the menu before fall. If you can't beat them, eat them! LOL |
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Post by segsarge on Jul 4, 2024 19:58:17 GMT -6
Don't know what happened to the squirrels around my place. We had a lot of them early in the year, haven't seen one for several weeks now.
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Post by krank on Jul 5, 2024 6:02:05 GMT -6
DO you know that squirrels are migratory? They come into an area in hoards and they leave an area in hoards. Its like you can superimpose a cloud of squirrels over a map and move it around.
Exception would be some big lazy fox squirrels that hang around.
My Dad torments squirrels. Our old suburb house had all them newly planted trees when I was a kid. Now it is mature trees and squirrels galore. I tried to tell my Dad that he was peeing in the wind trying to eradicate the critters but just let him play. He uses a boxtrap and a pellet gun. I tried to give him some 110 conis but he was concerned about Grandchildren getting into them. I told him they will only do it once.
Years ago, I bought the guy who has everything a black powder mouse trap. It is made of brass and has a trigger that hangs in front of the muzzle of the barrel. Idea is to load it with a few grains of powder and the concussion kills the mouse. Dad figgered out that the blast just stunned the squirrel so he put a dry bean or a peanut down the barrel and that put them down. (Davy Crockett wrote that he started out squirrel hunting shooting dry beans) Pa would watch out the window and hardly contain his laughter as the squirrel got in front of the mini-cannon and licked the peanut butter off the trigger. Needless to say that the mousetrap went bye bye when the grand kids came around.
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Post by tickranch on Jul 13, 2024 23:18:07 GMT -6
Well, so far I’ve caught 3 tree rats, but think the dang things are still getting my maters. I’ve put the blood meal that krank suggested around them, but don’t know if it’s working. But at least I’v taken 3 out of the populatiion1
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Post by krank on Jul 14, 2024 6:04:11 GMT -6
THe blood meal is good fertilizer as a consolation prize.
When I worked in Oregon for the lumber company, we planted seedlings in a 6 x 6 grid. On some locations, the deer were waiting for us to leave so they could feast. Solution was blood meal in a spray form. It was hard packing a 10 gallon tank with a trombone sprayer but those deer never touched a sprayed seedling.
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Goodbye 2020