Squirrels / what are you all using to control back yard pests

[JRS]

The OP has stated he cannot discharge a firearm.

 

[JRS]

My fig trees are ripening and I have mulberry trees that are bearing fruit and the squirrels have been just tearing it up. My current choice is a Air Arms .22 cal PCP.. approx 850 fps..
What are you guys using to knock down these varmints?

How close together are the trees? If they are spaced far enough apart that the squirrels can't jump from tree to tree, you have other options.

 

[markT]

There are trees power lines and roof tops all over the area.. squirrels feet never touch the ground..
I saw one come into a fig tree ( there are 4) from a cable ( Internet and tv) and enter the tree. I grabbed my rifle and waited. After a short time he exited the bottom of the tree, ran 20' and jumped onto the top of a wooden fence and disapeared.. Smart, very smart.

 

[pacificman]

My fig trees are ripening and I have mulberry trees that are bearing fruit and the squirrels have been just tearing it up. My current choice is a Air Arms .22 cal PCP.. approx 850 fps..
What are you guys using to knock down these varmints?

You have a great PCP...Air Arms are very accurate and sounds like it's getting the job done for ya.
Aim for their head and let em have it! I have a Air Arms and shoot starlings with mine. I have
killed them at more than 50 yards...Great pellet rifle for sure!

 

[markT]

I have a few air rifles.. got the bug a number of years ago. I just rebuilt my FX Superswift.. (O-rings in reservoir).. I killed a "lot" of tree rats with that rifle.. I havn't had any issues with the Air Arms leaking.. and the trigger is so sweet..
I prefer a body shot usually. Head shots if not placed pefectly makes the coil spring inside of them unwind and they flip and flop and "ride the bicycle." Girlfriend does like that.

 

[JRS]

Do you have dogs? Squirrels don't like the smell of dogs…. neither do groundhogs

 

[markT]

I used to work out of my home and I was able to shoot all day. I killed the crap out of them.. 143 in one year.. they got the message.. I moved away from that house and it is rental property now. After 7 years they have rebuilt.. My renter allows me to shoot from inside. Like the good ole days.. It's funny I ran into a guy at the SCUBA shop a few weeks ago getting my tank refilled. He said he was shooting squirrels too. He lives about 1/2- 3/4 of a mile from location. He said he had killed 100..I say infestation..

 

[people]

The OP has stated he cannot discharge a firearm.

Yes we got that.

 

[Eddie Harren]

"How close together are the trees? If they are spaced far enough apart that the squirrels can't jump from tree to tree, you have other options."

Ol' JRS just grins them critters down. Sorta like Davey Crockett and them Bar'.

 

[JRS]

"How close together are the trees? If they are spaced far enough apart that the squirrels can't jump from tree to tree, you have other options."

Ol' JRS just grins them critters down. Sorta like Davey Crockett and them Bar'.

I don't have to worry about that, Eddie. When my dogs "grin" and show those big pearly whites, not much of anything wants to hang around. Including my neighbor's chickens.

 

[rebel]

 

[Eddie Harren]

I don't have to worry about that, Eddie. When my dogs "grin" and show those big pearly whites, not much of anything wants to hang around. Including my neighbor's chickens.

I hear you. It takes a bad ass chicken to grin down a dog.

 

[JRS]

I hear you. It takes a bad ass chicken to grin down a dog.

They told me their rooster was a bad ass. The result was a meal for Einstein

 

[Brians356]

Air rifle and a mean cat. Make a feed station and keep watch. A blind might help too. I put a bounty on em and my boys took care of em one year

I think the right dog would be more reliable than a cat. But where I live squirrels carry bubonic plague.

For tree squirrels especially, I agree a blind would help. If there are a couple of windows in your house facing the orchard that would be great, but you probably have to remove the bug screens.

I also agree on the feed station. Set up an elevated bait platform on a pole, located for easy pellet shots out a window, but if there's an abundance of hanging fruit, they might not bother with the bait. But I never met a squirrel who didn't love peanuts.
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[Brians356]

I can not discharge a firearm..

I would check your local statutes. It's not unlikely just as illegal (and same penalties) to discharge an air rifle as a firearm.

If you are not worried about someone seeing you shoot and calling the cops, and you know a bullet cannot land on someone or their property, a rifle shooting 22 shorts or subsonic LRs is probably almost certainly less noisy than a high-power air rifle. A buddy I knew used a scoped Marlin lever action and subsonic LRs, and it made a dull "tunk" sound, compared to a 1000-fps air rifle's loud "crack". And the 40-gr travelling 700 fps really knocked the squirrels' d___s in the dirt.
-

 

[JRS]

I would check your local statutes. It's not unlikely just as illegal (and same penalties) to discharge an air rifle as a firearm.

If you are not worried about someone seeing you shoot and calling the cops, and you know a bullet cannot land on someone or their property, a rifle shooting 22 shorts or subsonic LRs is probably almost certainly less noisy than a high-power air rifle. A buddy I knew used a scoped Marlin lever action and subsonic LRs, and it made a dull "tunk" sound, compared to a 1000-fps air rifle's loud "crack". And the 40-gr travelling 700 fps really knocked the squirrels' d___s in the dirt.
-

You can have a moderator installed on an air rifle. I have one (25 caliber) with a factory moderator in place

 

[Eddie Harren]

You can have a moderator installed on an air rifle. I have one (25 caliber) with a factory moderator in place

Who needs Davey Crockett? We have Delta Force JRS!

 

[JRS]

Who needs Davey Crockett? We have Delta Force JRS!

We actually used air rifles to turn off lights

 

[Knotwild]

Buy a hawk.

 

[rebel]