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    #16
    Squirrels teeth, like the teeth of other rodents, continuosly grow throughout the lifetime, hence the need to chew on things all the time and keep the teeth ground down. We once had a female decide to chew on any aluminum (siding, gutters) at my parents house. Was extremely annoying when the bugger would start up on the gutter outside the bedroom window before dawn. When she started to teach her kids the same actions, we had to use Mr. Pelletgun to solve the problem on a permanent basis. I get reminded everytime I go up on the parents roof to clean the gutter, and see the spots where she chewed holes in the sides of the gutter.

    Mandatory HA content. Train small noisy dog to bark when it sees squirrels outside. Setup HS VR to recognize barking, and activate relays on Ocelot/Relay8. Connect relay to surplus army flamethrower, aimed at birdfeeder. After activation, use a modified Robomow to scrape remains into nearby flowergarden to be used as fertilizer.
    My system is described in my profile.

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      #17
      Try one of these: http://www.critter-repellent.com/squ...-repellent.php

      http://www.bird-x.com/products/squirrel.htm

      http://www.e-bug.net/cgi-bin/store/c...ts#ropelliquid

      Here's a list of several products: http://www.entm.purdue.edu/wildlife/...uirrelchem.htm

      I saw a recipe that used murphy's oil soap, hot sauce and cayenne pepper as a repellent.
      John
      Hardware: i5-6400T w/16GB RAM & SSD w/HS3Pro, Z-Net, Harmony Hub x2, Echo Dot x2, Ocelot
      Plugins: Z-wave, HSTouch, BLBackup, Harmony, GTS CPUXA, UltraMon3, Nest
      HSTouch: Multiple Android Devices; 5 x ToteVision MD-1001 10.1" Win 7 Tablets
      Devices: Cooper RF9501 x4, RF9517 x6, RF9534 x1, RF9540-N x7, RF9542 x1, RF9542-Z x2, RFHDSCG x1, RFWC5 x5; Intermatic HA02 x6; FortrezZ MIMOLite x3; Leviton VRPD3-1LW x4, VRR15-1LZ x6; Nest Tstat & 9x Protects; Dragon PD-100 x3, PA-100 x3

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        #18
        DCON rat poison rolled in peanut butter to make 3/4 to 1" balls will get them, but if they are inside, you run the risk of having them die and rot, stinking up the house...

        Rats and other animals will go after this, too, so make sure pets and other animals can't get to it even after the squirrels have taken it elsewhere.
        |
        | - Gordon

        "I'm a Man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess." - Man's Prayer, Possum Lodge, The Red Green Show
        HiddenGemStudio.com - MaineMusicians.org - CunninghamCreativeMaine.website

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          #19
          Michael,

          To each his own. In my neighborhood if I walked outside with a BB gun, three cop cars would be screeching into my driveway in about two minutes. So I much prefer the more natural and subtle way to deal with squirrels and rats. Poison is just too indiscriminate, and could take out neighbors' cats, dogs, and even children. Fortunately the worst that the squirrels do around here is eat the mangoes and avocadoes, I've never had them chew up anything except the occasional bird feeder. The rats, on the other hand I could really do without.

          Bill

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            #20
            I relocated about 15 of them earlier this summer - live trap with motion sensor wired to the top of it announced " you just caught the little bu**** ". I drove them to the bush and let them go.
            After I caught the same chipmunk about 50 times I gave up and put the trap away.
            Most of the squirrels just raid the feeder but I had one that destroyed everything it saw - knocked down birdhouses,chewed up furniture,ate right thru birdfeeders etc. so that's when the relocate plan kicked in.
            The destructive one I wanted to enter in the Olympic swimming contest in the rain barrel but the wife wouldn't allow it.
            Neil
            Newmarket Ontario

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              #21
              My 10 year old lab/retriever mix, bless her pointed head loves to chase them, If she could only see them better!!. When I see one in the back yard I simply call her to the door and say "Get Em" and off she goes. She has never caught one and I think the darn things actually laugh at her. But I must say that over the past few years the problem has dropped to almost zero. My biggest improvement came when I moved all the bird feeders and such way away from the house. Now all I have to deal with is the nice sound that comes from the fireplace when the birds finally hatch!!!!.

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                #22
                They used to destroy around 2-3 bird feeders per season. After I got a good BB gun, they changed their mind. Before that I tried all the squirrel repellents, but those things really never worked. Hot pepper into bird food?? The darn critters cleaned the bird feeder right in front of my eyes.. .
                BB gun - and have a fun!


                Marty

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                  #23
                  Same experience for me with the hot pepper. Didn't seem to bother them a bit. Thankfully, it did help with the raccoon problem. They make the squirrels look like Mary-Kate Olson.
                  My system is described in my profile.

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                    #24
                    Well, the summer's almost over here and we had virtually no squirrel problems for the past couple of months - through no action of mine though! A family of hawks moved in to roost in our tall pine trees. They seem to have driven off all the other wildlife - no song birds, squirrels, etc. I think I preferred the squirrels to the hawk's constant squaking! They are driving us nuts! In just the past week they seem to have moved on and the wildlife is returning - ah, peace and quiet once again. (I still hate squirrels!)

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                      #25
                      When you can't beat them join them!

                      Saw a program about squirrels on one of the documentary channels (Discovery/TLC/etc) called "Backyard Bandits". Showed some guy who decided that instead of trying to keep the squirrels out (and losing), he started making an "obstacle course" for them to traverse for them to get to the food. Teeter-totters, tubes, bridges, doors, etc. I was ROTFLMAO watching it.

                      I started to do the same with the chipmunks at my old house. I had several that would take peanuts by hand, and one that would climb up my leg (interesting when wearing short pants) to get her peanut. Another learned to climb up the inside of a 5' long tube, cross wire to another tube, leading to a rope stretched to the feeding station. Should start training the squirrels here, but haven't been that ambitious.

                      PS Don't try the hand feeding tricks with squirrels, unless you don't mind being called "nine-fingered Jeff".
                      My system is described in my profile.

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                        #26
                        Squirrles are surely among saton's most favored creatures.

                        I have a large maple tree that overhangs my house and each year when it drops it's seeds I host several squirrls that do gymnastics on the roof over my bedroom. My yard plays host to a lot of wildlife includeing a family of feral cats that come for fresh squirl in spring, several native bobcats that use it as a transet lane, cyoties, fox, deer and some birds of prey that also come for fresh squirrles. The only thing that detures the Squirrles is when I sweep the seeds onto he ground where they are in danger from the cats. At least that gets them off the roof so I can sleep.

                        These anamals are a lot smarter than you think, do not try to shock them, the will figure that out really quickly. Your best bet is to figure out what it is that they are after in your yard and get rid of it. beyond that you might try one of those fake owls and a motion sensor like a scat cat set low to the ground. The only problem with these solutions is that they will also evict any anamals that you may be trying to attract (birds).

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                          #27
                          If you use the trapping method, you MUST take them 10-15 miles away as they have very keen "homing" instincts, and have been known to travel 7-8 miles back.

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                            #28
                            we use those "have a heart" traps with peanut butter bait.
                            Then we take then to an extended summer camp.

                            They seem to breed mostly in the spring - this would be the time to stop the proliferation. Don't know how to take advantage of that though.

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                              #29
                              I used "Ro-pel" brand spay. Comes in a bottle that looks like a cleaner spray (non aresol). Seems to keep them away. I used it at my old house to keep mice out of my attic and ground hogs away from my garageThis is not a permenant solution.

                              A freind of mine used a fox scent that he got at a hardware store. He swears by it.

                              I've also seen a sharper image gadget that emits ultrasonic sound. Its not supposed to bother pets...I dont know personally... If I had this problem I would research this method as it seems permenant, just leave it on and forget about it. Its not really a booby trap. They hear it and don't come near.
                              Paul

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                                #30
                                My squirrel problem is that the house is on 1/2 acre in the hills. There is usally 3-4 families - esp. in the spring - dug-in. So the traps are to lure them out of their nests and into the export department.

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