If you can staple it on the trunk floppy is no problem. I think the main thing is a real hard plastic that is flexible.

I have tried pure habenero sauce on peaches, I don't think squirrels even are affected by pepper- they sure aren't stopped by it when they're hungry, you can get a nice thick coat on a peach.

I have a couple of small hazelnut trees and I am trying to decide on whether to cut them down - the squirrels got every nut last year. There are some bitter sprays to repel dogs and cats - has anyone tried one of those?

To bad about the hot sauce. I was going to try that.

ltilton 5,

Tell us more about the baffle that worked. Where did you get it or how did you make it?

>>>>Posted by ltilton 5 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 29, 10 at 21:53

I tried vegetable oil and then motor oil to keep the varmints from climbing a feeder pole. They got halfway, then slid down. Halfway, slid down. But eventually they wiped away enough of the oil sliding down that they made it to the top.
I got a baffle. It worked.

only thing i ever found to stop them is my 22...unless my cats are bird hunting in the orchard then they take care of the squirrels

Squirell is the healthiest, low fat meat you could eat. Even much leaner than deer.

The pear trees here are pruned so that there are no branches for the first 4 feet or so. When pears are forming, I install a 4 foot long section of slit aluminum duct/stovepipe that is sold at Lowe's and wrap a pc of thin s/s wire around it like a belt to keep it closed. Unless nearby branches, etc. can provide an overpass, all but the most incredibly athletic tree rats have to shop elsewhere for lunch. If the metal is too snug to the bark, members of the fireant leadership council dispatch a colony to construct a fashionable highrise condo inside the space. Once the pears are done for the year, the tubes are removed and go back to their offseason vacation spots.

CPC, how long have you been doing this? I used to use duct instead of alluminum flashing but I didn't think it really worked any more than the flashing but squirrels may have been squeezing inside the duct as I used the closure system they come with which doesn't allow a tight fit. I used to try to squeeze chicken wire in to stop them but all this took too much time. I was never confident of the efficacy anyway.

We have successful by combining many of the methods listed above in our orchard. One note however, I own and have access to all the trees which could serve as an access point to the squirrels, so I�m not sure how to tackle the problem that foolish pleasure is having with his neighbor's tree. Maybe ask your neighbor politely to install a baffle which you provide? Remember any tree which can serve as a jumping point is a point of access for squirrels. Use the baffles on all trunks. They are better jumpers horizontally than vertically.

The method of rolling a sheet metal material into a column which surrounded the tree worked best for me.

In addition to the baffles, I also used the traps. When squirrels were caught in here, they were submerged in a bucket of water for several minutes. They seemed to love peanut butter and apples. Touch the traps as little as possible and don't shoot the animal inside the trap. This seems to warn them in some way and they approached the traps less frequently if it had been touched or animal shot inside.

Finally, a .22 is good for the ones roaming around. There is also a varmint .17 HMR caliber available as well. However, I have found shotgun to be the most effective. With the thin, springy limbs of many fruit trees, the weight of the animal can cause lots of movement making for a difficult shot. The spread of a shotgun will compensate for this problem.

By employing all these methods simultaneously, we were able to reduce the squirrel problem for a couple of years over the course of one growing season. Unfortunately, one method alone isn�t sufficient. They reproduce rapidly so the bigger then dent in the population, the longer lasting the beneficial effects will be. Good luck and keep us posted!

well maybe for you a 22 is only good for the ones roaming but i can hit them in the head running at a 100 yards as to shotguns i dont like having to pick buckshot out of my meat or my fruit. as to traps ive not tried them for squirrels as my cats catch more in the spring and summer than you would catch with traps they always seem to have either a squirrel or bird they have even taught the crows to stay out of my orchard.

"well maybe for you a 22 is only good for the ones roaming but i can hit them in the head running at a 100 yards"

I'll come to Tristern's defense here. It takes a very good shot to hit a running squirrel in the head at 100 yds. w/ a 22. At that distance, the wind itself can blow the bullet a couple inches off target. You must be very good to do it on a consistent basis.

A shotgun is the preferred weapon for shooting squirrels in trees. For most folks, not only does it produce a much higher percentage of kills, it also doesn't produce stray bullets, as is the case w/ a 22.

Any real predators for tree squirrels in the suburban environment? Around here, the cats are all too fat and lazy and the dogs will bark their heads off while the squirrels laugh and drop objects on their head.

I'm asking more about whether creatures like raccoons, oppossum, owls, etc. are REALISTIC predators anymore in most cities. Or do they just spend their time for opportunistic food like dumpsters.

I've watched these squirrels jump/fly 20+ feet from roof to roof, an instant later be back home to the top of the 75' tree next door. I was yelling and throwing rocks at one once and he jumped from the roof, toward me, and landed on my neighbors exterior stucco wall and ran along the side of the wall like it was nothing. Spiderman would be jealous....

Set up some connibear 110 traps around the areas you see aquirrel activity. Use peanuts and other bait that will attract them to the trap. The "external lead treatment" is also a good method but it does not patrol 24/7 like trapping does.

Cebury,

It's extremely rare any natural predators will control squirrel populations in the city. I've only heard of one case where hawks would "patrol" a suburban park for easy hunting (mainly squirrels that people trapped in their yards and released in the park).

So I wouldn't count on any of the animals you mention controlling squirrels. Coons and possums don't eat squirrel, and even if they did occasionally eat a nesting pup, coons and possums will consume much more fruit per capita than squirrels. Owls hunt at night, when the squirrels are safe in their nests.

From another thread, you seem to indicate you prefer lower branches on your trees (as I do) so exclusion methods are out.

As others have mentioned, trapping can be very effective. With the right trap (the large single door rabbit trap sold by Tomahawk is what I recommend) and the right baiting methods, you can protect your fruit. I've caught loads of them. I prefer a live trap to a connibear, as there is no harm to pets accidentally caught in a live trap.

As an aside, I've noticed cats do mildly deter squirrels. I know this because this summer, I purchased some cats for bird control. As a result the squirrels seem skittish to enter the property. One might think this would be a cause for rejoicing, but I don't think so. Normally by this time of year, I would have trapped nearly all the squirrels out of the immediate area, and it would take until the latter part of summer before populations would rebuild. However this year I see lots of squirrels in the trees of yards close by and trappings were way down this Fall. For the most part they seem afraid to enter the orchard area now and prefer to eat the fallen acorns of neighboring trees. However, I suspect they'll overcome their fear of the orchard this summer when food is scarce and fruit is ripe.

This is a disadvantage I hadn't reckoned when I got the cats.

I wonder if this might be one of the factors in the variable success rate with trapping reported by people on this forum. The squirrels have to feel like the environment is safe, to be willing to enter the traps. Otherwise they may shun the area until fruit is the only food available, and it's ready for the picking.

I wonder if a Festivus pole is squirrel proof. Some of you will get that! :>)

You know, I have found that a wrist rocket will sting a squirrel pretty good and make them steer clear for a while at least. I get the steel balls they sell for them and put 3 at a time in the pouch- shotgun effect.

There are plenty of dogs that create no mirth in the squirrel population. The problem is you don't know if you have a good squirreller until the dog is old enough to take them out. I have a couple of sites where a single dog has eliminated a seemingly uncontrollable squirrel problem.

At one of these sites the squirrels started taking the fruit again when the dog got a bad case of lime disease. He would bark at the squirrels but didn't have the energy for hot pursuit. During his sick period the only squirrel he killed was one I scared out of the tree he was barking at and the vermin jumped right at his feet.

Squirrels are diurnal so dogs don't have to be out at night to control them.

I'm thinking of suspending a large piece of slippery material from the scaffolds to block bottom entrance.

I'd attach the material equi-distant at 3 or 4 places around the tree bottom so it would hang just below the lowest scaffolds.

Easy to poke/cut holes at the edges of the material and tie twine thru there and onto the scaffolds.

Got something called Husky Plastic Sheeting from Home Depot that seems like it might work. It's 10X25 ft., though it comes in a roll that's bout 2 ft.long. Must expand/roll out to the 10X25 ft.

I guess I'd suspend a 3X3 ft. or 4X4 ft. section from the lowest scaffolds, leaving no hole at the trunk of course.

Opinions please.

I have decided to try this tube trap. A friend of mine got one and she's catching loads of squirrels. The nice thing is that the trap kills them too, so no drowning necessary.

I asked for one for Christmas but I think my family thought I was joking. I do not joke about killing squirrels.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tube Trap Squirrel Trap

"I'll come to Tristern's defense here. It takes a very good shot to hit a running squirrel in the head at 100 yds. w/ a 22. At that distance, the wind itself can blow the bullet a couple inches off target. You must be very good to do it on a consistent basis."

No need for you to come to his defense as I was only kidding him about using a shotgun as I do realize most people are not as skilled with a 22 as I am with mine. plus then most Orchards have neighbors closer than my nearest neighbor (he is 2 miles through dense woods, by road even further) so I dont have to worry where my bullet hits after it passes through the squirrel...If I had neighbors closer I would use a shotgun myself....
Side note - I don't have to shoot more than about 3 a year due to the cats....I trained them to think of the orchard as their dinner table by only feeding them in the middle of the orchard all year round and cutting their food in half in the summer and fall .
The only critter I am having troubles out of is coons as they feed at night when I cant see them...I guess I'm going to have to get some traps for them as their pop exploded around here last year.

Milehigh,

I tried the tube trap and it didn't work that well for me. It didn't catch very many squirrels and the metal rusts something fierce. Eventually (within less than 2 years) the spring rusted through and the trap went in the trash.

If you want a lethal trap, you might consider the Kania trap. It's a trap that tends to get good reviews.

I love the gun methods, but against the poisons. Once poisoned, the squirrels wonders off and die. What happens when someones dog or cat or even a bird eats it? Not a good idea.

I read the reviews on the linked trap. Some of the reviewers described catching roughly 100 squirrels each year. If most are during the growing season, that would be every day or two. How on earth do you dispose of that many carcases? In the garbage? Make a squirrel cemetery in the back yard?

olpea,

I had looked at the Kania trap, but it seemed less safe for "non-target" species. Have you used both?

I will have to use it in my backyard, on the ground, as the only trees in my backyard are small fruit trees. The squirrels use the privacy fences as a highway. I do have one large maple in the front yard, but that would be too conspicuous.

Has anyone used both the tube trap and the Kania trap?

bob_z6, My dad used to eat squirrel. He said he would teach me how to clean them. Anyone have advice?

I got screech owl nest box, to keep the squirrels out I wrapped about 8 foot up with 2 foot al. flashing. Mr. magoo (the rustic eastern screech owl)has been roosting in that box for 9 years. I also have grey morphs in another nesting box. This method will only work if no other trees are near for them to jump across. I would try to get it up atleast 6 foot. IMO they can jump very high. I would guess you need atleast 10 foot clearance to keep them from jumping from tree to tree?

If you have and can shoot .22 rifle that shoot shorts or longs, you can get light CCI CB load (comes in shorts and longs, I think about 500 fps?) that about 1/2 the power and noise of .22 short. Aquila Colibri makes super quite .22 load with no powder, But, It starts dropping off after about 15 foot (and may travel 250 to 300 fps if that?) and are so quite that you wonder if it came out the barrel. Some may not. Both don't have enough power to actuate semi-automatic, you have to manually eject both brands of loads.

Mile High Girl, squirrel actually is good meat. Cleaning them is easy (after evisceration the skin comes off like a sock.) I've eaten it breaded and fried and roasted. The L.L. Bean Fish & Game Cookbook, by Angus Cameron and Judith Jones and published by Random House in 1983, has lots of attractive recipes.

If you get really good at cooking squirrel you will want it often. You'll have to ensure a good diet for them to keep the meat sweet. Fruit and nuts particularly are good choices. Make sure the food is easy for them to get to, so that they don't toughen from overwork. Harvest your squirrels at a young age to avoid toughness. Many of us maintain fruit and nut trees just to encourage them, apparently. Oh, and tell people it's a new kind of chicken ...

:-) M

Milehigh,

I haven't used the Kania, but Scott has reported decent results with it. I've also read it's good enough to be used by professional trappers in some places. I think because the Kania is nailed/screwed vertical to the tree trunk, there would be very little chance of killing non-target animals. It would take a small climbing animal to enter the trap. About the only non-target animal I could think of would be a cat, but I don't think there is much risk of that if the trap is baited correctly.

My tube trap once killed a non-target Blue Jay. Sometimes I bait my traps with pecans or acorns. Blue Jays tend to go after the nuts.

In all the time I owned it, the tube trap only caught about three squirrels. I've found squirrels have very good eyesight and are drawn to highly visible baits. This is a disadvantage of the tube trap and the Kania, since the bait inside the traps is concealed. Of course one could try to draw them in by scattering bait around the trap, but in my locale, birds will readily eat up most baits around the trap.

For my live traps, I use acorns, pecans, and a small ear of corn inside the traps. In the fall I gather up some hedge balls and scatter them around the trap set (Birds won't eat hedge balls.) The hedge apples are highly visible from a distance. Once the squirrel gets near the trap, he sees and smells the bait inside the trap which is slightly piled to look like another squirrel's food cache. Squirrels readily steal from one another, so squirrels will enter the trap to get the food. They will enter a Tomahawk trap more readily than a Havahart trap because the Tomahawk has a wire mesh door, whereas the Havahart has a solid panel door which seems to make the squirrels a bit apprehensive. Additionally, any weeds or tall grass around the trap will make the squirrels skittish. I place the traps on small throw rugs, and keep the grass low around the trap set.

To ensure the squirrel can't rob food w/o springing the trap, I always screw a pecan to the trip plate. I use a drill press and a small vice to drill a small hole through the center of the pecan (A regular drill would also work, but one would want to hold the pecan w/ a pair of pliers so no fingers got wrapped in the drill bit.) Once I have a hole in the pecan, I fasten it to the trip plate with a long self-tapping screw. I rarely have to replace that pecan.

I'm all for folks eating squirrels they catch. I don't myself because my main goal is to protect the crop. However, I have considered the idea of harvesting squirrel for food, and may yet do so in the future. One thing to consider, is that I was always told to only eat squirrel after a good hard freeze. I don't know the exact purpose of this practice, or even if it's necessary, but it supposedly had something to do with safety. Additionally, you wouldn't want to eat squirrel that had been dead (and unrefrigerated) for very long, for obvious reasons, so a lethal trap may not be the way to go if you're planning to eat the varmints.

A question was asked about disposal. I compost squirrel catches. However, I've never caught 100 squirrels per year. For me it's normally about 60. As I mentioned, last year was significantly lower due to the cats and the total was only 39.

Milehigh,

I should have mentioned, if you choose a lethal trap, you don't have to place the trap in your orchard area for it to be effective. So if your orchard trees are small, you could choose a tree outside the orchard area in which to fasten the Kania.

Olpea:
Do you find that the squirrel fur decomposes much more slowly in your compost pile? This is the primary reason I don't compost them however I'm sure it adds good nutrients. Wondering your approach on this one.

MT

MT,

I can see that would be an important detail for anyone keeping an attractive garden/orchard.

I've found the hides of varmints don't decompose as quickly as other parts. The way I manage my orchard, this generally hasn't been a problem for me. I place the dead animal within the perimeter of a tree, and cover them up with a generous pile of wood chips (I have buried them in the ground within the perimeter of a tree as well.) They slowly break down and feed the tree under the cover of wood chips.

As I mentioned the hide does take longer to break down, but it's completely gone after a couple months of warm weather. The only problem we've had is our old Rat Terrier (he's dead now) used to dig up a carcass occasionally. Unfortunately, our new cats have taken over his job.

The people who keep mentioning using rifles or pellet guns are missing the point that people who live in suburban areas have houses on all sides of them. In my neighborhood the typical lot is 50 feet wide and the houses all come within 5 feet of the property line. Within the range of a 22 bullet there are probably 1000 houses in my area, plus people walking and driving on the strets. If you missed the squirrel most likely the bullet would hit someone's house or car or kill someone.

Maybe you should plant more fruit trees or plant ornamentals that produce edible fruit for small mammals....they are coming to your property anyway so better to have enough to share with birds/squirrels that way they won't eat all your fruit. Plant a mulberry tree, produces a ton of edible fruit for humans and small animals. Poison is bad because you put that stuff out in your ecosystem. Other animals eat it, die, decompose and it stays in your area. Shooting is good alternative in rural areas. Suburbs adopt a dog/cat, and plant more fruit trees!

California,
For people in your situation I don't advocate using a gun, so that leaves you a few of options .
1. you can try trapping them tho if they have a way to jump from your neighbors yard to your trees it wont get rid of them.
2 If there is any cats roaming in your area you could start putting out feed for them in the middle of your fruit trees to get them use to finding food there and they may start hunting there.
3 if no cats in the area buy a couple and feed them in your fruit trees.
4 a combination of trapping and cats....feed any squirrels you catch to the cats so they get a taste for squirrel.

Milehigh,

If your still monitoring this thread, I just noticed that you didn't want to use your large maple tree to attach a trap.

My only other thought would be maybe you could build a small platform on the privacy fence (assuming it's your privacy fence). I once read a person built a platform near the top of a privacy fence and put his trap there. The squirrels also used his privacy fence as a run. However, they would stop at the point of the baited trap. He claimed to catch very large numbers of squirrels with this method.

I haven't used the Kania traps yet, but I ordered two from their website over a year ago based on Scott's recommendation. I never received any confirmation from the company and they never charged my credit card. Then about a month ago I got an email asking if I still wanted them. I told them yes and they arrived from Canada a few weeks later. They look to be a really well built product, but you might want to look elsewhere if you need a trap fast (or at least call to inquire about turnaround time).

Speaking of planting trees to deter squirrels, I actually think that if you have a lot of space an Illinois Everbearing mulberry can be helpful in this regard if you also use other methods to go with it.

At the very least, squirrels are relatively easy to shoot when they're feasting on those sweet berries, so plant it where you get a good view of it from the kitchen or room you spend a lot of time in.

Somewhere on one of these forums I saw a simple squirrel trap that was supposed to work like a charm. A large plastic trash can with about a foot of water in the bottom. You dump in a bag of dry sunflower seeds (which mostly float). You secure a stick across the top. Squirrels smell the seeds, climb across the stick, can't see the water because it is covered with seeds and jump in and drown. I plan to cover my yard with them.

harvestman,
You're killing me! I want to keep the squirrels away from my Illinois Everbearing. Am I simply doomed?

olpea,
I do know that I can lure the squirrels into my yard. They have a profound sense of smell. I tried the peanut butter bon-bons and was amazed that whenever a squirrel would walk over the part of the fence that I had set it, even though it was already gone, they stopped and sniffed. I think I'll be able to lure them into my yard, as they sure had no problem coming into my yard for my melons. I just have to make sure I place it where my neighbors can't see it from their second story window.

Still debating over which lethal trap to get.

Trianglejohn, a much-used mouse trap consists of a rod with a section of pvc pipe over the section of the rod which is over water, as you described. Bait is smeared on the middle of the rod, and when rodent walks out on the rod he is dumped into the water to drown.

I have qualms about it, but I'm considering it. I've also been thinking about refinements on the spinning rod approach to make fences & such more efficient. Haven't come up with any very bright ideas yet.

We have an above-ground, 4' deep swimming pool. I keep styrofoam sheets floating on the water for insulation whenever the pool is not in use over the summer. One year I had lowered the water level as usual at the end of the season, but didn't get around to packing away the styrofoam for several weeks. I finally packed them away for the winter, but as usual, left some of the water in the pool. The next spring I found 19 dead squirrels floating among the dead leaves in the pool. Apparently they had been jumping onto the styrofoam to get drinks, and after I put away the styrofoam, they jumped into the pool and drowned. It was gross! Now I put the sheets away as soon as I lower the water level and no squirrels ever jump in. The trash can with sunflower seeds should work about the same. You could even float some seeds on a piece of saran wrap to help keep the seeds dry, I would think. So far the squirrels haven't been a problem in my garden, only deer and groundhogs, but I will keep that method of dealing with them in mind. Northwoodswis

NorthWoodswis4-
A little off topic but there is a cheap way of combating deer if they are attacking a particular area of your garden. I warn you that this may sound a bit revolting but some older farmers practiced with success. They urinated in bottles and spread it around the perimiter of the area in question. The deer mistook it for another animal or dog and avoided that area for a quite a while.

Not suggesting you try it, but it worked for them. ;)

i tried various traps and repellants for five years with zero success. then last year, i tried putting out rat poison. it worked a treat. you basically have to put it out every day straight for about two weeks, starting once the fruit are developed enough that the squirrels will start eating them. my main prob with squirrels was nectarines and peaches, where the squirrels would start eating them once they were about the size of a golf ball. after putting out the poison every day for two weeks i had killed off the squirrels who had made my garden their territory. but after a few days, new squirrels will start to wonder in, so then i would put out fresh poison bait whenever the last batch was eaten, which worked out about twice a week. last year was the first year i ever got to eat my peaches and nectarines. i found 2 dead squirrels in my yard which was gross but i buried them near my fruit trees. now my trees can eat the squirrels. yay.

this year, i plan to buy a large bucket of the poison to have ready come late may.

i am lucky, there is not a single dog or cat owner anywhere near me so i dont need to be worried about accidentally poisoning a cat or dog.

lycheeluva,

I guess what worries me is the second-hand poison effects on an animal that might ingest a poisoned squirrel. We do have red fox here and while their population is diminishing, due to ground hog territory being replaced with condos, I wouldn't like to think of what would happen to a fox. Some people have said I shouldn't worry, as they don't belong in a residential area either, but the truth is that my grandfather used to sheep herd right here where my house is built! We moved in on them.

So, what are the effects of second-hand poison, and will a predator even eat an animal that looks sick, or has already died?

Milehighgirl, I share your sympathies, and I want to get rid of my squirrels too.

I suspect that secondary poisoning could be a real issue. The active ingredient in many rodent poisons is warafrin, aka coumadin (the same coumadin that many take as a blood thinner). The target animal bleeds to death internally. How much coumadin remains available to a scavenger I can only speculate; how long it remains active is also a question.

A lot of predator animals are thought to prefer fresh kills, but who knows what they will eat when push comes to shove? I doubt that they are genetically programmed to turn up their noses at coumadin. And a live fox is a pretty good ally to have when rodent control is concerned. I don't like to think of them carrying poisoned squirrels back to their kits.

MisterTristern's suggestion is an old back-country trick to discourage foraging animals around a campsite. I've been know to employ it (minus the plastic bottle!)

One could live trap the target animal and then feed them coumadin, or otherwise dispatch them. Boy, this starts to get complicated.

If I were sure my dead squirrels weren't a hazard to innocent critturs I'd put out coumadin tomorrow, and then I'd hope my wife didn't start finding the results. Could be a problem ...

Good luck,

M

My sister is a vet and tells me secondary poisonings are rare. She practices in coastal N. CA where Norwegian rats are very plentiful as are people wiling to poison them.

That's good news.

M:

That's right, its a back country trick alright! But like most old back country tricks, it works well.

On another note, do foxes eat carrion? I know that a raccoon or possum would not hesitate but they're not exactly on top of my Christmas list either...

The anti-coagulents break down quickly so the animal up the chain doesn't get an adequate dose to be lethal in most cases. My sister isn't sure about new formulations but I suspect it's something that's looked at.

I have built a device that will stop squirrels, raccoons, & other animals from climbing the trees " WANT STOP BEARS" & eating the pecans,fruit, & nuts.It will even stop your pet cat from getting in the trees after birds or just getting stuck & not able to come back down.I'm building different models so that they can fit different diameter trees & they can expand with the tree as it grows so not to harm it.One squirrel by it self can eat or hide 5 to 10 lbs. of pecans in a week by its self so it would not take long for this shield to pay for its self.This shield could be used all over the world for different applications & save people alot of money.I'm working on the pantent now with the USPTO office.Trying to find a legit company that I can license it to build them.Any helpful advice would be appreciated.Thanks can be contacted @ jimmy_maryleonard@yahoo.com

Jack russels might have to be a pair. spot a squirl at 100 yards and one stays at the tree. The other runs to the house and barks but runs when you open the door. This is learned but not taught. I can ignore but they are back again and again. If I grab the pellet pistol (not a cheep walmart one and shoot the squirl it never hits the ground. The dogs play take away for their share of the meat.

The 'newer' anticoagulants - like brodifacoum, diphacinone, etc., have prolonged effects(we're talking 3 weeks and longer), and could, conceivably cause 'secondary' poisoning if the poisoned tree rat were consumed by a predator or pet.
Would the amount of those compounds present in the poisoned vermin be enough to cause any real issue in a fox/dog/cat/owl/hawk? I dunno.

On the PB/PoP bonbons - I know somebody did a 'trial' a year or so back where they live-trapped a squirrel and fed them PB/PoP, with no evident ill effects. (The scientist in me says, "An 'n' of one is not necessarily a valid test of any hypothesis.")
I've used PB/PoP with good success in the past when squirrels were raiding my nursery beds for acorns/pecans/hickory nuts - but I only once saw a dead squirrel - and no proof that it succumbed to PB/PoP. All I know is the depredation stopped abruptly after I put out the bonbons. I have not (knock on wood) had issues with the bushy-tailed tree rats stealing fruit, so I can't say whether they'd be helpful or not - but PB/PoP is cheap to do and might be worth at least trying as part of an integrated pest control program. If it does work, it would pose no danger of secondary poisoning to non-target species, though I would place the bonbons out of reach of pets, just for good measure.

Lucky,

That was me who did the Bon Bon test. I wholeheartedly agree a test of one experimental specimen and one control is not conclusive.

However, my thought is it's better to draw a conclusion from a test of one than a field test where the causative effects of the test are even more spurious.

I'm thinking of "water witching" as an analogy. People swear by it and stories abound how so and so drilled a well an there was no water then so and so witched for water and "voila" the well that was witched was a gusher.

It's not a completely fair comparison because there may be some science behind the possibility Bon Bons poison squirrels, whereas there is no science behind water witching. But my point is the means of observation is the same and tells us even less I think than an experiment with one "n" and one control.

To me, there seems to be other supporting evidence that Bon Bons don't work.

I've read some cases of suicide attempts with Plaster of Paris (human attempts, not squirrels) and it took fairly large amounts of Plaster of Paris to cause gastric blockage, and they ate it straight. I don't recall anyone actually died from it because the pain was so extensive, they sought medical treatment.

Additionally, there was someone on this forum who posted he placed rat bait around his orchard and found numerous squirrel carcasses afterward (if memory serves, it was something like 13) from eating the bait, which is something that seems to be missing from the Bon Bon accounts. I'm not advocating one way or the other using rat bait for squirrels, just commenting that there is a significant difference between the two accounts.

If some credible person were to report the same results with Bon Bons as has been reported with rat bait (i.e. large numbers of carcasses) then I would definitely re-think my opinion of the possible efficacy of Bon Bons. However, as it stands now I suspect not only are Bon Bons safe from secondary poisonings, but safe for squirrels as well.

I do wonder if there could be some conditioning effect with the use of Bon Bons. There is a lot we don't know about squirrel behavior. Is it possible Bon Bons give the creatures enough of a belly ache that they avoid feeding in that area thereafter? Sort of like an electric fence can condition livestock? I don't know.