Buffalo, Assuming you've bought the 24" Tomahawk trap, you've got a good trap, that works very well me. I'm surprised you are seeing squirrels and haven't caught any yet. Let's cover a few other basics to make sure we aren't leaving anything out. Make sure the trap is next to a squirrel run, or a tall tree (preferably one you see squirrels in sometimes). You'll want to clear all tall weeds/flowers/plants away from the trap. Squirrels don't like to enter a trap with weeds around it. I throw down an old rug or a piece of carpet and put the trap on top. It keeps the weeds down and the squirrels don't seem to mind entering the trap when it's on a rug. Once you catch a squirrel, rug will also hold the squirrel scent, which I think helps to entice the next squirrel to enter the trap. If you are having a hard time getting squirrels in your trap, try a more higher visibility bait. Squirrels have keen eyesight and can spot highly visible bait. I've not had that good of luck baiting with peanut butter. Squirrels just never seemed to eat it for me. Acorns, pecans, or an ear of corn have all worked well though. If you have a hedge tree around, throw some hedge apples around the trap. Squirrels love those and they are highly visible. Once they get next to the trap, they will go after the tastier nuts/acorns in the trap. I do catch some birds in my traps. In the spring, Bluejays will eat acorns (but not pecans). Lots of birds will eat corn still on the cob. But birds are easy to release and I've rarely caught a bird with whole unshelled pecans as bait. They are too big for birds to swallow.

I got a birdfeeder with a cylindrical baffle as shown by terrene. All cost me $200. My birds have no problem with squirrels which are not able to climb over that baffle. On the birdfeeder I have two dispensers with black sunflower seeds and one with suet. There was no demand for any other birdfood which my birds did not touch or simply shoveled to the ground. Since we view the birds from the kitchen's sliding glass door, over the deck, the feeder was placed about 8-10 ft further from the deck, also sufficiently away from pine branches. Squirrels could not jump to or drop onto the feeder. Prior to that I used a very low cost construction with the same good results : a long fence post with cedar post bolted to it for height, all covered with a 4 inch diameter 5 ft long plastic pipe. I used an upside-down plastic pale as a baffle. (make sure that the pale sits on the pipe, and that the pale has the rim cut off, or squirrels will use it for leverage. Fill up the lower part of the pipe with gravel or mice will climb up inside) Then on top of all you can bolt horizontally some wood to the cedar pole and hang all the feeders from it as you wish.

I’m very late to this as the initial comment was made in 2007. But it literally just occurred couple hours ago and I need somewhere to vent. We were walking up my driveway when I heard a thud from our large oak tree. It sounded like a branch crashing. We were sickened to see a squirrel laying there. His eyes were moving, so my gf and I who are big animal lovers called the nearest vet who takes wildlife and they said for us to try and capture it. Suddenly while on the phone to our shock & delight the squirrel jumped up and ran up the tree only to fall a second time. I can’t describe to you how sick I felt watching This now for a second time. The poor thing My heart sunk and still does as I write this. And we blame ourselves for maybe startling it back up, although who’s to know what he would have done. It got up once again, tho this time not as agile and ran behind a play house we had built for our kids wgen they were little. It must have fell 20 plus feet. We tried gently coaxing it into a box and than a cat carrier with an hour gone by to no avail As it limped in fear away from us. We decided at this point we were perhaps doing more harm than good & finally left the box with a blanket, hoping maybe it would rest inside for it’s final moments. I checked just now & it has passed. My prayer is that it went quickly without any further harm. This was such a horrible thing to witness as an animal lover for both of us. You feel helpless and at the same time our efforts were in vain. I wish there was some type of wildlife rescue in my area for such things. But we’re lucky that there’s even a vet who’s willing to see them, providing you can catch them. I don’t share this to dishearten anyone, but wanted to share so anyone who may read this will know there not alone in such things. And the only thing you can do is your best to try and save it. In the end it’s in God’s hands. Peace and love

Watermelon rinds!!! I swear by it. I won't see any fox squirrels for days, the minute I cut up a seedless watermelon and throw the rinds in the back yard; they come out in droves and start eating the rinds down to the skin. Mind you I have peanuts in shells, cracked corn, sun flower seeds etc... In the yard at all times which they also love. There is just something about watermelon that they can't refuse. They won't leave till all traces are eaten up!! :>)