Squirrels in city limits. What are my options?

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I had the same problem, I bought a QB78 from Flying Dragon airguns in Iowa. He tuned it for 600 FPS with .22 cal. pellets. It is powered by 2 CO2 cartridges but it can be converted to a pump fill. It is more accurate and quieter than a spring gun. I tried a GAMO high priced Bone Collector supposed to be 1200 FPS. That is pure junk. Noisy inaccurate the superlight pellets had no power. It also broke.
 
After squirrels ate about of $1000 in wires in his pickup. RC Model declared war on tree rats, he shot them with scoped pellet guns he has a .177 and a .22. He also trapped them with cubby traps. In the last year of his life he whack about 250!! RC was very discreet until the Animal control people showed up at his neighbors to pick up a wounded deer. the Animal control lady noticed his traps and asked what he was trapping. RC told her squirrels. She said good they are eating out patrol vehicles wires kill em all!! RC was very happy he didn't get in trouble and chuckled about what the animal control officer told him. He lived in an old subdivision with lots of mature oaks lining the street.

it seems that the greenies convinced Dodge to use soybean derived insulation on truck wires so RC wasn't the only one with rodent problems!!
Bull
 
Not only check your local regs about using an air rifle, but also check to make sure those pesky tree rats aren't protected. In some areas, they are and killing them can get you in some serious bad ju-ju.......
 
Veggie-based insulation is attractive to mice and rats as well as squirrels. FoMoCo had a problem with wiring harnesses from Brazil; they were veggie-based. A dealer-mechanic friend told me that when they popped the hood on a pickup which was "running rough", "It looked like an explosion in a spaghetti factory."
 
Looks like that's a non-game animal in Utah. Trapping them alive is more of a problem than killing them. Kill all you want. I might get a hunting license just to cover my ass. Can't find any city ordinances against it, but they can always hit you with "reckless endangerment" if they want to.

Options:
1. Shoot them with an air rifle. Channel your inner sniper and shoot from cover. If nobody sees you, you're good. Bait them.
2. Cut down those damn pine trees. Or pick up the pine cones.
3. A couple of cats could probably solve this. Or a small and fast dog with an attitude. Like a Rat Terrier.
 
walnut1704 said:
Looks like that's a non-game animal in Utah.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's the way I read it.


(b) "Nongame mammal" means:

(i) any species of bats;

(ii) any species of mice, rats, or voles of the families Heteromyidae, Cricetidae, or Zapodidae;

(iii) opossum of the family Didelphidae;

(iv) pikas of the family Ochotonidae;

(v) porcupine of the family Erethizontidae;

(vi) shrews of the family Soricidae; and

(vii) squirrels, prairie dogs, and marmots of the family Sciuridae, excluding Utah prairie dogs, Cynomys parvidens.
Click to expand...
R657-19-5. Nongame Mammal Species - Certificate of Registration Not Required.
(1) All nongame mammal species not listed in Section R657-19-4 as requiring a certificate of registration, may be taken:

(a) without a certificate of registration;

(b) year-round, 24-hours-a-day; and

(c) without bag or possession limits.
Click to expand...

https://wildlife.utah.gov/rules-regulations/953-r657-19--taking-nongame-mammals.html
 
walnut1704 said:
2. Cut down those damn pine trees.
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LOL if you saw them you wouldn't say that. They are like 100 feet high and provide most of the 'neighbor cover' for my front yard.

cats aren't an option; my wife is allergic and has set the limit. when this one dies, no more cats.
have a small cocker/poodle but she is worthless. Just barks at me and my friends and provides no other benefit.
 
It is not legal to shoot them in the city where I live so I have to sniper it. From mid June to mid July there's a lot of firecrackers going off. A CB cap would not raise alarm as long as the shooter is discreet.
 
One solution that works for a friend of mine: o_O A wooden box cubby, a longspring trap and some corn for bait. Caught squirrels go into the rain barrel without much fanfare. Fish them out and bury them, or city folks can put them in a wallymart bag into the garbage. Shooting anything in town might bring a complaint.
 
I personally know of cities where you cannot even use a sling shot, to shoot cans in your back yard. No bb guns, no pellet guns, no ''wrist rockets'' pump pellet guns do make noise. My Sheridan 5mm cracks almost like a 22. I've tried 22 shorts, still loud, so i keep, or use a live trap and take them for a ride in the woods.
 
one thing you can do until you get them exterminated. just leave your hoods up. with the hood up they don't find the engine compartment a safe cozy place anymore.

its its windy you may want to bungee the hood latch to the radiator support to keep the wind from catching the upraised hood.
 
My friend's neighbor in Denver shoots them with a shotgun. I was there once when it happened. Nobody did a thing about it.
 
Just started today using Duke 110 traps. We will see how it goes. Never trapped before, lots of squirrel vid on youtube.
 
dog.jpg
You could always get one of these. We got one and a doggy-door.
Let's just say the squirrels don't come around very often these days because only the really fast ones can make it to the closest tree.
 
As others have noted, check applicable laws.

With that out of the way, I bought a Ruger Impact in .22 last Christmas. It's a little noisier than anticipated, but within what I'd call "acceptable limits" for this task. I feel pretty confident that it would put the hurt on a squirrel.
 
Rat traps with peanut butter on the trigger. If it don't killit, it'll Holden till you can wackem with something. That's what my dad used to use at the camp ground.
 
I found success years ago shooting a pellet gun from inside the house with only the end of the barrel out an open window into a pine tree in the yard. The best angle appeared to be from on the floor shooting upward an an angle into the pine. Worked for crows as well.
 
T.R. said:
I've shot plenty of squirrels and skunks with plain sub-sonic ammo as offered by Remington. Quiet and accurate.
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AH but here in most of The People's Republic of Maryland, THAT would get you charged with discharge of a firearm in an urban environment..., if somebody spotted you and phoned it in. Even the pellet rifle could. (Did I mention it's the People's Republic of Maryland?) :confused: That's why I learned to upgrade traps. ;)

LD
 
A number of years ago we used blowguns in public parks to harvest squirrels. We did it mostly to see if we could get away with it. The guys in the group were, interestingly enough all from various city, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. We use nicotine on the darts. It worked quite well and we never got caught.
 
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