Bull Nutria
Member
RC had a new model dodge 4x4 pickup that he was quite fond of. Well one day about 2 years ago, it was running bad and he took it into the dealership and found out rodents had eaten the wires to the tune of about $900. RC was aggravated so he began shooting every squirrel in his yard on sight. He lived in town on a street lined with mature Oaks. Super squirrel habitat. soon the squirrels were wise to his air rifles so he started trapping with small conibear traps in cubbies. He place 3 of them around his truck in the driveway. Believe it or not RC removed about 285 squirrels in less than 2 years from his yard. He would give me periodic reports. He learned where he could shoot them and what shot worked best. He said they were very tough and many times would crawl off and not be where he thought they should be when he went to retrieve them. He would freeze them and put them in the garbage for the city to haul off. He did not want to clean and cook them.
We did internet research on this problem and found that the green movement had caused dodge to use soybean based wire insulation on there ignition wiring. RC was not the only person whose vehicle was damaged by rodents!
The good news is that RC was confined to his home taking care of his wife who had advanced alzenhimers but he could shoot his air rifles and really enjoyed his squirrel removal campaign. He new exactly which pellet worked the best. He and I were both amazed that after he had killed over a hundred he would not see a squirrel for a week or so and then they would return. His best bait for his trap was peanuts in the shell. He said a squirrel could smell a unshucked peanut for a very long distance.
I was concerned that he would get reported to the wildlife agency for killing squirrels out of season so he did not mention his activities much. One day an animal control officer came to his house to retrieve a deer that died in his neighbors yard. She noticed his havahart traps and cubbies in his yard. She asked him what he was trapping and he told her. Much to his relief she said they had lots of trouble with squirrels destroying the county vehicles and encouraged him to keep up the good work!
He shot his last squirrel #285 on June 27th, he soon became ill and could not breathe. He went to the Hospital on July 11th came home on oxygen for a few days returned to the hospital and passed on August 14, 2016.
So add another skill--Rodent Control to RC Model's long list of expertise.
I really miss him!
Bull
We did internet research on this problem and found that the green movement had caused dodge to use soybean based wire insulation on there ignition wiring. RC was not the only person whose vehicle was damaged by rodents!
The good news is that RC was confined to his home taking care of his wife who had advanced alzenhimers but he could shoot his air rifles and really enjoyed his squirrel removal campaign. He new exactly which pellet worked the best. He and I were both amazed that after he had killed over a hundred he would not see a squirrel for a week or so and then they would return. His best bait for his trap was peanuts in the shell. He said a squirrel could smell a unshucked peanut for a very long distance.
I was concerned that he would get reported to the wildlife agency for killing squirrels out of season so he did not mention his activities much. One day an animal control officer came to his house to retrieve a deer that died in his neighbors yard. She noticed his havahart traps and cubbies in his yard. She asked him what he was trapping and he told her. Much to his relief she said they had lots of trouble with squirrels destroying the county vehicles and encouraged him to keep up the good work!
He shot his last squirrel #285 on June 27th, he soon became ill and could not breathe. He went to the Hospital on July 11th came home on oxygen for a few days returned to the hospital and passed on August 14, 2016.
So add another skill--Rodent Control to RC Model's long list of expertise.
I really miss him!
Bull
