Large Scale Central

Squirrel Haters Club

Well, it’s official – I am now a 100% heartless, lifetime member of the Squirrel Haters Club.

I’ve had a train parked in one of the tunnels for several days while I made repairs to a bridge, installed a couple conduits for additional track wiring, and made improvements to some of the rock work.

This evening I tried to run it, and discovered that the squirrels had knocked almost every car off the track and heaped a pile of dirt over the rails inside the tunnel! Grrr!

Sure am glad I put in those access hatches. However, I’m starting to consider the possibility of replacing them with something lighter than concrete. Ideally a composite material like G10 fiberglass, but that would get expensive.

Death to squirrels!!

I’ve had to learn to “turn the other cheek”, as it is my dogs that keep tearing my stuff up.
Ralph

I’ll join.

My next door neighbor feeds them peanuts in the shell. Shells all over my yard, everything we plant gets dug up, they chew the new growth off the trees for no apparent reason and dig for acorns in the grass all year long.

I’ve been lucky with the track so far. No direct damage (yet). I guess they don’t like the Aristo plastic, but I’ve heard the love the Tenmille ground throws.

As soon as I can find my CO2 BB gun, there will be moving target practice from my porch. The 22 works better, but too many nice neighbors too close.

Save the 22 for the squirrels in the direction of the guy that feeds 'em peanuts. :wink:

Squirrels I’ve never had a problem with except in the winter when they start messing around the bird feeders. Rabbits are another story. For some reason they’ve taken a liking to a Mimosa tree and with they’re chewing and digging have almost got it out of the ground. They also dug a few holes in places on the layout but that’s been a minor annoyance.

When we moved into our new house 14 years ago we had a major squirrel problem due to four massive oak trees providing them with lots of acorns. I bought the squirrel sized Havahart trap and baited it with peanut butter. Initially, I kept it wired open for the first two weeks so they would loose their fear of it. Over weeks three through eight, I caught up to five critters a day and a total of 68 of the buggers. They are just now starting to recover their population so it soon will be time to drag the thing out of the shed once again.

Brian

Ray,
I think you should count your good fortune that your equipment did not get chewed on.

We had a helacious squirrel problem until a couple years ago, when we began noticing a hawk around. We still have a lot, but not nearly as many as we did.

The other day my wife and daughter were out on the deck and they saw that a baby squirrel had fallen out of the tree and was just liying there, not moving. It looked like maybe it had suffered some kind of internal injury and we started telling our daughter (3) that the squirrel was probably going to die. So while we sat there eating breakfast we watched as an adult squirrel slowly came closer and closer. Finally it came up to the little squirrel, nudged it with it’s nose, and the little squirrel suddenly wraped itself around the adult and the adult carried it off into a tree.

I still don’t like them. A 22 would be way too much for our neighborhood, but a BB gun, from close range…

My wife would freak out

Brian said:
When we moved into our new house 14 years ago we had a major squirrel problem due to four massive oak trees providing them with lots of acorns. I bought the squirrel sized Havahart trap and baited it with peanut butter. Initially, I kept it wired open for the first two weeks so they would loose their fear of it. Over weeks three through eight, I caught up to five critters a day and a total of 68 of the buggers. They are just now starting to recover their population so it soon will be time to drag the thing out of the shed once again. Brian

I hate to ask, but what did you do with 68 of them?

(http://www.restlessadventurer.net/travel/trips/ecuador2004-2005/cuy_roasting.jpg)

:o:O:O

Well, I sure didn’t barbecue them!

I went the other route - plenty of water.

Brian said:
Well, I sure didn't barbecue them!

I went the other route - plenty of water.


What’s that, soup?
Ralph

I dunno, 68?

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515WHGEJ5JL.SS400.jpg)

Might just be enough if they were big enough :lol:

Well, I haven’t seen any squirrels, at least not the 4 legged kind, but if I leave little folks out over night, they all seem to take a hike to Never-Never Land, because I never-never see them again. It’s probably the owls, making their rounds.

I have a sure cure for the squirrel problem. A Max cat who is a hunter! Bring them in the house to play with and show off.

My problem was an unlocked back gate and 2 leged problems. Locked the gate.

Paul

My dog and cats like to push open the screen door to slip out. Thus I was startled, but only slightly surprised to find a baby squirrel in my gym bag by the door. I dumped it out and it scurried up the large oak just outside the door. There’s an nest at the top. I have a loop of raised track around the bottom, which the squirrels have to cross every time the leave the tree. No damage so far, but I do see smaller scenery items and buildings knocked over from time to time. Problem is I can’t blame it all on the squirrels. The dog and cats will knock over the buildings in search of smaller living inhabitants, like frogs, mice, voles, etc. The cats kept bringing in small garden snakes, which I tracked back to a nest under one of the buildings.

OK, this thread can not get any better!
A great read!!
Most creative visual award goes to, hands down, Victor Smith.
My wife went NUTS with laughter seeing his visual interpretation of 68 squirrels.
Thanks,
Wendell

Wendell Hanks said:
OK, this thread can not get any better! A great read!! Most creative visual award goes to, hands down, Victor Smith. My wife went NUTS with laughter seeing his visual interpretation of 68 squirrels. Thanks, Wendell
Was that the Barbecue or the fur? My vote goes to the Barbecue. Ralph

Nah, that was the fur.
Nuts (ooops) the squirrels were already bar-b-qued before the coat was assembled.
Hmmm. Wonder what the scale is? Lemmme see. Ah, looks like 1:29 squirrels were
kit-bashed to make this gem.
Wendell

I LOVE squirrels… fried, stewed, simmered with red wine and wild 'shrooms…