Not much really, those ecoterrorist are virtually impossible to keep out of a garden or flowers etc.

I trapped 16 of them the past month and relocated them a few miles away.
But lately they have learned how to trip the trap without getting caught which is bad for them because I am now left with only one other option which is lead poisoning.

Fortunately I have a really nice air rifle and can basically hit a bottle cap at 50 yards with it so cant miss a squirrel.
Have given 9 of them lead poisoning the past 3 days, problem is that it seems like there is a never ending supply of them.
I thought we had maybe 10-15 total around us, I have trapped and shot 25 so far with no end in sight.
They destroy everything so they gotta go.

Nunyabiz1:

What do you have for an "air rifle"? I have used a Gamo .177 spring gun (Varmint Hunter) for the last 8 years to dispatch many dozens of bunnies, but it has developed "barrel sag", and I cant hit anything.

Time for a new one. What works for you?

I have my Feinwerkbau 124D .177cal
Will shoot a 8.6gr pellet at 840fps and is deadly accurate and almost silent.
I have owned it for just shy of 29 years now.

You might be able to find a Feinwerkbau 124 on the "Yellow Forum" air gun website in their classifieds.
If you are lucky you can get one in good condition for about $350 without a scope.
They are not made anymore and are really one of the best air rifles ever made.

This is a target I shot about 9 months ago.

Here is a 24 yard target which is usually about the distance I shoot Squirrels, 20-25 yards.
All five shots could be mostly covered with an Aspirin.

SQUIRREL PROOF GARDEN. I have a large garden right in the clearing of dozens of very old trees holding MANY squirrels. I always tried to stay ahead of them but never did. I tried many different ideas to stop them with little to no success until 5 years ago when figured out how to stop them completely. You need at least 2' high of poultry (chicken) wire surrounding your entire garden. Then take a 2 foot wide by however long you need piece of bird netting (I use Bird-X brand polypropolyne 1/2" mesh) and twist it length wise in such a way that it looks like somebody's bad hair day and attach it to the top perimeter of the chicken wire with cable ties, letting some excess netting drape down. The squirrels will NOT climb thru it nor will they chew thru it. I think it has something to do with their claws getting stuck in the netting. But I have not had a tom affected by a squirrel in 5 years even though they are constantly around my garden all day, every day. I also drape large pieces of netting over flower containers and it keeps the deer, so far, from chewing also. It's fairly invisible from a distance. Try it, it works and is cheap and easy to do.

Re squirrel proofing. Ive been following the method I learned from the poster dave and picking tomatoes during the blush/breaker stage and then letting them ripen on the counter at home. The squirrels are generally uninterested in them at that point, and I then dont have to worry about conditions like heavy rains which would cause them all to crack.

So far so good. As of today, Ive harvested 276 tomatoes in total, and lost only 17 to birds and squirrels. And this is with no netting of any type and a small 2 foot high chicken wire fence.

Cdon, Dave, sorry but HA! They eat them green just as happily as ripening. They have been destroying my volunteers. I did hit one when I lobbed a chunk of 4 x 4 and hit it.
I like the idea of the netting at the top of chicken wire.
I really would like to just shoot them, but I would probably get more tomatoes than vermin.

I have learned several ways to deal with these tree rats.

1. Let me say they seem to travel to areas with food then move on.
2. IF they are eating tomatoes they are likely looking for water. Try leaving a bucket of water near the plants. You may even be able to drown a few. Be sure to dump the water every couple of days or you'll be breeding mosquitoes.
3. Around my seedling I leave either some rose or raspberry trimmings (anything with thorns) or some of those carpet strips - the kind with tacks n nails in both sides. I also use these in & around my compost pile. It seems that rodents don't like pain any more than we do.

I think I have actually trained some raccoons, possum, & skunks to avoid my compost pile with this method.

IF you are using Havahart traps you would prob be better off to dunk them in a garbage pail of water lest they find their way back to the food fest.

HTH

So far the electric fence strands every couple of inches seems to be working. I have the game cam set up an they are coming right up to it and thinking twice. I am

Gumby_ct, we are on a pond, there is a creek about 75 feet away. I think they might just like tomatoes.
I don't like havahearts, just give somebody else your problem and more stress on whatever critter. If they get in the trap, it's lead poisoning. I feel bad, fish-in-a barrel, but I've only dispatched two coons that way.

I think they might just like tomatoes.

Then why is it they don't eat the whole thing?

Nunyabiz1:

Thanks. Looks like a great gun. But, It looks like it could come down with the same "barrel sag" problem my Gamo did.

I guess since it is no longer made, it won't be my solution.

Well it hasn't "sagged" in 29 years.
Barrel sag comes from the detent wearing out which you usually only see with lesser quality air guns, or one that has been dropped.

Buy a Feinwerkbau or a Weihrauch and you should not have that problem for your lifetime.

You can buy one of these Feinwerkbau 124's you just have to buy one used on the Yellow Forum Classifieds.
One sold just recently like 2 weeks ago for $385, in great condition, new spring and seals, ready to go for another 30 years, plus the advantage of it is a classic that is only going to go UP in price.
I bought mine just like you see it case and all for $250 back in 1983, I wouldn't sell it today for less than $800.

A Weihrauch 35E is nice.

A Weihrauch HW77 is nice and it is not a break barrel, it is an under lever.

Walther is putting out a really nice one pretty soon called a LGV. though will probably be around $500+

A RWS 54 would be nice also in .22cal, it is both a side lever plus is recoiless.

If that Feinwerkbau 124D were made and sold today it would run about $800 new.

You can put an ad on the Yellow classifieds saying you "Want to BUY" a Feinwerkbau 124 in good condition that has already been rebuilt, yo should probably come up with one within a week or so.

http://www.ste-sidam.fr/home/8.1008_Walther%20LGV%20en.pdf

Here is a link that might be useful: Yellow Classifieds

I wonder if having a dog would help?

Or even boarding a friends dog while they vacation?

The dog only helps when it is here, my neighbors bring theirs over three or four times a week. Don't see one for an hour or so, then they are back.
Put in the chicken wire, with electric at the very top, so far they are very perturbed.
Been an awful weekend, a pipe blew out in our basement and an upstairs toilet tank cracked.

{{!gwi}}

You need to put out a bucket of water for those thirsty critters you have there.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/tomato/msg0722391031918.072234007321.jpg

We are less than 100 feet from a POND. 70 feet from a creek. They are not eating them from thirst. FEET, not yards, not miles.
And I am NOT going to give water to the ecoterrorists, but they can pick from
three water bowls in my yard for cats/chickens, less than 20 feet from the tomatoes. Maybe, just MAYBE they like them.

You ever see squirrels swimming in the pond or creek?

Could it be possible that it's someone other than squirrels? Have you witnessed an event?

YES I have seen squirrels swimming, I have pictures. So the squirrels don't swim doesn't fly.
Yes I have witnessed the event. If I had been faster I could have grabbed it. (and then been really sorry)
If I am going to kill something it will be quick.

Well for me at least I seem to have my Ecoterrorist problem finally under control, at least for the time being.

What seemed to really work the best was Lead Poisoning with the old trusty air rifle, a few dead bodies on the dance floor and they have started to figure out this is not a good place to terrorize.

Trapped 16, until they started figuring out how to not get trapped, then gave 9 of them lead poisoning.

I have only glimpsed ONE ecoterrorist in the past 5 days and that was very briefly as he was flying away into the trees.
I used to see 6-7 at a time all over the place.
No tomatoes eaten in I think about a week now.

So when all else fails lead poisoning works well.

Also I might add, after a dozen or so tomatoes, several peppers, about 50+ blueberries, several flowers and plants and various other things destroyed on our deck it was actually satisfying to see that little nuthead in the cross hairs.

I also have plenty of water around us, large bird bath which they used to drink out of a lot, plus a stream not far away.
So it has nothing to do with thirst.

Ecoterrorist are just destructive, they are like 2 year olds on a coffee and sugar binge, they constantly eat and will eat darn near anything and destroy darn near everything.

I was blaming the deer for eating my broccoli until one morning I saw the culprit - a woodchuck. I know woodchuck eat tomatoes, they take one bite out of each presumably to get the water. obtw - woodchucks swim too.

Not defending the squirrels either. One year I saw them eating my corn, never had problems for 3 yrs before. When I look up at the hickory trees I noticed there weren't many nuts so that was why they jumped on my corn.

And as I have said before - they do travel. I have seen as many as 25 in my small yard at one time.

O.K. my aim is not as bad as I thought. I have been working on plumbing all weekend, (and still am, anybody know anything about toilets?) so I took out my frustration. HA.
I might not have hit the one I was aiming at, but there are two fewer in the world now. Maybe if I take out a couple a day for a while, they will go elsewhere.
They were only under the birdfeeder, but I have had enough. They all scampered away after the first shot, and were back in 10 minutes, now it has been a while and none in sight.
Back to the plumbing . :(

Here's hopin your aim is the bathroom is a bit better.

Well I won the plumbing battle, I can be a bit stubborn sometimes, and after we had done the hard part, I was NOT going to call in a plumber for the 'easy part'. In theory.

They are right back in the yard, but not the garden, but I have had it. They have NO fear of me, my cats (both elderly) or my hens (well they are mini velocoraptors) it's too hot for my dog visit, and they have just got to get gone.
Me, Miss Daisy, and a cup of coffee each morning ought to do it. I am shooting from 20-30 ft, so Miss Daisy does just fine, and is a lot more subtle first thing in the morning. Thanks for the moral support, and suggestions, and just letting me vent.