Annoying pest
- Thread starter GOLF1
- Start date
Great Horned and Barred Owls. I've got similar issues. The squirrels literally chew up and down the sides of my metal patio chairs and tables. about 3 years ago I took a portable speaker outside and played mating calls and nestorations of both types of owls and sho enough here they came. I amazing photos of the males literally 3 feet from me trying to find (get at) the females. kinda cool. But I also noticed they scattered the Squirrel rats in a hurry. They now nest around the house front and back yard and it has helps. not solved completely but helped.
Gamo pellet gun will do it. Very accurate with a scope. My pest problem are armadillos. They are the devil. I have killed two with head shots with the pellet gun. But they are nocturnal and dig up your yard. If a pellet gun is out then a have a heart type trap.
When I saw "annoying pest" I thought this was a thread about this guy:
Pellet guns are effective. I've killed many squirrels in my backyard with one. Mostly effective within 15 yards or so, but you can put a dent in the population.
I have both those owls around my home and have for years. Almost every evening they are in my front yard. They are quite big too. Hawks as well. I have never seen any of them touch a squirrel and I have plenty of those as well. Keep waiting to see them sweep up a cat or something as well. Just doesn't happen. Go figure. They do seem to like moles, snakes and especally seem to love mole crickets. I think the latter is what keeps them coming back. Gotta be like candy
We have a resident hawk. We have seen it catch snakes, squirrels and rabbits. If you have a hawk, it will go after squirrels. My dog is medium size. When the hawk is on our property, our dog runs for cover.
It's really kinda strange. I live just outside a massive bird of prey center and park here on the coast. Always thought that had something to do with me having so many.
Yeah we have a lot of red tail hawks here. For whatever reason I dont see them mess with the squirrels. I've even seen them on the same branch of a tree at the same time. Crazy. The strange part is the first ten years I lived here I never saw a squirrel. First place I have ever lived that didnt have any. Always thought it was because all the birds of prey. Then one year, squirrels everywhere. Been that way for the last ten years. Birds are still here. Guess their diet suddenly changed. It's a head scratcher.
Last edited:
It's known that hawks will go after snakes and rabbits before squirrels. Maybe you have a lot of snakes and rabbits around?
We have tons of rabbits and snakes. Rabbits are an easy target for hawks and much larger than squirrels. They'll go after squirrels but only if the can't get their talons on a snakes or rabbit.
That may very well be. We have a lot of critters. Surprised I havent seen them go for cats here tho. Moles yes. Squrriels no. Still weird. As I said earlier tho, all of them enjoy the heck out of mole crickets.
Don't bother buying those fake plastic owls. When we moved in our current house, the prior owner left one in the backyard.
I literally watched a chipmunk run right in front it of several times, sometimes even stopping right in front of it, as if to say GTFO with that s**t.
I literally watched a chipmunk run right in front it of several times, sometimes even stopping right in front of it, as if to say GTFO with that s**t.
Our neighborhood is like a hawk sanctuary. They are everywhere. We are in an older neighborhood just off Woodruff Rd in Greenville. I say older neighborhood because it’s one that kept pretty much all of the trees unlike the clear-cutting of today. Lots of huge old trees. We have a lot of squirrels…or so I thought. But I’m thinking the hawks probably keep the population well balanced. It’s never that bad with squirrels here. And the hawks are so beautiful to watch…if you aren’t prey. Because dang they are good at their job.
Now…about our 9 pound Yorkie. We have to watch him closely
Now…about our 9 pound Yorkie. We have to watch him closely
Cats will work. Problem (for me) is they will kill a lot of birds too
Yeah. My cat brought us a squirrel present on Sunday. But there are still plenty in the yard. If they get destructive again I will thin them out with the Gamo pellet gun.