Squirrel Traps!

C

coyotlviejo

Joined
Mar 26, 2001
Messages
313
I was comparing stories with a coworker about elk hunting (see the thread by Ed) when she mentioned that during a particularly poor year one time her dad & brother got so bored by the lack of animals that they started entertaining themselves by trapping squirrels (chipmunks, really). This struck me as rather funny, because we have done the same thing. Thing is, the little buggers are on meth or something, because I've never seen a creature act so frenetically or move so quickly.

We used saplings bent over and tied to a cinching loop. We tried rocks propped over pits. We tried deadfalls. We tried everything we could and never got nary a one. However, we did find our sapling trap sprung a few times with no critter in the string, so we wonder if they didn't get catapulted into the next county, like being shot out of David's sling.

So my question is: Have any of you ever done this, and if so, did you have any success? I guess it fits into survival skills, as I might need to trap a chipmunk one of these days for my dinner. Mostly though it was just plain fun, so I'd like to know if this is a universal experience among bored deer/elk hunters.
 
Not trapping, but a Physics professor in college got tired of squirrels eating out of his birdfeeders, so...

He rigged two bare wires up around the tree trunk, far enough apart that a bird couldn't touch them, but a squirrel would use them for a ladder. He had a throw switch in his house, and wired the contraption up to 110 house current. He would wait in the evenings, and start the fun.

A buddy of mine rented the house next door, and we would sit on the back porch with a keg, hootin' and hollerin', singing out our scores, Olympic judge style. The squirrels would get hit with the voltage, and come sailing over the fence into the yard, shake their heads, and go running away. I never saw one killed, and they did eventually learn to stay out of the tree. It was great fun, and some required more than one "experience". They generally got lower scores for stupidity.

He might have put in some resistors to lower the voltage, I don't know, but it was plugged into the wall.

They weren't born as flying squirrels, but they took to it real well....
 
Daniel,

The ratio you are leaning towards is 15:1 for success. If I had 7 students then we would usually catch one squirrel sometimes two. A squirrel will use the past of least resistance so if they are going up to a tree to get the nuts they will take the easiest path.

You take a pole and tie several wire loops to a pole. You make a slip loop out of the wire so that it will tighten around their neck or body. Just guestimate the size of the loop for the squirrels in your area. Also put the loops on both sides of the pole in case they spiral up the pole. I have seen a few squirrels hanging from the pole in the morning.

If they have holes in the ground they have burrowed into then you just set the same size snare but attach it to a good size stick that won't allow them to be drug very far. You can also tie off to roots or the tree itself. As far as the hole itself look and see if there are fresh midden piles and no cobwebs present. You may see a dozen holes but some will have cobwebs whereas some will not. One of the guys in my squad was demonstrating this to his students, had just put the loop over the hole when, with the stick still in his hand, a squirrel darted out of the hole and got caught in the snare. Pretty effective demonstration:) .
 
Can you describe the position of the pole a litte more? (upright, bent over, horizontal?) Do you put bait at the top to get them to climb? (Pizza-Bites are the best bait we've found, with peanut butter cookies following as a close second...)
 
Hello Daniel-san,

Going with the thought of least resistance, use a 45-60 degree angle. If its too vertical they may just go up the tree. I have to admit we never baited the little buggers as my students always wanted to keep all their food :) Besides I would have killed them if I had got them with Bagel Bites LOL!
I have seen several squirrels successfully caught using the Havahart traps:D This is a great way to get a child closer to nature without possibly traumatizing them, I know it also depends on the child also. When it comes to Have-A-Heart traps I have to go with Matthew Quigley on those, "I never said I didn't know how to use one. I said I never had much use for one."

God bless bro,
J
 
Aha, so now I get it. Something like this:

Lean pole against trunk, offering a path up the tree. Put snare loops on the pole to catch passing squirrel. When squirrel is caught he falls and hangs from the pole, unable to climb back up and escape. I'll have to try it.

God bless,
Daniel
 
Something that dawned on me from you post. When you make your small loop, if using wire, that the running end of your wire will go through be sure and put a little barb facing inward so that it will catch the fur and cause the animal to jerk. It may sound complicated so I may have to e-mail you a photo of what I mean. It is really simple to do and it helps get the animal caught in the snare. Gotta run bro, later.

Take care and God bless,
Jamie
 
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