Squirrel Traps in Action

03.26.2006 - Here's a fine day's catch of squirrels on an unusually cold March day here in Orlando Florida.  The reason I'm catching so many squirrels at this time of year is because squirrels have their first litter of the year in late January.  By late March, the young squirrels are nearly full adult size, and they are running about wreaking havoc in side attics across the land.  This catch came from two different houses today, both in the same neighborhood.  This neighborhood has a problem common to houses in this part of the country - all of the houses are built the same, and thus they all have the same architectural flaws.  These particular houses have flat tile roofs, and the soffits don't fit flush against the roof.  This allows wide gaps, in several places, leading right into the attics.  The attics in both these homes, and I suspect, much of the neighborhood, were a mess - filled with rat and squirrel droppings and urine. I set several traps on the roofs of these homes and caught four squirrels at Home A, and three squirrels at Home B.  The traps I prefer are special professional grade squirrel traps sold by my nuisance wildlife control supplier.  You can buy these traps online at Wildlife Control Supplies.  They are the best squirrel cage trap that I've used, and I've tried several brands.  First of all, they are just the right size.  Too small a trap, and the squirrels won't fit inside, or perhaps the door won't close.  Too large a trap, and it may be hard to fit in squirrel areas, plus the squirrels have more room to run around and injure themselves.  This trap also has an inner door and inner trip bar, both of which help in setting the trap in tight nooks and crannies without worry of something external messing up the trigger mechanism or door.  The pan tension is adjustable, and they work at any angle (they work on pressure, not gravity - the door has a spring type design).  These traps are also easy to set with one hand. I bait my traps with peanut butter. I then stick a few peanuts inside, near the entrance, on the trip pan, and behind the trip pan.  This combination is irresistable to squirrels, and the peanut butter gives off a strong scent, and the peanut provides a visual stimulus. After I remove these squirrels, I drive them 20 miles outside of the city and relocate them.  There's no way they can make it back from that far to any neighborhood. The Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), is one of the most widespread nuisance animals in the country. It lives throughout most of the United States. It is arboreal (likes to live in trees), but just as commonly atticeal (likes to live in attics). It's a member of the rodent family, and is prone to chewing and gnawing. Squirrels are active during the daytime, particularly morning and evening. They are active year-round. They give birth to two litters of young per year, in late summer and late winter, commonly inside buildings they've chewed into. They are very agile and great climbers, and are active animals. They are cute, but often destructive, especially when they enter an attic.

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