Squirrel Problem

[buzzined]

Squirrels around my house are starting to get destructive. They have eaten holes in my garbage can lids. I live in city limits and there is a no firearm discharge ordinance:

Sec. 10-16. - Discharge of firearms.

(a)
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge any rifle or solid pellet firearm.
(b)
The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to:
(1)
Law enforcement officers while they are engaged in the performance of their official duties;
(2)
Members of the armed forces of the United States or the national guard while they are engaged in the performance of their official duties;
(3)
Persons while they are exercising their lawful rights of defense of self or property.
(4)
To persons at rifle ranges or skeet ranges which comply with the applicable provisions of this article or which are exempt from such provisions;
(5)
Discharges of weapons otherwise permitted by this article.
(Ord. No. 73-79, § 12-26-73)

Not sure if airguns fall under this, but if they do what is my best course of action to get rid of the offenders? Live traps?

Would like to just shoot them with the air rifle but not sure what kinda of trouble I would be in if some squirrel lover called the cops on me.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[FortWayneGunfighter]

they even got pellet rifles....wow....BB gun?

 

[Jarhead1775]

Those nice high powered BB guns.... yeah that would do. Its not a pellet gun and it is not a Firearm per-say according to how I read that ordinance. However, there is a designated Squirrel hunting season. I believe it is Aug 15th until Jan sometime. I would suggest to get your general hunting license, if you do not already, and declare war on your little devious critters. That would eliminate the unlicensed hunting portion that some Squirrel lover would scream.

 

[usmcdjb]

Use an appropriately sized live trap, with peanuts for bait. When I had cedar siding on my house, and wooden fascia, they climed the house and chewed a hole in the corner of the fascia to get in. The above combo helped to catch a lot of them.

 

[Tydeeh22]

bucket full of water.. check

3 inch pipe expoxied to bottom of bucket standing ~a few feet above bucketline. check

bucket filled with water? check

smeared peanut butter down into the pipe? check

(just make sure this contraption is placed near a tree /fence)

beer in hand? check

and wait.

 

[ISP 5353]

Good time to take up archery with a nice quiet bow.

 

[snapping turtle]

Stop at tractor supply and get the large rat traps, like a regular mouse trap but really beefed up. Attach to tree with nail screw or rope as you prefer. Peanut butter and time are your friends. They taste good also.

 

[trapperDave]

livetraps baited with balls of peanut butter rolled in sunflower seeds

small size livetraps, like about 7x7x24

 

[OZESS]

black pepper works on raccoons might try it on the nut lovers .they are a pest
or you could use fly paper they really hate getting it off them selfs/

 

[woowoo2]

bucket full of water.. check

3 inch pipe expoxied to bottom of bucket standing ~a few feet above bucketline. check

bucket filled with water? check

smeared peanut butter down into the pipe? check

(just make sure this contraption is placed near a tree /fence)

beer in hand? check

and wait.

Yes, this works....
https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...71-getting_rid_of_or_gathering_squirrels.html

 

[Turn Key]

Here ya go

 

[buzzined]

bucket full of water.. check

3 inch pipe expoxied to bottom of bucket standing ~a few feet above bucketline. check

bucket filled with water? check

smeared peanut butter down into the pipe? check

(just make sure this contraption is placed near a tree /fence)

beer in hand? check

and wait.

That looks like it would work well but I don't have a place to hide one from my neighbor's view. Don't know if any would complain but I don't talk to them all. I think I can be stealthier with my air rifle.

I need to find out what the penalty is if I get caught shooting them with a pellet gun, is it just a fine or are there charges? A felony isn't worth saving a garbage can.

Guess I will just go buy a couple live traps and figure out how to keep my small dog away from them he will want to eat the bait lol.

 

[uncle griz]

I use a 12lb male cat. Nothing with 4 legs survives around my house. He has mitten paws that are 2 1/2" around.

 

[Bobby100]

my wife hates squirrels and they are very mean little critters if you trap them as i have. i've been told you have to take them 2 miles away to release them are they will return. she keeps saying i good bowl of antifreeze goes along way but i refuse that option.

 

[old man Bill]

If you want to make a sporting experience of this, build a blowgun with hard wire darts. I've taken rabbits, doves, squirrels they are deadly weapons in the right hands.....or mouths. At 10 yards I can pierce a dime with the ones I made.
I used a 5' piece of metal conduit as the barrel and the neck part of a 2 liter plastic bottle for the mouth piece, hot glued and taped in place. A wire tie on the front for a sight and you're good to go. For darts, I heated a piece of the side of a plastic milk jug with a propane torch till it turned clear then quickly place it over the opening of a glass pop bottle and push a metal plumb bob in it to form a cone; keep the plumb bob cold if your making a bunch of darts and it goes quicker. Trim the cone with scissors so it fits in the end of the gun snug but not too tight or you'll blow your ear balls out. From a hobby supply store get some music wire 1/16" or less and cut it to 5" long with a grinder. Sharpen the end and poke it through the pointy end of the cone. Seal and lock in place with hot melt glue. Be sure the wire and the cone are in the same plane or it will not fly true. Load the dart from the mouth piece end and don't just blow, act like you're spitting watermellon seeds. There you have it, a deadly weapon for the price of a piece of conduit and some pop. Practice till you're dizzy.
Bill

 

[Zoub]

That looks like it would work well but I don't have a place to hide one from my neighbor's view.

Bucket goes below ground, with pipe coming out of it. IF anyone asks and only IF someone asks, you then tell them you are putting in a water feature.

Then get a dog and a cat.

We have more squirrels right now, then I ever had any place I lived even with 100 year old Oak trees that produced tons of acorns. The reason is two garages behind our property are basically year round Squirrel breeding condos and both owners are useless. Our dog was trained to have issues with squirrels and both our neighbors on left and right of us are cool with her keeping them off the properties.

One day she almost got one and it ran off the property to the nearest fence and tree, than that medium sized tree exploded with about a dozen of them. Unreal. We see them every day on the fences, garages, trees and power lines but never on our property.

They also know the cat is down there on the ground somewhere killing the **** out of their close relatives. Put a low to ground feeder near evergreen bushes the cat can use as an ambush spot.

The dog runs security and perimeter patrol, any critter who still dares enter, the cat gets them. We have zero problems on our property and it is just a rental but still, I don't want them in our garage or doing damage.

 

[Shadownick]

Sec. 10-16. - Discharge of firearms.

The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to:
...
(3)
Persons while they are exercising their lawful rights of defense of self or property.

Hmmmm... sounds to me like you're exercising your lawful right to defend your property. At least that's what I would tell the officer

 

[xcalibur]

Squirrels around my house are starting to get destructive. They have eaten holes in my garbage can lids. I live in city limits and there is a no firearm discharge ordinance:

Sec. 10-16. - Discharge of firearms.

(a)
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge any rifle or solid pellet firearm.
(b)
The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to:
(1)
Law enforcement officers while they are engaged in the performance of their official duties;
(2)
Members of the armed forces of the United States or the national guard while they are engaged in the performance of their official duties;
(3)
Persons while they are exercising their lawful rights of defense of self or property.
(4)
To persons at rifle ranges or skeet ranges which comply with the applicable provisions of this article or which are exempt from such provisions;
(5)
Discharges of weapons otherwise permitted by this article.
(Ord. No. 73-79, § 12-26-73)

Not sure if airguns fall under this, but if they do what is my best course of action to get rid of the offenders? Live traps?

Would like to just shoot them with the air rifle but not sure what kinda of trouble I would be in if some squirrel lover called the cops on me.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

What is the definition of solid pellet I wonder?
How about hollow point pellets.....

 

[shannonneumann]

Per Fort Wayne City Code
---------------------------------------------------
§ 130.08 DEFINITION OF FIREARM.

FIREARM. Any weapon, whether loaded or unloaded, which will expel a projectile by the action of an explosive and includes any such weapon commonly referred to as a pistol, revolver, rifle, gun, shotgun or machine gun. Any weapon which can be readily made into a firearm by the insertion of a firing pin, or other similar thing in the actual possession of the perpetrator or an accomplice, is a firearm.
---------------------------------------------------

By my understanding, this would make BB/pellet guns OK, as they do not "expel a projectile by the action of an explosive"? Am I off base here?

 

[shannonneumann]

Also, I was actually just talking about squirrel problems with some other guys last night, and the bucket method was brought up. The approach I heard was to fill the bucket 2/3 with water and layer 2-3 inches of striped sunflower seeds on top of the water. The squirrels apparently really like the seeds (but only the striped ones), and can't tell that there is water underneath. This is second-hand info, but the source is someone I trust on the matter, and said he snagged over 20 from his yard with this method.