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times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> "duartess@ns.sympatico.ca" &lt;duartess@ns.sympatico.ca&gt;<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Naturelist &lt;naturens@chebucto.ns.ca&gt; <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Monday, November 12, 2012 1:28:04 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;"&g --bcaec54ee7288f7f4b04ce53299d Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 There are many humane solutions to getting squirrels to leave without resorting to lethal control. They are there for a reason, likely because they have found either food, a warm quiet place and/or somewhere to store food for the winter. As long as the attraction is still there you can shoot all the squirrels you want...and others will follow and come..not a practical solution. First off..is there a food source that they are after ( i.e. bags of bird seed, pet food etc)? If so those need to be moved or put in squirrel proof containers. We use stainless steel garbage cans from canadian tire , $28.99...easy peasy. You can also discourage them by putting bright lights and loud noise ( a radio on a talk station played loudly for 24-48 hours usually does it). Then..the most important part of any wildlife solution..HOME REPAIR. They have found an access and until that is repaired...again..more will come..even if you kill the ones that are there. If they are gone..it will be rats next..they often follow scent and urine trail of other rodents and will easily displace mice and squirrels. If you just kill the squirrels and dont remove the attractant or the access....the problem will continue in perpetuity. There are also one way valves/doors you can install over the entrance point to be sure all squirrels etc are out before the home repair is done. Second..some pellet gun pellets are lead based and if the squirrels are just discarded and not properly disposed of....you can cause lead poisoning in any scavenger that feeds on the dead squirrels. Lastly, this is the squirrel solution tip sheet from the HSUS ( http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/squirrels/). Lots of non-lethal control methods there. Remember, if you have a wildlife issue, most times you have provided an attractant ( usually food, sometimes just habitat)..and until that is dealt with and access is restricted( home repair)..it will keep happening. Helene On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 1:28 PM, <duartess@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote: > Somewhat off-topic but does anyone have experience & success in ridding a > house of a recent infestation of squirrels that are making their way into > the house and now seem to be coming and going, as they please. They have > found a way to get in through a hole in the ground that follows a pipe from > the oil tank. In chatting with an exterminator acquaintance, my friend was > told that, at this time of year, you probably don't have a hope in h--l of > getting them out of the house. > Admittedly, he has been picking them off, one by one with his son's pellet > gun. Has dispatched 3 so far, as they are heading for the hole under the > oil tank. The exterminator also said if you have seen 3 there are probably > 10! Would coyote urine pellets work? > Does anyone have suggestions? Ugh! Squirrels in the house is not a good > thing!! > > Many thanks, > > Gayle MacLean > Dartmouth > -- Helene Van Doninck DVM Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre RR#1 Brookfield NS B0N1C0 902-893-0253 birdvet@hotmail.com www.cwrc.net --bcaec54ee7288f7f4b04ce53299d Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable There are many humane solutions to getting squirrels to leave without resor= ting to lethal control. They are there for a reason, likely because they ha= ve found either food, a warm quiet place and/or somewhere to store food for= the winter. As long as the attraction is still there you can shoot all the= squirrels you want...and others will follow and come..not a practical solu= tion. First off..is there a food source that they are after ( i.e. bags of = bird seed, pet food etc)? If so those need to be moved or put in squirrel p= roof containers. We use stainless steel garbage cans from canadian tire , $= 28.99...easy peasy. You can also discourage them by putting bright lights a= nd loud noise ( a radio on a talk station played loudly for 24-48 hours usu= ally does it). Then..the most important part of any wildlife solution..HOME= REPAIR. They have found an access and until that is repaired...again..more= will come..even if you kill the ones that are there. If they are gone..it = will be rats next..they often follow scent and urine trail of other rodents= and will easily displace mice and squirrels. If you just kill the squirrel= s and dont remove the attractant or the access....the problem will continue= in perpetuity. There are also one way valves/doors you can install over th= e entrance point to be sure all squirrels etc are out before the home repai= r is done.=A0<div> <br></div><div>Second..some pellet gun pellets are lead based and if the sq= uirrels are just discarded and not properly disposed of....you can cause le= ad poisoning in any scavenger that feeds on the dead squirrels.=A0</div><di= v> <br></div><div>Lastly, this is the squirrel solution tip sheet from the HSU= S ( <a href=3D"http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/squirrels/">http://www.= humanesociety.org/animals/squirrels/</a>). Lots of non-lethal control metho= ds there. Remember, if you have a wildlife issue, most times you have provi= ded an attractant ( usually food, sometimes just habitat)..and until that i= s dealt with and access is restricted( home repair)..it will keep happening= .=A0</div> <div><br></div><div>Helene<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Mon, Nov 12= , 2012 at 1:28 PM, <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:duartess@ns.sym= patico.ca" target=3D"_blank">duartess@ns.sympatico.ca</a>></span> wrote:= <br> <blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p= x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Somewhat off-topic but does anyone have expe= rience & success in ridding a house of a recent infestation of squirrel= s that are making their way into the house and now seem to be coming and go= ing, as they please. They have found a way to get in through a hole in the = ground that follows a pipe from the oil tank. In chatting with an extermina= tor acquaintance, my friend was told