The Winter Squirrel War of 2018-2019...
- Thread starter rdinatal
- Start date
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Yes I am married ... and my wife gets me or my son when when she sees the tree rats anywhere near our house ... especially HER precious pecan trees. She tries to shoot them but for some reason she doesn’t do as well with a rimfire rifle as she does with her handguns.
Those 2 pieces are just temporary for the shooting session and are easy to put up and take down (just couple minutes) in the bedroom that looks out on the trees.
Oh yeah, the rifle used is a suppressed CZ455 .22 ... so nobody but the eradicator pretty is the only one who hears anything.
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I’ve only seen one squirrel in my yard in the last ten years. Prior to that I killed eight running around the building. Shot three in the exact same spot. After one would fall another would take its place making easy pickings.
OP
It continues, just not as hectic. Got 6 more over the past month, nothing notable except today. There was a persistent little bstard, very wary, stealthy, being squirrely as squirrels do...
Went back to work for an hour and found this:
(Not for the weak of stomach)
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Loving the Coopers Hawk living nearby. It didn't eat much, just the lower jaw and the eyes.
Went back to work for an hour and found this:
(Not for the weak of stomach)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Loving the Coopers Hawk living nearby. It didn't eat much, just the lower jaw and the eyes.
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OP
You're right. Found one sitting in the shade on the porch. George the cat is freaking out...
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THATS COOL !
You guys have me thinking I should pull out the air rifle, it’s been a while. Have an empty 2nd story room, maybe this weekend.
Carolinatlc
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Got two when I got home today. One got stuck in a tree branch, hopefully the hawks will find him. This one was on the ground.
True story from my days in the squirrel fighting trenches.
Living inside the CLT city limits (just inside) my mom had a number of bird feeders and it was a never ending hassle keeping the squirrels off them. We finally developed a method that was reasonably successful but there was this one Einstein of a rodent. We started just shooing him off. Then he figured we weren't going to do much so he'd wait till we got right on him before skedadling off. Mom didn't want us shooting them (in the city limits) but we started with our Daisy red ryders. This squirrel would hear the gun cock, then scram. We graduated to a pump up Benjamin. After popping him on 1 pump, he would scram when he heard the pumping. Finally, mom saw this guy and detailed my brother to do something about it. Brother just muttered about how this is the last time we'd have to deal with that little so and so. Sooo, mom is washing dishes in the kitchen when out of the bedroom window- BLAAAMMM! She rushed back there to see what happened. Brother was jacking a smoking round out of an 03A3, says "what? didn't you want the squirrel gone?" She was sure we were going to get arrested for shooting in the city limits and was frantic we go clean up any evidence outside. Outside, one 30cal bullet hole in the feeder. On the ground, grey fur and one bloody leg. A few yards back from the feeder, a tail. At the other side of the yard, a 30cal hole through and throuh the side of the above ground pool (no water). Never found the bullet as we had woods behind the house. Amazing the damage a 130gr HP going warp 9 out of a 30.06 can do.
Living inside the CLT city limits (just inside) my mom had a number of bird feeders and it was a never ending hassle keeping the squirrels off them. We finally developed a method that was reasonably successful but there was this one Einstein of a rodent. We started just shooing him off. Then he figured we weren't going to do much so he'd wait till we got right on him before skedadling off. Mom didn't want us shooting them (in the city limits) but we started with our Daisy red ryders. This squirrel would hear the gun cock, then scram. We graduated to a pump up Benjamin. After popping him on 1 pump, he would scram when he heard the pumping. Finally, mom saw this guy and detailed my brother to do something about it. Brother just muttered about how this is the last time we'd have to deal with that little so and so. Sooo, mom is washing dishes in the kitchen when out of the bedroom window- BLAAAMMM! She rushed back there to see what happened. Brother was jacking a smoking round out of an 03A3, says "what? didn't you want the squirrel gone?" She was sure we were going to get arrested for shooting in the city limits and was frantic we go clean up any evidence outside. Outside, one 30cal bullet hole in the feeder. On the ground, grey fur and one bloody leg. A few yards back from the feeder, a tail. At the other side of the yard, a 30cal hole through and throuh the side of the above ground pool (no water). Never found the bullet as we had woods behind the house. Amazing the damage a 130gr HP going warp 9 out of a 30.06 can do.
My most recent squirrel event.
My folks moved out of CLT up to where we live outside Winston. Mom had quite the little village of bird feeders and of course, unwanted guests at them. Mom became ill and on a day when Dad had gone somewhere, I was to go check on her. The squirrels were such a problem for her that Dad had bought her a Crosman pump up to deal with them. I saw where she had shot part of the door casings and told Dad he better teach her how to shoot, which he did. Next time I went to check on her, she told me to get the squirrels out of the yard. Looking out the window, I didn't see any, so Mom says to go look under the bushes past the bird feeders. Sure enough, Mom had center punched 4 squirrels. I knew it was recent since they were still floppy and one was still warm. She made me promise not to tell Dad she had been killing the squirrels since he had bought her the Crosman on the condition she didn't kill the little rascals. I didn't tell on her till after she passed away and I'm sure she's looking down laughing about it.
My folks moved out of CLT up to where we live outside Winston. Mom had quite the little village of bird feeders and of course, unwanted guests at them. Mom became ill and on a day when Dad had gone somewhere, I was to go check on her. The squirrels were such a problem for her that Dad had bought her a Crosman pump up to deal with them. I saw where she had shot part of the door casings and told Dad he better teach her how to shoot, which he did. Next time I went to check on her, she told me to get the squirrels out of the yard. Looking out the window, I didn't see any, so Mom says to go look under the bushes past the bird feeders. Sure enough, Mom had center punched 4 squirrels. I knew it was recent since they were still floppy and one was still warm. She made me promise not to tell Dad she had been killing the squirrels since he had bought her the Crosman on the condition she didn't kill the little rascals. I didn't tell on her till after she passed away and I'm sure she's looking down laughing about it.
This past Feb I was shad fishing on the Neuse in Pitchkettle. This area is sandy and has a fair amount of oaks along the banks and is full of squirrels. I had been watching this hawk chase them in the trees and took the camera out as he got closer ~100yds. I took the pictures with the intention of capturing the hawk, but once home and looking at the photos I noticed the standoff. Two photos, one the originals and the second zoomed in.
We've got a good population of red shouldered hawks around here. Beautiful birds. I've seen one golden eagle & that was freaking impressive. Massive wingspan.
Good thing you don't have these guys-
Indian giant squirrel- up to 2' long & can go over 4lbs.
Good thing you don't have these guys-
Indian giant squirrel- up to 2' long & can go over 4lbs.
We've got a good population of red shouldered hawks around here. Beautiful birds. I've seen one golden eagle & that was freaking impressive. Massive wingspan.
Good thing you don't have these guys-
Indian giant squirrel- up to 2' long & can go over 4lbs.
Yeesh. Looks like something from Asheville!
spittinfire
Well-Known Member
We've got a good population of red shouldered hawks around here. Beautiful birds. I've seen one golden eagle & that was freaking impressive. Massive wingspan.
Good thing you don't have these guys-
Indian giant squirrel- up to 2' long & can go over 4lbs.
That is a weird looking animal.
I was hunting in the Uhwarrie a number of years back. Sitting on my stand, the sun had risen just enough to see and there were two squirrels fighting over a nut a couple yards from the base of my tree. It was the Thrilla in Manila of the rodent world. This went on for about 5 minutes when one finally had enough and scampered off a couple yards and he turned and started hurling squirrel invectives at the victor who was happily fondling his acorn. Problem was, the victor wasn't watching out for air attack cause just then, a very large owl swooped down from the trees and snagged his butt. He didn't drop his nut though. The sudden appearance of the owl was quite startling but really cool. Wingspan was probably on the order of 2+ft.
Patriot
Well-Known Member
Awesome photos!
Are you sure this is not one of those ANTIFA rodents?
They've got to be destructive AF, if they're anything like their American kin. Can't help but think a 4lb squirrel would be a right good sized chunk of tree rat meat.
My wife would kill me, but I so wanna snipe the fat groundhog at the end of our road & fry his chubby rodent ass up in some bacon grease.
My wife would kill me, but I so wanna snipe the fat groundhog at the end of our road & fry his chubby rodent ass up in some bacon grease.