An ecology lesson, from my pool----

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sunrise Guy

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Feb 4, 2006
Messages
1,121
Reaction score
149
Location
Austin,TX
Austin has had very odd weather over the last few years, just like most of the world. In our case, we have had a long stretch of 100+ degree days, starting very early this year, and hardly any winter weather to speak of last year. The resulting climate has confused the heck out of both flora and fauna: Trees bud out 2-3 times where they used to only once a year, leaf drop is going on at all different times, insects are appearing at odd times of the year, and the squirrels---- Well, that's the focus of this "lesson."

Squirrels seem to thrive in this new climate, down here. They are observed doing their mating chases almost every single month and little squirrels are showing up year-round. "What are the ecological ramifications?" you may ask. Simply stated: Soon there is not going to be enough food to go around for all of the squirrels. Where my oaks used to drop a ton of acorns that hung around and needed to be cleaned up each year, lately that is not happening. The squirrels are eating them as fast as they-----

Today, the gf and I were swimming in the pool. It's right under my big Red and my medium-sized Live Oak. I saw strange little structures at the bottom of the pool. When I brought them up and checked them out under my stereoscope, they were seen to be immature acorn bits with tooth marks on them. So, now the squirrels are gnawing on these acorns as soon as they appear. What will now happen is that when the weather gets a bit cooler, and the food of the squirrels normally becomes, to a large extent, the mature acorns, those acorns will not be around, because the squirrels, in a desperate attempt to feed themselves right now, are removing those acorns as one of their future food sources.

There is more to the story. Here is the tree angle: Hungry squirrels are also stripping bark from my oaks and hacks. I've caught them in the act a few times. They are girdling 2-3," 6-8' sub-leaders, making it necessary for me to climb up and remove those branches from their parent branches and paint the cuts to keep oak wilt at bay. This is getting to be a big problem. I've been at my present home for about twenty years and have never seen this before. Sooner or later I am afraid that I'll miss a freshly-stripped branch and some nitidulid beetles will come to feast with oak wilt spores on their legs and bodies and my oaks will be in big trouble.

I have real misgivings about nailing some of the squirrels around here. I have to admit, though, that if it's between my oaks, where some are 300+ years old, and some squirrels that may live and reproduce for a few years, the squirrels are going down. Legally, I don't think I can pop squirrels with an air rifle because I'm in the city limits. I am really getting po'd about this problem, though.

I know that Nature will step in, in good time, and a squirrel die-off will come about as a result of the squirrel overpopulation. Before that, though, the starving squirrels will do major damage to my trees and the trees of others unless----

I used to be against deer culls when the whitetail population around here skyrocketed and deer were seen eating right up to the back porches of angry home owners. Now I totally understand the reason for culling. If it isn't done, animals ultimately starve.

How I am actually going to bring my squirrel population down remains to be seen.
 
Last edited:
Eat them. Squirrel meat really isn't too bad (apparently).


Also, it might be interesting to try and observe their breeding habits (don't know how though) and see if things change as the food runs low. I know in certain fish populations that when the population grows too large, and the food become scarce, that the fish become homosexual and breeding ceases.
 
Austin has had very odd weather over the last few years, just like most of the world. In our case, we have had a long stretch of 100+ degree days, starting very early this year, and hardly any winter weather to speak of last year. The resulting climate has confused the heck out of both flora and fauna: Trees bud out 2-3 times where they used to only once a year, leaf drop is going on at all different times, insects are appearing at odd times of the year, and the squirrels---- Well, that's the focus of this "lesson."

Squirrels seem to thrive in this new climate, down here. They are observed doing their mating chases almost every single month and little squirrels are showing up year-round. "What are the ecological ramifications?" you may ask. Simply stated: Soon there is not going to be enough food to go around for all of the squirrels. Where my oaks used to drop a ton of acorns that hung around and needed to be cleaned up each year, lately that is not happening. The squirrels are eating them as fast as they-----

Today, the gf and I were swimming in the pool. It's right under my big Red and my medium-sized Live Oak. I saw strange little structures at the bottom of the pool. When I brought them up and checked them out under my stereoscope, they were seen to be immature acorn bits with tooth marks on them. So, now the squirrels are gnawing on these acorns as soon as they appear. What will now happen is that when the weather gets a bit cooler, and the food of the squirrels normally becomes, to a large extent, the mature acorns, those acorns will not be around, because the squirrels, in a desperate attempt to feed themselves right now, are removing those acorns as one of their future food sources.

There is more to the story. Here is the tree angle: Hungry squirrels are also stripping bark from my oaks and hacks. I've caught them in the act a few times. They are girdling 2-3," 6-8' sub-leaders, making it necessary for me to climb up and remove those branches from their parent branches and paint the cuts to keep oak wilt at bay. This is getting to be a big problem. I've been at my present home for about twenty years and have never seen this before. Sooner or later I am afraid that I'll miss a freshly-stripped branch and some nitidulid beetles will come to feast with oak wilt spores on their legs and bodies and my oaks will be in big trouble.

I have real misgivings about nailing some of the squirrels around here. I have to admit, though, that if it's between my oaks, where some are 300+ years old, and some squirrels that may live and reproduce for a few years, the squirrels are going down. Legally, I don't think I can pop squirrels with an air rifle because I'm in the city limits. I am really getting po'd about this problem, though.

I know that Nature will step in, in good time, and a squirrel die-off will come about as a result of the squirrel overpopulation. Before that, though, the starving squirrels will do major damage to my trees and the trees of others unless----

I used to be against deer culls when the whitetail population around here skyrocketed and deer were seen eating right up to the back porches of angry home owners. Now I totally understand the reason for culling. If it isn't done, animals ultimately starve.

How I am actually going to bring my squirrel population down remains to be seen.

I worked in a Red Maple about a month ago which had been used as a Maple popsickle by one lone squirrel. Before the tree's owner caught up with the toothy little devil, the squirrel completely girdled many 2-4" diameter limbs, partially girdled many more, and did more damage to the tree than I'd have believed one squirrel could do.

This wasn't in a situation of food shortage or squirrel overpopulation, just one squirrel that developed a taste for maple bark. If they're attacking the trees en mass, I wouldn't worry about the legal ramification of using an air rifle in city limits, I'd start thinning the squirrles in a hurry, or they'll be thinning your trees. If there's simply too much risk in shooting them, get a live trap. Or two, or three.
 
Pete M said:
Eat them. Squirrel meat really isn't too bad (apparently).

There's not a whole lot of meat to them and it's dang near impossible to get all the fur off. It's good stew meat, but that's about it.
 
Just cook 'em whole. The hair will burn off, and the meat can be nibbled like on a spare rib!
 
Get yourself a good air pellet gun and shoot em down. My yard is full of White Oaks and once or twice a year I step out the front door and slay a bunch of squirrels. I shot 6 once without even closing the door. .22 long rifle, but I'm in the country. Overpopulation is bad for your trees and for the squirrels. Keep a few around, but when you notice a rise in the population, take action. If you don't control them they will control you.

On a side note, air guns (when unloaded) work well for killing flies in the house, the air blast takes them right out.
 
Last edited:
There's not a whole lot of meat to them and it's dang near impossible to get all the fur off. It's good stew meat, but that's about it.

squirrel and dumplings for dinner squirrel and eggs for breakfast a southern delicacy. Just slit the skin about midways and rip it off.
 
Sounds like you have been at this awhile, I usually anticipate early budding but only in the last decade... 2000, parties over?
Anyway, I hope by gf you meant girlfriend and not general foreman but I think the best course of action is to wage a rather obscence,and severe campaign against the squer-rellses. A good way to start is by picking a good arsenal of something reliable for the takedown. BB's are good for "toying" or short range "luck" kills. Sometimes, all you want to do is hurt em.
To make a pile of dead you should have at least 900 fps with a pellet. I bury the things and would only eat it if I had to... I have never had to.
So don't be worried about wasting good meat ( right now) and consider the reducing of the squrrells to be helping your trees. You might find your blitzkreig only last a season or two.
I used dried blood to keep them out of the nursery soil and also for the deer.
See, a squirrel is a gnawer, it will gnaw as well as dig. The other day it gnawed on the tube for the propane grill...
The best thing about these guys is the way they jump 15 feet in the air when you tag them in the spine, run for 3 seconds the drop dead. I had one running from tree to tree with my sawed off daisy pump bb gun. He kept getter slower and slower. Out of 5 shots, I hit square on 3, had to finish his ass ( and he begged me to do it) with the .45 point blank for a 4 shot kill, which is good cause those buggers are tough. This guy was still sitting on a limb when I pressed it up against his eye, said "sweet dreams", and pulled the trigger... like I said he begged me.
 
homemade blowgun, i hit em in the side they run up the tree and fall out 70ft up THUMP! red squirrels suck too
 
SnareStick2.jpg


or

SnareStick.jpg


this way you are targeting the right squirrels. just my $.02.
 
Last edited:
(snip)
Anyway, I hope by gf you meant girlfriend and not general foreman (snip)

:ices_rofl:

Yeah, man, that's the former. Most definitely NOT the latter. Whoa! I can't even bring myself to begin visualizing Dan and I swimming together, alone, in my pool! :jawdrop:
 
.22 CB or .22 short is quieter than an air rifle. Remember, no matter the projectile, you are responsible for it until it stops moving. Hopefully that will be in the intended target.


HAVE FUN!!!
 
There's not a whole lot of meat to them and it's dang near impossible to get all the fur off. It's good stew meat, but that's about it.

tools needed : hatchet , tree stump , sharp knife

material needed : tree rats

method :take rat , place on stump , chop head off , chop feet off with hatchet......make slice with knife from head to tail along belly of rat ... turn rat inside out,, and peel skin off ... no fur ... cook as desired ...

or just shot the little bastards,, and land fill them
 
just bust a cap in thier a$$ !!! get a daisy pump gun , ( if the owners manual says not to pump more the 10 times ,, jack that thing up to 20 pumps ) and let the fur fly !!!! happy hunting !!!
 
May sound crazy but if you want to stop the squirrels from eating your acorns or damaging the tree...try feeding them!
 
May sound crazy but if you want to stop the squirrels from eating your acorns or damaging the tree...try feeding them!

From an ecological standpoint, that is one of the worst things I could do. They would come to rely on my feeding them, just as feral cats rely on the little old ladies who feed them. This leads to an even greater population explosion and then a die-off, if and when the feeder can no longer afford to buy food for the masses of animals that person helped create. As an animal rights person I have a tough time with culling, but it is kinder than watching deaths from starvation. Feeding wild animals is a no-win act, in the long run. There are exceptions, to be sure, but ultimately wild animals need to rely on food sources in their natural environment. Squirrels do just that when they gnaw the bark off of my healthy, well cared for trees, and I must then take action to protect my trees. It can be argued that any "insertion" of human action in any natural food web brings an artificial aspect to the same, but a decision has to be made somewhere along the line when, as in this case, the natural actions of wildlife will negatively impact a resource viewed as more valuable. Obviously short-sighted squirrel lovers would disagree with me when it comes to which is more valuable, the tree or the squirrel. Those squirrel lovers who understand the "grand picture" know that if the trees are destroyed, the squirrels will follow suit.
 
May sound crazy but if you want to stop the squirrels from eating your acorns or damaging the tree...try feeding them!

Its not crazy at all. its a good way to get em all together so's you can drop a bomb on em. Maybe lure then onto an area doused with gas... roasted squrell.
You guys don't like to feed trolls? try feeding a squirell. Oh boy.
 
Back
Top