Over the past three years I have been catching ground squirrels in my back yard. I use one of those "Have A Heart" traps that catches them alive. I place the trap on the top of my block wall fence and as a squirrel walks along the top of the fence it walks into the trap and the doors close, catching it inside. I average about one squirrel every 9 days. Over the past three years, I have caught 128 of the little guys. I caught one today, in fact. He was very angry, and chirped loudly at me.When we first moved into our house, we had so many squirrels running through our yard that we had to do something quickly. The worst problem was their fleas. We couldn't walk in the yard without getting fleas on our legs. We worried about disease, especially with our four little children.
So I decided on the trap method to get rid of them, and it has worked like a charm. When I catch a squirrel in the trap, I load the trap in the back of my truck and drive the squirrel to his new home. His new residence is in a nearby field full of grass, bushes, a few trees, and lots of new friends.
Today I read a news article about a woman in Hazlet, New Jersey, who has been charged with animal cruelty after a squirrel that she caught died in a similar trap. According to the AP news article, she faces four counts of animal cruelty, including one that cites her for "not providing the squirrel with adequate food, water and shelter."
When I read that article it gave me cause for concern. I have never fed any of the squirrels that I have caught. Maybe I need to put a small dish of water inside the trap along with a bowl of food. Maybe I need to include a soft bed of straw in case the little guy wants to take a nap before I let him go. And what about exercise? Maybe I should include one of those wheels that they put in hamster cages.
I am going to need a bigger trap!
Now days you had better cover all your bases! I recommend the food thing, and even the straw, but what about setting up some sort of microphone with soothing music for his comfort until release?
ReplyDeleteMaybe add a small stuffed squirrel toy to keep him/her company. You can't have the little critter feeling lonely.
ReplyDeleteTo play it safe, I suggest you just put a house alarm on the trap so that whenever it closes you can drop whatever you're doing to check on the squirrel. He or she might tip his or her water dish out of frustration and that is just cruel. Do traps have carpet? What about squirrel hygiene facilities? It's probably best to ask yourself, "What would I want if I were spending the night in this trap?" When I think of it that way the true inadequacy of the provisions is really appalling. The solution is, obviously, a squirrel door. This way the squirrels who want to be caught can come into your house and enjoy the standard comforts of society, until their relocation to the field.
ReplyDeleteI just passsed my 130th squirrel capture. I let him go at work and the receptionist accused me of removing him from his wife and children in Thousand Oaks.
ReplyDeleteI told her that this particular squirrel was a bachelor and only cared about mating with female squirrels in Westlake Village.
And that was the end of that conversation!