I admire the beauty of a little field mouse and the cuteness of a chipmunk. I admire their reflexes and senses. But I don’t want too many little animals too close and I want zero of them inside the house. When a squirrel came to the deck door and knocked gently for entry, I reached my limit.
I bought a more powerful bb rifle. The Red Ryder model was reminiscent of childhood but rabbits just looked annoyed if the bb managed to reach them. The pump Crossman can shoot pellets instead of bb’s but so far, the bb’s are all I use.
I bought 2 Havahart traps, one that was larger and heavier and a smaller version. I have caught a squirrel, a couple of mice, and several chipmunks. I caught the first animal last summer when gas was $4 a gallon. I’ve heard of places, such as city parks, where people think it would be a good idea to dump live-caught animals and have created a bad over-supply or worse. My friend caught a chipmunk and took his grandchildren to watch its release in a field. The chipmunk took off out of the trap and immediately, right in front of innocent little eyes, a hawk swooped out of the sky and grabbed the chipmunk.
I have been putting the entire trap underwater for about 15 minutes and throwing the carcass away. Today, I caught a chipmunk and a 13 striped ground squirrel, this last with a snap mouse trap baited with peanut butter. Soon after disposing of them, I saw a healthy and horny looking little fellow on the deck. Another snap trap is waiting for him.
I have found that patience and repetition pays off. The ground squirrel took a cashew, then an almond, then some peanut butter all without getting caught. But on the follow-up visit for the rest of the peanut butter, he did get caught.
I was surprised to spot a neighbor’s cat crouched beside an area of prairie in our yard the other morning. The plants are very dense and there is no line of sight very far into them. However, the still cat kept twitching and rotating its ears to pick up every sound it could. A little later, the cat was out of its crouch and chewing something rigorously.
