Squirrel bait

[sumner4991]

I'm trying to trap some squirrels. What's the best bait. I used peanut butter the first day and immediately got one . . .but, it was like the rest were watching and they don't come near the trap now.

I'm trying to thin out the pests around the house . . .they have become a problem. Can't shoot them.

[nchunterkw]

Can you shoot them with an air rifle? If not, I'd try acorns or something like that. Ear of corn, or lose corn.

I had some too, and could just shoot them, but since my cat has decided to live mostly outside, I rarely see any.

[sumner4991]

I just don't want to chance(even though it's a very small chance) of shooting anything here . . .too many houses.

I'm using a rat trap . . .not a live trap.

Maybe stick some corn in the peanut butter?

[kd8jgu]

I mix bird seed in with peanut butter (crunchy)
Also I have had luck with peanut buuter on crackers.
Good luck get rid of the tree rats

[Big58cal]

If you were using a live trap, you could run a piece of wire through a couple of peanuts still in the shell and hang that in the back of the trap. Peanut butter with a couple of peanuts in the shell stuck in the peanut butter is what we used to always use.

If you've got a 110 conibear trap, you can hook that on the front of a bucket, with the bait inside the bucket.

[bob1961]

i had a bunch of them at a house where i used to live and used deer feed....deer feed with oats, molasse's and other stuff mixed together in a live trap big enough for racoons....as fast as i reset it i had another squirrel in it and used a blow gun dart to kill it before it went into my freezer, the blow gun dart to them is like an arrow to a deer ........bob

....

[sumner4991]

OK . . .I guess it just has to smell good enough to get them interested.

Thanks guys!

[Pydpiper]

It's not the bait that is deterring the rest, it is the visual of the trap.
You need to change the way the trap looks, they see the machine and associate it to their dead buddy. They are far from intelligent but very easy to train, you just trained them to avoid traps.
Best bet when doing what you are doing is to always keep things looking different (put the next trap under a shoe box), once they see one of their buddies get broken in two, they will always avoid it. And even more important, make sure you check the trap often and get rid of the bodies quickly, don't give them the chance to see a body.
You can buy a bait formulated for squirrels, but the basics will always work well if you stay on top of the recently deceased.

[Ont_Excal]

I'm using a rat trap . . .not a live trap.

I quit using rat traps simply because I was killing too many birds.
Blackbirds and grackles I did not mind but when they killed blue jays and cardinals then the rat traps had to go. I also had to dispatch birds where the trap had chopped off their beaks. They were simply too fast for a clean kill.

Live traps fool squirrels all day long, just don't leave a squirrel to die in it. The smell of death will put the others off for a while.

Peanuts in the shell are the best bait by far. The tree rats cannot resist them.

[onebigskittle]

Get you some peanuts in the hull ...they love chewing the hulls (cut their teeth on)then they eat the nuts ...unsalted

[sumner4991]

I'll try the peanuts.

Birds have not been an issue . . .thus far.

[Ont_Excal]

I'll try the peanuts.

Birds have not been an issue . . .thus far.

Use soft wire or dental floss to tie the peanut to the trigger of the trap.
Set the trap on a board the same width as the trap and in such a way so that the squirrel has to approach head on.
Once in place I screwed the trap to the board so it will not bounce as it goes off.
Setting with a hair trigger will improve kill rate.

I still use this in sheltered areas around my home where it is out of the view of birds.
The squirrels I kill this way are brazen and out to do damage.
Hidden from general view will not upset neighbours or put off other squirrels.

Clean the trap after a kill to remove blood and the scent of death.

[fuzzy]

...

[awshucks]

If you've got a 110 conibear trap, you can hook that on the front of a bucket, with the bait inside the bucket.

Like this?

[DaGriz]

I have a real problem with the number of hairy tree rats at my place I use Victor rat traps baited with peanut butter I camoflage them by covering with fallen leaves and never put a trap in the same place. I move them at least 6 feet each time I catch one. Birds don't see the trap and neither do the tree rats. I check the traps three times a day, The tree rats find them by smell, but then it's too late for them.