North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

Alan,
It may be necessary to initiate a diversity of approaches in the 
running battle with the bushy-tailed tree rats.  Some may not meet 
the 'humane' standards some folks might want, but after all, they are 
VERMIN; they don't share, and they're not an endangered species.

Marksmanship practice with a shotgun, .22 rifle, or powerful pellet 
rifle works well when you're on-site, and a good dog can sometimes do 
quite a number on them.

I forwarded an email I'd received recently about the Kania squirrel 
traps - www.kania.net - I've seen favorable reports on those, both 
here and on the GardenWeb Fruit & Orchards forums, from folks who've used them.

My friend, the late Doc Lisenby, had some success with the big Victor 
rat traps on big trees adjacent to his orchard - he'd build an 
'L'-shaped platform, fasten the upright leg of the L to the tree 
trunk, with the horizontal leg sticking out 3-4 ft from the trunk, 
with the baited rat trap fastened at the end of the horizontal 
leg.  It seems that the squirrels coming down the trunk could not 
resist the temptation to run out to the end of that nice new 'branch' 
to investigate, and 'WHAM-O', they were caught.

My old friend Gordon Nofs put me on to 
"peanut-butter/Plaster-of-Paris" bonbons - you mix PoP powder into 
cheap peanut butter until you reach a 'stiff dough' consistency, then 
fashion it into little balls - I usually make mine peanut size - and 
place these in strategic locations such as the crotches of trees, 
etc.  Be sure that they're placed in a site where pets or small 
children might gain access to them
I never saw the squirrels in the act of eating them, but in instances 
where I was experiencing squirrel depredation on pecan & oak 
seedlings, the squirrel problems ceased soon after I put out the 
PB/PoP goodies.  The original thought behind this one is that the PoP 
'set up' in the squirrel's GI tract, but I don't think that's the 
case - actually, I think it either causes a wild derangement in their 
serum calcium:phosphorus ratio, or the PoP reacts violently with 
gastric acid, causing gastric distention and rupture.  I think the 
danger of secondary poisoning of non-target species, like 
raptors/foxes, etc., which might be catching or consuming PoP-treated 
squirrels would not be an issue, as opposed to the anticoagulant or 
Vitamin D analog rodenticides.

A water barrel, with board leading up to the top, but with water 
level low enough that they can't escape once they get in can take out 
some of the miscreants.

Lucky