North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Ernest Plutko" <ernestplutko@wiktel.com>]

Fried gray squirrels are good to eat.  If they are big boil them,
bread and fry. Young squirrels are tender.  Look at them as a
resource.  When I lived in West Virginia most people ate them durimg
hunting season.  Here in Minnesota people don't eat them generally.

---- Original Message ----
From: lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] squirrels
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:25:12 -0500

>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
>
>_______________________________________________
>nafex mailing list 
>nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
>
>Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
>This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on
>web sites.
>Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have
>permission!
>
>**YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
>Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
>No exceptions.  
>----
>To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can
>be used to change other email options):
>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
>
>File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
>TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
>Please do not send binary files.
>Use plain text ONLY in emails!
>
>NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/