2009 Squirrel Count: One

Friday afternoon we caught our first squirrel of the season in our live trap. Before dinner I brought it to its new home.

Most years we move about a dozen squirrels to where my wife or I work. Both locations are beside undeveloped land. Her workplace is especially nice for the squirrels, being surrounded by a large number of walnut trees.

The main problem is that a neighbor feeds the squirrels peanuts. They feel an instinctual need to bury these in soft dirt a few dozen yards away from where they found them, which turns out to be in my wife's garden beds. To protect her plants from being dug up by squirrels (who are not even after the plants!) we move the squirrels.

I thought about trying to sting them on their behinds with my hand-pump pellet pistol. If I only pumped it three times instead of the full ten it would not do more than alarm them. Perhaps it would convince the squirrels that other yards were happier territory. However, this plan is illegal within Eugene city limits. Also, for all I know it would only exacerbate the problem. "The dirt beings are upset and stinging! To appease them we must bury even more nuts in this place!"