framing fowl -daily living

[framing fowl]

Hey Farmfresh it's pretty isn't it! By the way, since you're pretty much snowed in today, how 'bout telling me a story? I'm dying to know how you came up with the idea for a box trap for squirrels in the city Details please! And would it work for rabbit?

 

[Farmfresh]

Desperate times need desperate measures!

That is the basic story of box trapped squirrels in the city.

If you want a story we will go back ... back to the gray dim past when I was a kid at home.

I mentioned in a few other threads my Grandma Nettie was a FANTASTIC cook, and specialized in good old country cooking ... which came it handy since Grandpa loved to hunt smaller critters like rabbits, game birds and SQUIRRELS! I grew up eating fried squirrel, with taters and gravy and squirrel stew, so I KNOW how good a little tree rat CAN taste. Some folks see a squirrel as a little backyard cutie and would never dream of him smothered in country gravy!

The next story to tell seems totally un-related but it has to do with a battle with thistles. When I was a teen we had a huge bull thistle infestation in our pasture and I was determined to eliminate them. I chopped, I dug, I salted the roots and I even went so far as to EAT the lousy things! I found out that a young thistle stem, steamed and peeled tastes almost exactly like steamed asparagus! This experience was when I coined my motto - "If it bugs you... EAT IT!"

Now back to squirrels. Many folks do not realize how much damage squirrels can do, especially when it comes to fruit trees. They chew the bark and also seem to be thrilled by taking one bite from each fruit or simply throwing the fruit out of the tree to watch it fall and bounce.

I enjoy squirrels as much or more than most folks. We have bottle fed and released several orphaned babies over the years and even had one little confused squirrel soul (she thought she was a cat) that we kept as a pet for many years. (Great pets by the way - no matter what those Wildlife folks want you to believe!) Even the squirrels that lived in my home (for a short time or a long time) seemed to love shoving things off of the top of my bookcases or the top of my mantle.

So enter the problem. In my big garden (down the road from my house where I farm by invitation) there were two old VERY neglected apple trees, and a pear tree. These are standard trees that have probably never been pruned and they are surrounded by larger trees which are in neighboring yards. When you live in a old neighborhood (many of our homes are Victorian era) smack in the middle of a big city you have LOTS of big established trees, Black Walnut, Pecan and others. You also have very few predators other than a few backyard dogs or wandering pampered kitties. Therefore it goes with out saying the neighborhood is CRAWLING with squirrels. Many of my neighbors are wild bird feeders. They have baffles and puzzle feeders and all manner of clever ways to keep squirrels OUT of their feeders. The squirrel is not too popular with them either.

Every year my trees would bloom, fill with fruit and then I would watch as legions of squirrels would descend on my beautiful crop and eat, throw and chew until EVERY single apple was gone. I tried netting the tree. No good. I tried greasing the trunks, but they just leaped from the neighbor's trees.

So I remembered my motto! "If it bugs you... EAT IT!" I went out and bought some box traps ... I even bought a trappers license - NO ONE was stopping me now! I use some dry corn or a few peanuts to bait the traps which sit on the top of my little metal garden shed. That first year I trapped some 13 squirrels (mostly males... Hmm?), adding them to our dinner menu as I went. Still the trees got robbed. I have continued to trap since then. Each year I get a few more apples and more tasty squirrels for the table. Amazingly the population seems as dense as ever!

I also have a bigger trap for rabbits, but I still have not been able to trap any of those as of yet. They have too much else to do eating my pea plants to spend their time playing in a trap. I have however caught a number of raccoons and several opossums that had stopped by to feast on my sweet corn. Those souls got taken down near the river way and released.

So that is my story.

 

[framing fowl]

Thanks Farmfresh! You just made my day! I was laughing so hard! I used to have to stick bull thistles too but never got around to salting or eating them. I really appreciate your creative approach to "problems". I don't know if "my" rabbit would be trappable or not but there's one spot where it likes to go through the fence so I thought maybe just placing it there? We've got a similar neighborhood of all old trees and WAY too many squirrels but our dogs mostly keep them out of the garden and off the fruit trees.

I do have a dumb question though, you really got a trappers license? How does one go about finding these requirements so as not to become a scofflaw? I mean, it's not exactly under our city goverment's FAQ

 

[Farmfresh]

Missouri Fish and Game Department. $10 extra on top of my normal fishing license.

I live in the BIG city ya hear. Always some bone head ready to feel pity for the little cutie creature and try to stir up trouble. So I am legal. So suck them apples!

 

[framing fowl]

Duh me! I was thinking, what sort of business license is that?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

howdy framing fowl! glad you had a good Christmas.

Squirrels and rabbits, huh?

 

[Farmfresh]

Both fry up pretty darned nice and make a wonderfully cheap addition to the meat larder!

 

[framing fowl]

Howdy back Quail, sounds like y'all had quite the Christmas! I was laughing so hard about your caroling and such! Sure, squirrels and rabbits... just another form of Urban Foraging right?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

"If it bugs you... EAT IT!"

i think i love this! yay!!!!

 

[kcsunshine]

Framing Fowl - just finished reading your journal - your life sounds great- and you have such a wonderful attitude.

Farm Fresh - squirrel and gravy - sure brings back memories. Just before I went off to college, my dad was drilling water wells in a mountain community close to home, but was having to sleep there to prevent vandelism to his equipment. So, since he felt the need to spend some quality time with his only daughter, he took me with him one night. The next morning, I awoke to the best smell - yep! squirrel and gravy for breakfast. Later he decided to let me do some target practice. I sat on the edge of that rollaway bed and aimed at a tree - I thought it was my brother's rifle - nope! - it was daddy's 30-06. Threw me a back flip over that bed - but I hit that tree!