Squirrels cost Clemson $100,000 a year
According to numerous reports, Clemson University has a major squirrel problem.
The Charleston The Post and Courier reports that squirrels are three times more prevalent on the Clemson campus than in normal wooded area, causing numerous problems including damage to trees.
The Independent Mail of Anderson, S.C., reports that a “great squirrel roundup” was held on the campus during December: “Clemson contracted with U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service biologists to remove an abundance of the critters and then euthanize them.”
Only 200 squirrels were trapped, the amount limited by the National Environmental Policy Act. The SDL applauds this effort but we feel the school has not gone far enough to curtail the bushy-tailed menace.
A bounty should be put on each squirrel. For every squirrel a student brings in dead, the student should receive a 1% cash rebate from their tuition. Problem solved.
February 16th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
They are nothing more than Beautiful Little Tree People. They do have a larger brain pan (percentage wise) that humans. No wonder the SDL is upset with these wonderful little creatures – they out think them….. PWC
April 11th, 2010 at 5:26 am
They are nothing more then rats with bushy tails. Treat them as the pests they are and exterminate them.
April 15th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Little Tree People…? Don’t compare Humans to animals it makes you sound stupid and therefore you point entirely mute. Squirrels are rodents and are very closely related to mice and rats. They carry fleas, ticks, and often spread diseases such as rabies. If you are truly a squirrel lover then start a refuge in your own home for them.
April 15th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Call me crazy, but really (as a human being with functioning senses) I draw the line at inviting plague carrying rodents into my environment just because they are “cute” to some.
I do not acknowledge the rights of people-killing bacteria and viruses, and though I know this is CA, and am sure there’s a group somewhere right now on a hunger strike to death over flu virus rights, much less squirrel rights. IMO this thinking is a result of too many generations of a high protein diet, which apparently does cause hopeless insanity.
I am aghast neighbors do not trim back their nut and other tree branches, they even feed squirrels, and now my garden is infested with squirrel fleas on my family members, which include cats that are allowed to sun themselves in my garden.
I’ve trapped one, but there are hundreds, and we don’t have the time. They have dsetroyed hundreds of dollars worth of gardening efforts and produce, and this year, it’s all out war on squirrels. I don’t go for BB guns but if there was a way I could poison the whole multiple sets of squirrel hordes overnight, so they didn’t suffer, I would do so right away.
April 16th, 2010 at 2:33 am
BB guns won’t do much, but a decent pellet gun will. It all depends on placement, though, as to whether they suffer or you even kill them. I’ve knocked off a few of them with head shots but nothing on the scale of the Hav-a-hart trap. The trick with trapping them is not to bother relocating them. Takes too much time and gasoline. Just plunge the whole trap with the rat inside into a yard waste barrel filled with swamp water and in 30 seconds you’re ready for the next one. Dead, rotting squirrels make great bait for the raccoon trap, too. Think green and waste nothing. Squirrels have absolutely no purpose on this planet until they’re dead bait.
April 19th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Orchard Hardware Supply sold me large plastic owls saying they will deter squirrels – NOT! Unless I filled one with 2 quarts of dead squirrel smoothie. We trapped a few with a humane trap, and relocated 200 miles away, a lot of gas and effort, but hordes of them come running across the electrical wires from one subdivision to another. I was advised not to attempt poison them (though the home/hardware stores will sell you a lot of useless critter poisons) because their rotting bodies carry disease. I don’t want to use any gun type of thing because I am “aim- challenged”, no matter how pestiferous the animal – I don’t want to cause them suffering. Anyway a lot of ppl now want to know what a professional wildlife extermination service costs.
April 24th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
These things are eating all my flowers. They even dig up daffodil bulbs, which they don’t even eat! I tried planting lots of garlic and onions around everything, it does not work. I recently looked into traps, and there is a way to modify a Victor rat-trap in order to make it more deadly. Everyone who reads this should check out The Hunting Life’s article on the modified Victor Rat Trap. It looks pretty simple and should get the job done.
April 26th, 2010 at 11:22 am
I agree with Farmer Bob. Many people consider ‘trap and drown’ to be the most humane method for culling. This spring I’ve seen more squirrels in my subdivision than ever so I’m removing as many as I can from my lot. Since I’m in a neighborhood I’m using a low-power pellet rifle (775fps) with a 4x scope. A .410 shotgun or a .22LR would be more effective but noise pollution and bullet travel make those unacceptable. The lower velocity air-rifles eliminate the noise and travel problems plus they are less likely to pass completely through soft tissue. So far shot placement has been good and most squirrels have been killed instantly. It can be done with minimal marksmanship. If travel wasn’t a problem I would prefer a suppressed .22LR with frangible rounds.
Also, be very careful with poisons. Poisoned squirrels may end up poisoning other animals that come across their carcass (including pets). Trap or shoot only!
April 26th, 2010 at 11:37 am
One more thing. For South Carolina residents no special licensing or permitting is necessary under SC Code of Law Section 50-11-2570 for squirrel removal up to 100 yards of the property owner’s home. One of my kind-hearted, squirrel feeding sisters questioned the legality of the culling I’m doing. Most states will have a similar law.
April 26th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
I would like to say for starters that I’m not a freak about animal rights or anything and I beleave you need to do what you need to do to protect your property…. But, in response to farmer bob’s, “Think green and waste nothing. Squirrels have absolutely no purpose on this planet until they’re dead bait.” They do have a purpose, just as everything else does that’s here. There are lots of critters that I don’t care for but to say that they have no purpose is just ignorant.
April 28th, 2010 at 12:24 am
“They do have a purpose, just as everything else does that’s here.” — Lizzy
Well. . .what is it?
April 28th, 2010 at 12:38 am
“These things are eating all my flowers. They even dig up daffodil bulbs, which they don’t even eat! I tried planting lots of garlic and onions around everything, it does not work.” — garden girl
Squirrels don’t eat everything, but they do destroy everything in the process of finding something they *will* eat. For example, a squirrel will take a bite out of a green tomato, discard it, then go on to the next of the very same thing, apparently on their own squirrel-brained theory that even if the first 100 green tomatoes don’t taste good, there’s always a chance that number 101 will be a banquet.
Daffodils are actually toxic to squirrels and will give them a bad tummy ache; but that won’t stop them from digging up every danged last one of your bulbs just to make sure they’re not missing a good one.
May 10th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Last week, my wife planted 60 caladium bulbs. Only one had begun to sprout. This morning, I was greeted by three squirrels, digging up the bulbs while another chewed off the sprout at the ground. I believe that I’m about to make a large donation to the mammal collection at my university.
May 11th, 2010 at 10:35 am
I’d just planted my first garden in the back yard and I noticed that something has been digging through the flower beds every night. I see an errant squirrel every now and again running through the yard. I think I’m going to catch them in a live trap then blast the stereo in the garage (to drown out the gunshot noise and also add drama to my victory) and plink them in the head with a .22 subsonic.
May 11th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Terrible! Horrible! Don’t you dare play the stereo at a defenseless mammal! It’s inhuman!
June 18th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Distructive little critters this web site is so true. When I had a retiree living with me he was picking them off with a pellet gun, and pretty good at it. I have fruit trees and the critters are destroying my pares that are not even done growin. They chew them open and eat the seeds and discard the rest on the ground. I think someone should build a squrrel zapper. Some sort of cone that wraps around the tree made with a small enough mesh that they have to get to the top to reach the tree. Ok this should have enough of an electrical charge that once all four feet are on the metal they get zapped. Squrrels are somewhat lazy thay tend to go for the easy food. I think they would leave that tree alone after a few zaps. Of course if it is possible to get enough of a zap to kill them I’d be all for that!
July 28th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Your blog gave me good grounds for reflection. I appreciate it.