![]() ![]() They were followed by raccoons because raccoons are asshole opportunists. They chewed support beams and electrical wiring. Feeding the damn things encouraged them to lose their fear of humans, which in turn, encouraged them to begin pulling the siding of my house off and gain entry into the walls. My neighbors' feeding squirrels cost me $3000 in damage to my roof and interior walls, from squirrels and raccoons. Your love of wildlife will be put to the test when you walk out your front door one hot August day and feel something dripping on your head.you look up and see a panting raccoon leaning out of the hole he's made in your roof panting from the heat, then you realize the little effer has drooled on you.Yeah, it's cute to look at but you may have just contracted rabies-and I'm only half joking. One also gave birth to a little of kits up there, further damaging the wall space (which is in accessible from the interior of the house) I looked into filing an insurance claim against my dipshit neighbor for attracting the animals in the first place (feeding wildlife is against the law BTW, especially when it causes property damage, or creates a health concern-I had both), but it was too hard to prove. The raccoons peed and crapped on the attic side of interior drywall on the ceilings of two bedrooms-the space between the ceiling and roof is eight inches or so, so it's not an attic. Until they can, my dogs, traps, and pellet gun are the apex predators.Ĭlick to expand.This. I would be extremely happy if wild predators could eat the excess. The point of this rant is that the population of squirrels in such neighborhoods is NOT a natural phenomenon, but directly caused by human changes to the environment. A block away in the neighborhood there are a dozen for each lot. One almost never sees a squirrel in the greenbelt. Is it full of squirrels? No! In a semi-natural environment squirrels have to work for their food, struggle to find safe nests and tree cavities, and avoid predators. My neighborhood has an extensive greenbelt system with a permanent stream and acres of forest. And the squirrels use there own habituation to humans as protection from predators. My current neighborhood has a permanent population of coyotes, bobcats, and foxes, but they can't keep up. ![]() Then there is the almost complete absence of predators. It would not surprise me to know that over 50% of seed intended for birds is consumed by squirrels and rats. Water is always available, landscapes provide large amounts of food, and people feed birds. Such places are artificially rich habitats for squirrels, leading to huge populations. Between the two of us, my bonsai and his home are relatively safe.īoth of my homes are in old neighborhoods with lots of mature trees. My oaks and maples are not as attractive so my bag is only about 30 a year. ![]() He kills about 50 a year, but he has four large pecan trees. You should see the pellet gun my neighbor has now: Olympic marksman quality with a high powered scope. Their insurance policy did not cover "rodent damage". The resulting ceiling collapse cost $5,000 to repair. While the family was on vacation, squirrels gnawed into their attic, then striped insulation off wires and chewed a hole in PVC plumbing pipe. As bad as it is with my bonsai, I am lucky compared to my next door neighbors. Since then it has been dogs, traps, and the pellet gun. That's how long my trees were on the benches before the first attack. When we moved to our present home 20 years ago, I took deep calming breaths and tried peaceful coexistence. I was pretty good with the slingshot except when the rubber broke and slapped me in the face. First with every non-lethal means I could find, but none of them worked. For a decade in my previous home I battled squirrels. ![]()
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