WWAWD Squirrels?

[Lamont & Tonelli]

Cute, but they always steal all the walnuts off my trees before I can get at them. It's a tough one, man.

 

[Opesterino]

I bought a quality slingshot (not some wrist rocket piece of shit) and got accurate as all fuck with it for the purpose of killing squirrels and rabbits and I haven't brought myself to get one yet. I do hunt because I like meat but I really fucking hate killing things lol.

I picked up a chitty daisy b52? wrist braced slingshot as I spent way to much time watching the slingshot channel and figured I could have half as accurate as Jorge .. well im a lousy shot with em. any good tips to pass on ? I think half my battle is that I can't focus on the shot due to how I keep waiting for the bands to snap and hit me in the eye ( even with eye pro on).

 

[TheGhostOfAbeVigoda]

I picked up a chitty daisy b52? wrist braced slingshot as I spent way to much time watching the slingshot channel and figured I could have half as accurate as Jorge .. well im a lousy shot with em. any good tips to pass on ? I think half my battle is that I can't focus on the shot due to how I keep waiting for the bands to snap and hit me in the eye ( even with eye pro on).

My tip is get a better slingshot. I have this type:

https://www.amazon.ca/Slingshot-Professional-Stainless-Velocity-Catapult/dp/B09BQ7KSP4/ref=zg_bs_8792939011_sccl_4/137-6421861-4995339?psc=1

Aiming them is a lot different than a wrist rocket. I had that same Daisy and I always sucked with it when I was a kid. If you get one like I linked, you'll be surprised with how much easier it is to aim once you get it. There is more to it than you'd think though.

They are kind of freaky to shoot, because the bands (the flat bands are a lot more heavy duty than the tubes) could break and hit you in the eye or you can shoot yourself in the hand if you're not careful because you hold it by the forks. You can get some serious distance with them too. You could probably kill someone with the thing. I wouldn't let a kid use it.

If you are interested in trying one, get one like I linked where the forks and the handle are all one piece of metal, like a full-tang knife. I've seen pictures of guys who had ones where the handle is all wood and when they pulled the bands back, the forks came off and smoked them in the face.



I learned from this guy's videos. His whole channel is pretty cool. He does a lot of bushcraft shit.

 

[Lucky Buddha Beer]

Some of them in the parks around here are pretty tame and can be hand fed.
Filthy mutt grey squirrels are reducing the population of red squirrel here
We also have pretty rare black squirrels

Last year there was one with a skin/fur issue so it was pretty much bald. Seemed to go about it's business ok but looked like a rat which was freaky seeing it run up and down trees

Odd that black squirrels are rare for you. must just be a regional thing. "Black" squirrels out number grey squirrels here. (They are both grey squirrels)

 

[DiarrheaDick]

Squirrels can suck an ass, but I have to admire them to an extent. I put up a bird feeder hanging from a tree using metal wire. The squirrels started climbing the tree and just shimming down the wire to get to the feeder. I eventually lowered the feeder down and most of the squirrels fell before they got to the feeder, but a few could still get to it. There was at least one that did some parkor type shit by climbing the tree, jumping onto the roof of my house, then leaping a good 8 feet directly onto the feeder. I then moved the feeder to a narrow metal pole I put up in the middle of my yard, thinking there was no way they could climb it, but they managed anyhow. I sprayed cooking oil on the post like a crazy person, and was entertained for a while watching them get a running start, climb a few feet up the pole, then slide down. I think the parkor one figured out he could do it a few times to get the cooking oil off the pole and eventually destroyed the feeder after a while.

Where the hell's Eddy anyway? He usually eats these god damn things.

 

[aRTie02150]

View attachment 106807


- Meet Javier - Fox Squirrel (Sciurus Niger) - Wikipedia

Last summer I noticed this lil guy move into the oak tree next to my house. I don't know what made me want to befriend it but after thinking about such for sometime I went out and bought a variety of nuts both shelled and whole to start placing around the tree. At first he wasn't having any of it .. ended up attracting ants, cats, a deer once and who knows what else that didn't get captured on the trail camera but no darn squirrel. This went on for several weeks until he finally started to take a few nuts before scampering back up the tree. This is where I set my plan into action - every week I would move the feeding area closer and closer to my back porch with the ultimate goal of being able to maybe hand feed / pet him or if that isn't a good idea because of the rabies risk at least be able to chill there with him while he is eating.

So all of this went on throughout the winter, slowly making headway to the porch when last month he finally got the courage to leave the grass and venture up the stairs. He started grabbing the walnuts and running off with em at first but after awhile he would sit still and eat the whole pile before departing. So far I been doing all my watching from the window as I am afraid of spooking him via the door opening but maybe after a few more weeks of this I will attempt to refill his platter and see how he reacts.

Does anyone here have any experience with squirrels or any pets that are not the standard cat / dog ? Thank you for reading my story and in return I would love to hear yours.

Just be natural around them. If they're anything like my crow friends, they know when you're nervous of them so they get nervous of you.

He definitely doesn't have rabies, so you probably don't have to worry about that. If he had rabies, you'd know about it.

Also, sit low when you feed them. They're more comfortable to approach you when you're lower to the ground, so I recommend sitting like an Indian and offer him a shelled peanut from your hand. Hand it to him between your thumb and index finger, and avoid feeding from your palm because it'll probably confuse him.

Squirrels have good memories and once they trust you they let other members of their pack know that you're not a threat.

 

[soulbrotherman#1]

 

[PorqueDealer]

Odd that black squirrels are rare for you. must just be a regional thing. "Black" squirrels out number grey squirrels here. (They are both grey squirrels)

UK here so our native population are red, with grey being an invasive species.
The black squirrel population started here when one escaped back in 1912 from a private zoo that had imported it from the US.
It bred with a grey and the bloodline has been running since. the south east has sizable population but you find them elsewhere too.

 

[Turk February]

I am sorry if this brings the mood down, but the story reminds me of a time in my life I reflect on with much melancholy and wishing things could have been different. I used to live at the famous 10 San Romanoway projects in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto, famous for its diversity, and unfortunately, more often than not when it comes to the news, for its high crime rate. My second wife Sarah was eaten alive by a pack of squirrels, she was always acting like a nut.