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Exterminate Fox and Gray Squirrels

Gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and fox squirrels (Sciurus niger), with their big gray bushy tails and incredible acrobatics, bring joy to many observers. Unfortunately, squirrels can also cause a significant amount of damage. Here’s why: Squirrels have everything an animal needs to be a significant pest. First, they have a high reproductive rate. Squirrels mate 2 to 3 times a year, with 2 to 4 young per litter. Second, squirrels, being rodents, have sharp incisors that allow them to gnaw through a variety of materials. Electric power companies spend tens of thousands of dollars each year repairing transmission lines damaged by gnawing as well as causing shorts. Homeowners are frequently surprised to find that squirrels have gnawed holes into attics. Squirrels are so successful at doing this that one professional animal damage controller calls them “beavers that climb.” Third, unlike some animals, squirrels actually thrive in urban environments. While some species’ populations decline with increasing urban sprawl, squirrel populations increase. There are several reasons for this, but the most important are reduction of their predators coupled with dramatic increase of available food through the generosity of birdfeeders.

So when squirrels become a problem, how should property owners respond? One way is to hire a professional wildlife control operator to resolve the problem. While effective, this can also be extremely expensive, running up a bill of several hundred dollars. Another option is to cage-trap and then relocate the squirrels to a “better” place. This option appeals to many people because they mistakenly believe that relocation constitutes humane and responsible action. However, the evidence suggests that lethal control, if legal, may be a more responsible action. No doubt readers are shocked to hear this, but stay with me and at least give the biologists a chance to explain their reasoning.

Wildlife biologists tell us relocated squirrels have to find shelter and sustenance in a totally unfamiliar area, while simultaneously avoiding predators. They note that if humane treatment is the goal, it seems difficult to see how placing this level of stress on the animal constitutes humane. This stress can be compounded if you take an urban squirrel and release it in a rural area, as the city squirrel is simply not accustomed to wilderness life. Second, adding animals into a new environment means that resident animals now have even more animals with which to compete for food and shelter. The fact is that the place the squirrels will be dumped already has squirrels. It doesn’t need more because the habitat already holds what it should. Third, relocated animals frequently cause a nuisance in the new area where they are released. Fourth, if your squirrel is carrying a disease, moving it to a new location can spread the disease to even more animals. Finally, relocation could be illegal in your area. More government agencies are enacting laws banning relocation of wildlife.

If you are convinced that lethal control of problem squirrels is the humane and responsible option, then cage trapping presents homeowners with yet another challenge, namely, “How should the squirrel be euthanized?” The answer is not as easy as you think. While drowning the trapped squirrel seems easy, such action has been deemed inhumane by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Nor should you use the exhaust of your motor vehicle. Exhaust gasses are too hot and modern engines are too clean to make this technique humane either.

If the complications surrounding the control of your squirrel problem is making your head spin, then I understand. Fortunately, there are traps that make controlling squirrels easier. One trap that can control squirrels humanly is the Kania 2000. While this trap may look funny, it is a highly effective and humane-tested squirrel trap. Its cubby design guides the squirrel into the best position for the strike bar to have the maximum humane effect. Thus the trap passes England’s Spring Traps Approval Order 1995 for trapping gray squirrels. (We should note that the Kania 2500 also passed England’s requirements The Spring Traps Approval (Variation) (England) Order 2007).

But the Kania 2000 saves time in ways other than providing humane dispatch of squirrels. First, the trap reduces the risk of capturing non-target animals. The only thing worse than no catch is the wrong catch. Researchers in a study on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, experienced absolutely 100 percent target captures. Second, the trap has tabs that make anchoring the device a breeze. Just grab your portable drill, two screws and you are ready to go. The removable side panel allows easy and safe access to the baiting area, and the trap is easy to set.

And the device kills quickly with a momentum at peak of 1.76 kg/m. Once the firing spring goes off, no handling of a wounded squirrel or one that is distraught by capture will be required, nor will there be any relocation needed, such as with a cage or box trap.

Ideally, the Kania 2000 should be secured at least 5–7 feet above ground to avoid accidental encounters with curious children and pets. Choose locations where squirrels travel and are less visible to the public. If complete privacy is needed, place traps inside attics or garages near where the squirrels are residing.

Once you have a capture, wear quality leather gloves when checking the traps. Wildlife can carry ticks, fleas, and other disease-bearing organisms that can be transmitted to you. After ensuring that the squirrel is deceased, lift the spring and dispose of the carcass in accordance with local ordinances.

To learn more about this remarkable trap, visit www.kania.net.

Cautions: Check wildlife laws in your area. Contact your state or provincial wildlife agency. Don’t forget to ask wildlife officials if they are aware of any local restrictions, as some municipalities further restrict wildlife damage control methods.

Stephen Vantassel, Lincoln Nebraska
svantassel2@unl.edu

Stephen Vantassel is a certified wildlife control professional and nationally known expert in the field of wildlife damage management, having written dozens of articles for the industry trade magazine, Wildlife Control Technology. He has also published two books on the topic, both available through Wildlife Control Supplies, LLC. Currently he is webmaster for the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management, providing research-based wildlife control information to the public. This collaborative website is sponsored by four land-grant universities, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where Stephen is employed. — Editor