Traps and squirrel communication , help please

[squirel]

As I posted in a previous thread in less then ten days I have to leave town and my beloved wild squirrel ( my hearth breaks more than words can say) and now I have heard that probably someone is going to trap for a long time not far away from her . The trapping is perfectly legal and I have already spoken to them kindly and reasonably . Bad thing is I will not be here when they trap ..
The place they’re going to trap is just out of her territory but still I’m terrified for her and so so sad for all the others .
I’m trying to understand if there is a way to “ tell “ or teach her not to go in that place and most important not to go into a trap . Squirrels are so sensitive to our moods and I’m sure she felt my terror the last time they trapped and that that helped . Our bond is really deep .
Somewhere I have read about mental images to communicate with wild animals …
Any ideas , suggestions ?
I know I must sound desperate , but that’s what I am and I’m ready to try everything .

[farrelli]

Do you have access to the area or right outside of it where you can spray fox urine to warn them of of going into it?

[CritterMom]

That there is an unspoken communication I don't doubt, but you won't be around for that. I asked on your other thread if you have anyone who is willing to keep her well fed while you are gone. The more food she is able to find at your place the less time she will spend looking elsewhere and the less her chances of falling prey to this are. If you have someone who will feed DAILY I would stock up on good food - all her favorite nuts and things, and beg this person to make sure they get put out daily. They are perfectly happy to eat and go home to sleep all day if they can get away with it but food hunting forces them to roam all over. If they don't have to hunt for chow, they will stick pretty close to home...

[TubeDriver]

That there is an unspoken communication I don't doubt, but you won't be around for that. I asked on your other thread if you have anyone who is willing to keep her well fed while you are gone. The more food she is able to find at your place the less time she will spend looking elsewhere and the less her chances of falling prey to this are. If you have someone who will feed DAILY I would stock up on good food - all her favorite nuts and things, and beg this person to make sure they get put out daily. They are perfectly happy to eat and go home to sleep all day if they can get away with it but food hunting forces them to roam all over. If they don't have to hunt for chow, they will stick pretty close to home...


This is a great idea. Maybe a friend of yours could "adopt" your wild squirrel since you are leaving? If you gave a bag of almonds or whatever treats you normally feed your squirrel to your friend, they could start to give these treats to your friend.

I am sure your squirrel will miss you in their own squirrel way almost as much as you will miss them.

[squirel]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and the kind words !!!!!

Farrelli I have no access to the area and I don’t know when it will happen so this solution is not possible this time , but thanks for the idea .

CritterMom I hope my friend will be able to feed her as much as possible , don’t know if daily , I’ll beg for sure . But even now that I feed her twice a day with all her favorite stuff she still runs around exploring and looking for other stuff or for her stashes going at times far too close to the bad place .
I know the problem with the unspoken communication is that I will not be here to “tell” her at the right moment . I’m trying to understand how I can “tell” her now so she can remember . How I can communicate her my terror now for her to remember . if you have any suggestion please tell me how to do .

TubeDriver thank you for your kind words , I’m trying with this solution but I feel it’s not enough with traps so close .

Please all ideas are really welcome , I'm trying to think at a solution and to think out of the box but I'm stuck and desperate !!!!!

[rygel1hardt]

Maybe trap and release her yourself using a havahart trap. It might teach her to fear the traps? Stacey

[squirel]

This is really out of the box and sounds effective . Thank you for the idea .

If I go for this I have tree big questions for everybody on TSB

First and most important : how do I make her go into the trap ? It’s private property and I’ll have a very short time to try before they tell me to stop and I cannot place a trap in her more usual places for the same reason . I have no idea how to make her go in !!!!

If I put the trap and the bait will she recognize my smell ( she really knows my smell very well ) and hate me for doing it ?

If I have someone else put the trap and I bring her close ( not easy ) will she hate me ?

Will she be her usual self , a very softie girl , after such an experience ?

This place is wonderful , so much help and understanding , I’m so happy to have found it , to have found all of you .

[Fireweed]

I would just place a Havahart near the border of The Bad Place--you probably don't need to put it on the private property. You just want her to understand that anything that looks like a trap is... a trap. :thumbsup
DO NOT let her see you putting the trap out! Only put the trap out and set it if you can watch it the whole time. It might take up to an hour for her to venture in to it.
Put some yummy, smelly food (crushed nuts, peanut butter) at the back of the trap and wait a distance away so she can't see you but you can see her. Then, if she sets it off you can free her. But I'd let her stay in there for at least a minute or two so she KNOWS she can't get out.

The other thing you can do is train her to stay away from The Bad Place by yelling and chasing her when she goes near the invisible border of the other property. Use a loud, deep voice you never use with her. Wave your arms, act like a madman. Only stop when she heads away from the border. This is essentially what mama squirrels do when their babies go near a dangerous place--they chase them, chittering and squawking and chucking at them until the babies get far enough away to a safer place.
She won't become afraid of you if you continue to give little treats in the safe places... I've done this with a few of my yard squirrels. They learn, for sure. But I usually have more time than you do. It can't hurt to try, though. Especially if you do the trap idea, as well.

Good luck. :grouphug

[TubeDriver]

She will probably be upset with you if you trap her BUT.... if that makes her more shy around people and afraid of cages it may be worth it.

She should be pretty easy to trap. Just put some of her favorite food in the trap where she is used to getting treats from you and she will probably enter the trap to get the treat.

I would consider doing this. I also consider trapping/relocating her to a more rural area where people are not actively trapping her (like a nearby state forest). This does entail some risk because she will be in unfamiliar territory but I would think that a full grown, wild, healthy squirrel would survive in a large, protected forest area.

In terms of trying to get her to understand/communicate the danger, I think that is asking a bit too much from both yourself and your squirrel.

Be careful when releasing a squirrel in a state park because they most likely have regulations against that. You could release your squirrel right on/outside the border of the park and probably not be technically in violation.

Hard decisions to make. Being a squirrel friend is a two edged sword, great happiness but also the potential for great sadness since the life of a wild animal comes with no guarantees. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you and your friend.






This is really out of the box and sounds effective . Thank you for the idea .

If I go for this I have tree big questions for everybody on TSB

First and most important : how do I make her go into the trap ? It’s private property and I’ll have a very short time to try before they tell me to stop and I cannot place a trap in her more usual places for the same reason . I have no idea how to make her go in !!!!

If I put the trap and the bait will she recognize my smell ( she really knows my smell very well ) and hate me for doing it ?

If I have someone else put the trap and I bring her close ( not easy ) will she hate me ?

Will she be her usual self , a very softie girl , after such an experience ?

This place is wonderful , so much help and understanding , I’m so happy to have found it , to have found all of you .

[squirel]

Fireweed thanks for both ideas , you're a very sweet person .
I really don't know how , if I decide to do it , make her go into the trap or more precisely how to make her go close to the place where the trap is .
Please suggestions on this !!!
This afternoon I'll begin to act like a squirrel mom if she gets close to the other property .
I hope so much to solve this problem , one way or another , it's so bad ...

TubeDrive trap and release her somewhere else is not an option , she has babies in her nest and honestly the risk for her would be great and I wouldn't feel to do it .
Trap and release her in the same spot could be better , but I have no idea how to get her in a trap .
Do you think she would change a lot her attitude towards me ?? Would it change even if someone else put the trap ?

All this is very difficult

[squirel]

And if there are other ideas about communication it would be great !!!!!