Squirrel Attractant with a Twist

[wolverine]

i like the electric fence idea. i think if i string it along the north side of my property against the woods, it would deter them. they could however go around it via the street, but maybe it will be enough to keep them at bay. 

[NorCal David]

Electric fences need a bit of research. For my apiary, I need to dump a few gallons of water on the dirt weekly to insure a good electrical ground during the dry California summers. My buddy keeps his cattle contained by running a ground wire vertically in between two hot wires. He keeps the grass down to prevent shorting out the circuit. Your local fencing supplier would have recommendations on what to buy for your situation… solar charge for battery or power available at the site, etc. Have fun with this one!

[martrage]

 Paul, I have one for you; We remodeled our deck a few years back. I had a concrete pad poured to prevent water issues in our basement & then had a new poly
 deck installed with full length steps & lights in the risers for accent & evening travels to our swimspa. The lights started going out( this all happened while I'm still
 traveling for work) and then my Queen mentions a BAD smell outside by the deck. I'm tasked with locating said odor when I'm home on rotation. With only 4-5
 inches to peer underneath on one side,"I,, see,, naating!" I can't pull lights for replacing as the connections are out of reach w/o major deck board removal.
 Eventually only one of 5 lights works , I retire & decide to "tear into it"! I call a handyman for assistance & we go to it. Upon removal of faceboard & several deck
 boards we find the cause of "de-lumination" , and a nice rodent skull for my grandson science collection. Yep a squirrel had chewed through the wires & finally bit
 a little too deep ! A few new lights & a couple repairs & good to go w/o having to rip all off & start over w/ conduit (  shoulda' in the first place). Now ,, One
 light is out again  , I'm wating for more before I call my handyman friend, but no odor yet!!
 

[dk1677]

Some years ago they chewed a insulator on my electrical entrance. Last week a local college lost power for a day because one had chewed a wire on a large transformer Fried the nutter good 

[Blowpipe Sam]

Almost twenty years ago I got a late night call out from the local Utility company that we had a power outage in the park campground and they needed a ranger on hand.  So I suited up and went out on a rainy night to find out what the heck was going on.  I found the guys with the bucket truck working on a pole with a dangling power line and a broken insulator.  They thought a falling branch had hit it and it shorted out.  I started walking around the base of the pole with a flashlight looking for the branch when about fifteen feet from the pole I found the scorched carcass of a large male bobcat in a clump of palmetto.  I showed it to the line crew and the top kick said he’d seen squirrels, possums, and raccoons fried that way.  He figured the cat was soaking wet from the rain and had chased some other critter up the pole.  When it got to the power line it touched it and shorted.  The resulting arc blew the insulator off the pole and the cat into the bushes.

The boss had me bag the carcass and store it in the shop freezer until the district biologist could collect it and do a necropsy.  I stuck it in the freezer and forgot about it.  So did the district biologist.  So there it lay amongst the ice pops and frozen burritos for THREE YEARS.  Finally somebody had to defrost the freezer and gave it a decent burial.

[Back_Roads]

 I had a rabbit chew through my extension cord for Christmas lights, I found him in spring, and knew why my lights quit in that section

[Sqrl Klr]

I got a good laugh out of that Sam. Poor bobber. I don't know which is worse getting fried or forgotton about for 3yrs. How big was it 35lbs or so?

[Blowpipe Sam]

LOL!  Don’t EVER look in the freezer of a park or wildlife sanctuary.  A park I worked at in Georgia kept Red tailed Hawks and barred Owls.  We kept a refrigerator full of roadkill for them.

That cat was 37 lbs.  I remember because I weighed it.  It hung out near the campground dumpster and had obviously grown fat on the easy pickings.

[martrage]

 Dave , growing up on a farm, we had many fences w/ "juice " in them. Once when I was with my Grandpa I observed him "checking the fence" w/ a piece of grass
 I watched him get ever closer to the wire as his hand & arm started to twitch until he was brushing it with his fingers. I loved Pap & tried to do anything he could,
 so I reached for a blade of grass and placed it on the wire , ZAP!! As Pap was picking me up from the ground laughing , he said " Marty boy, you got too close too 
 fast"! That was a learning experience ,for sure. I found out later in life,my Gramps didn't use any grass or weed stalk to check fences , he just walked up &
 gingerly fingered the wire until it "tickled "him. I miss him.

[NorCal David]

Dave , growing up on a farm, we had many fences w/ "juice " in them. Once when I was with my Grandpa I observed him "checking the fence" w/ a piece of grass

Great memories!

I have a fancy meter, but do not use it as long as the grass is green. My method is to carefully bend a long blade of grass around the wire and pull tight. Then pinch it with the other hand between the the thumb and index finger. Then slide them toward the wire until it tickles.
Oh, and what I specifically water during drought is the ground rods… really need ground rods if you run a ground wire.

[Sqrl Klr]

Sam that's a shame big boy got zapped but at least he went out quick. He just didn't get trashed quick is all. Would've been fun to taxidermy the critter with his hair all fuzzed up straight.

Martin I miss mine too. One day closer to seeing him again! I got tagged by one in the ribs after being told it was off. My uncle apologized while laughing after realizing he didn't disable it as he'd thought. Just had to be a fully charged battery too instead of a dead one. It sounded like a loud slap when it lit me up like Reno on New Years then I screamed loud but like a man at least instead of a skirted schoolgirl so thankfully I sounded off a macho response which for a guy is the most important outcome of course.

[wolverine]

My wife found me looking at electric fences and told me no way, it will keep the deer out toonand she likes watching them. She suggested i leave my truck in the drive and wait for the squirrels to show mid 80s today, i think she's trying to kill me. 

[Back_Roads]

 Well one Holiday I ate too much, almost miserable" and my Mother stated " Jimmy just go outside with your gun