4 shot

 

Park the boat in a vault I guess.

 

Barn Cat!

 

Is the pole barn relatively tight? Locate entry points, install positive set traps (live or lethal) and repair entry once trapping is complete.

 

Sealing off the barn is the most effective way to keep them out but it takes a lot of time and work.

In addition to that Only thing I have found that is effective is to run small live traps with fresh pine cones in it. I rarely catch any other animal than red squirrels.

 

Is the pole barn relatively tight? Locate entry points, install positive set traps (live or lethal) and repair entry once trapping is complete.

No the barn is not tight. Dirt floor and sliding barn style doors. Even if I put a cement floor in, I don’t see how I could seal the barn up with the sliding barn doors. Guessing it would be cheaper to pay for storage space that is sealed tight.

 

A constant population control would be the next thing but that is constant upkeep and maintenance. If you have a lot of pines or walnuts around you will have a continuous population of reds to deal with. 2nd year females often have a spring & fall litter so numbers get excessive. Large rodent stations may be mentioned here, but in my professional opinion red squirrels will rarely readily feed off rodenticides used for mice/rats. These rodenticides aren’t listed for squirrels as well.

 

I get them with a pellet gut and if you can eliminate all of them form an area they do not come back as fast as black and fox Squirrels .

 

+1 for the Cat. Mine is worth 100 times her weight in gold.

 

I've had good luck with this unit.... When my buddy died of rabies from a bat in the house got it for insurance....

Then had a building kept catching mice 🤔. Have that electronic thingy.... Literally not a mouse after....

Than like you had a red squirrel in the barn more annoying than anything, 🤔... No more squirrel

Not guaranteeing it's gonna work but it either does or I've had a string of coincidences.
.https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...hDXARIsAFLvH4lEKdcx1yBTuE4ONYwDRE1zkpZx1llkPCbgraOkXRwBfVYW6Jsjk4YaAgKGEALw_wcB

 

I have killed over 20 with a pcp 22 cal since early spring.Seems like for every one eliminated 2 replace it. My yard is an animal cemetery if you add the Wood Chucks too.To many Spruce trees in my yard and neighborhood.Spruce cones are a favorite for them. I recently replaced the engine in a new lawn tractor that had a red Squirrel nest inside the flywheel cover that caused the engine to over heat and it then broke the connecting rod.

 

I wonder if you could run some small gauge wire fence or mesh. Like chicken wire but smaller, roll it out and fold a 90 into it, and tuck it up against the side and dig it in an inch or three into the ground. Or shoot and trap.

 

It could be done for sure. Depending on Op's motivation level. Even sliding doors could probably be fabed up with some kind of seals maybe....depending on the gap spaces. Wire needs at least 2 feet buried to deter them sob's probably. Not sure how deep a red squirrel would dig. Especially if the barn is a known space to get in a screw crap up.....just my 02.

 

Rat traps worked for me.

 

The chip a nator. Works great.

 

Trapped both the two reds in my yard so far this year. I used the small havaheart traps with a few kernels of corn, bird seed, peanuts and cheerios. Took one day to get the first one and I literally waited til I saw the next one and purposely didn't feed anything for a day so the only food available was in the trap and I had him in less than 15 minutes and literally got to watch the doors slam shut on his ass. Got a bonus chipmunk we hadn't seen before I got the first one. So in the past 2 summers I've gotten 3 reds, a dozen chips, a cardinal, a blackbird, 2 possums and two sparrows at once, haha. Only thing I was after were the reds and chips because they tear up so much stuff.

 

I'm up to 6 with the pellet gun. Bastiges are hard to hit. Rat trap and peanut butter and sunflower seeds work pretty good, too.

 

Are you sure it wasn't mice ?

L & O

 

I store my boats with a pan of anti-freeze just in case a critter gets thirsty.

 

Are you sure it wasn't mice ?

L & O

I trapped 7 or 8 Reds this Spring out of the barn. Obviously I should have been trapping last Fall and thru the winter. I don’t think mice will carry walnuts into the boat.

 

There is no sense in fencing in a cage.

They are RED squirrels.

They'll just eat the fencing and poop ball bearings!

 

Old school rat traps, the ones that snap their necks quickly. Put some peanut butter and press some nuts into it you'll get them. Screw the trap down so they can't run away if they aren't caught well. My dad does up at his place and it works well. Good luck!

 

Sorry bobberbill I guess I should have Read the little further before I posted my method. Can't go wrong with the rat traps and peanut butter.

 

I put a handful of corn where I can watch it and shoot every one of those little buggers. I haven't seen one out here in the pines for about two months.

 

That's more fun than traps anyway!

 

If I throw some shelled corn in the yard the chippies will get it before a red even knows it's around. I've taken a rat snap trap baited and nailed it to a tree. The reds will find it and the chippies seem to leave it alone.

 

I had a buddy that passed and he took and screwed the nut to a spring rat trap so when the squirrel was fighting to get the nut the trap wound spring. He also taught me to set a mouse trap with a hair trigger.