Depends on where you are, here we can't use rifles, theres too many houses.
.410 does the job just as good.
I can't even begin to count how many red squirrels have gone to meet their
maker because of our .410, plus porcupines, many porcupines...One day I was
frustrated deer hunting and decided to reduce the squirrel population around
the camp, shot 15 in one day. The following year 2 of us worked at it and did
25. Dad had gotten a case of .410 #9 shot at auction for $20 so it was cheaper
than a .22.One of my cousins stopped by and said "Some @$$%*!# is shooting up
the place.""Oh yeah, that was me..." ;)
Didn't put a dent in the population, we see them all the time...
-Curt
On Monday, September 17, 2018, 4:09:27 PM EDT, Greg Fiorentino via Mercedes
<mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
This calls for an accurate .22 and a recipe for Brunswick Stew.
Greg
-----Original Message-----
From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of Andrew
Strasfogel via Mercedes
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2018 12:35 PM
To: Mercedes Discussion List
Cc: Andrew Strasfogel
Subject: [MBZ] OT: Bad news for Curt and other NE farmers
NEW ENGLANDHuge squirrel population chomps crops, driving farmers
nutsPublished:
Monday, September 17, 2018
There's a bumper crop of squirrels in New England, and the frenetic
critters are frustrating farmers by chomping their way through apple
orchards, pumpkin patches and corn fields.
The varmints are fattening themselves for winter while destroying the crops
with bite marks.
Robert Randall, who has a 60-acre orchard in Standish, Maine, said he's
never seen anything like it.
"They're eating the pumpkins. They're eating the apples. They're raising
some hell this year. It's the worst I've ever seen," he said.
Evidence of the squirrel population explosion is plain to see along New
England's highways, where the critters are becoming roadkill.
Last year, there was a bumper crop of acorns and other food that
contributed to a larger-than-normal squirrel population this summer across
the region, said Rob Calvert, wildlife biologist from the New Hampshire
Fish and Game Department.
This summer, there's not as much food, so the squirrels are looking for
nutrition wherever they can find it, including farms, Calvert said.
New England is home to both red and gray squirrels. Known for their bushy
tails, the rodents are a common sight in city parks and backyards, and
people enjoy watching their frenetic movements.
They eat everything from beechnuts and acorns to berries and seeds.
And, apparently, apples, peaches, high-bush blueberries, pumpkins and
gourds. In New Hampshire, squirrels have been raiding corn fields, dragging
away ears.
"It is crazy. You see squirrel tails everywhere," said Greg Sweetser, who
has a boutique apple orchard in Cumberland Center, Maine. In the past, he
said, squirrels have sometimes nibbled on apples that had fallen to the
ground. But this season they're skittering into the trees, scurrying to and
fro, and making their mark.
Oftentimes, the squirrels will take a single bite, then move on.
But a single bite is all it takes to ruin fruit.
In Vermont, where the harvest is just beginning in earnest, farmers are
keeping a watchful eye because rodent damage has been a growing problem for
its apple producers, said Eric Boire, the president of the Vermont Tree
Fruit Growers Association.
The good news for farmers is that boom years for both acorns and squirrels
are uncommon. Thus, it's likely that populations will return to normal soon.
As hungry as the squirrels are, it's unlikely that they'll inflict massive
economic damage.
"Every year in farming, there's something that we're dealing with," said
Margie Hansel, an owner of Hansel's orchard in North Yarmouth, Maine. "It
is what it is. It's part of farming. You expect to have something like this
happen every once in a while." *— David Sharp, Associated Press*
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