More on the homefront
As you may remember, I was having a squirrel problem a couple months back. The good news is they have vacated my attic..bad news is they are ripping every leaf off of my big backyard shade trees and drinking the sap out of the thin green shoots.
I walked outside and these 4 inch pieces of tree were floating down at a rate of 3 a minute.
I looked up and the damn squirrels were going to town munching away on my tree and the only leaves left were on the flimsy branches they couldn't crawl to. My yard was littered with their discards. Needless to say, I was pissed.
A couple months back, I had purchased Daisy powerline 1000 as my squirrel killer
Unfortunately, it was upstairs in my gun room. So I grabbed the Red Ryder out of the pantry and started going Chuck Conners on the little sons of bitches. They were hopping and jumping around pissed off as hell as I pelted them rapid fire with BBs.
I went and got my more powerful pellet rifle and waited for the tree rat bastards to return. Sure enough, I saw another tender shoot from my precious tree floating down, so I aimed up and pow! Shot the little mother fucker! He ran into the neighbors yard I didn't see whether I sent him to the happy nutting ground or not.. I really felt kind of bad after that. I had never killed anything on purpose before. But I rationalized that I was protecting my property from being ravaged by the little varmits, so don't hate me.
So now every morning, the girls make me a pot of coffee and I lay on my back on the back steps and snipe the squirrels out of the tree. They are getting a lot smarter and a lot harder to hit. Everytime I feel guilty, I just look over at the two 55 gallon trash bags filled with the pieces of tree they have destroyed.
Then on Friday afternoon my wife comes home with this little guy.
He was sitting on the hood of her car with no collar or tags. So she brought him home in a tote.
She had already named him Rusty so I figured he was already ours. He is a 12 pound Chiuhaha mix about a year old. He's a good dog but Marvin is not a happy camper. I'm having to keep him from kicking rusty's ass.
posted by Bill Rowland @ August 09, 2008
32 Comments
32 Comments:
chihuahuas are a neurotic breed. I prefer the laid back cool cats.
Its all good hammer I had to get
medieval on the crows in my cherry tree tonight with Mr Mossberg and some #6 shot, and that Lil Rusty is Cute he looks like my daughters dog Harley when we brought her home
didnt you have a dog named chula
also
Nice looking pup. I'm a sucker for dogs...sigh.
As to the squirrel slaying, our town made national headlines for dealing with the annoying creatures. I'll have to see if I can find you a Squirrel Slayer t-shirt. ;)
have you thought about feeding the squirrels? this is going to be a tight year for acorns - i've been stocking up on dried sunflower buds and have been putting them into a hanging basket on our patio - lo and behold, the little buggers have been climbing up into it and stealing them! they are stealing from the hands that feed them.
I like Nanc's idea...feed the little buggers and maybe they will leave your tree alone.
Rusty is adorable, I am glad your wife found him (or he found her is more like it!). I hope Marvin chills out.
Your local squirrels must be a real nuisance, we don't have squirels in France, or a few deep inside the forest, happy we don't have to shoot them.
New Rusty is cute, he is the one to adapt to his new pal.
You got 2 Awards in my blog, you truly deserve them.
As soon as I saw the furry rodent problem, I thought BB gun:) We use the same around here. And your new pup is so cute:)
You must really be fed up with the squirrels to go after them with a BB gun. Never fear. Your new dog will gladly chase them around for you. He'll consider it his job. And the cat should chase them up the tree. Mine does.
Have a great Sunday. I feel another beach day coming my way.
WOW, you've got some hard-core squirrels in Texas!! Our squirrels have never done that.
LOL, our pellet gun(Benjamin/Sheridan), is primarily used for thinning out the grackle population. ;)
Well I always seek guidance on 'all thing American.' Hence I happened to be watching a very educational programme last night called Sign Field. From this, I learned that we're supposed to have a contract with both pigeons and squirrels. Are you saying that I have been mis-informed?
Pop over as I've tagged you.
Cheers
Giving Rusty a good home makes up for the squirrel shootings. I think he's adorable. You don't see many chihuahuas (even mixes) that color.
Tree rat bastards! Ha! It's funny how people would be all over your ass for shooting cute little squirrels not realizing they really are rodents just like rats (except that I don't think they eat meat like rats do they?). Cute = good Ugly = bad.
Do whatever you have to do - there's certainly no squirrel shortage in the world.
I'm a sucker for dogs - hope Marvin accepts him soon enough. He's got to cement his place as alpha dog first.
feeding tree rats don't help with the problem..just encourages them to have more tree rats..I feed mine but I have this ulterior motive..I figure that once the chosen one gets into the White House I will have to eat the damn things....and they do make pretty good dumplins if they are fat.
Try an AirSoft pellet gun on the little bastards. MUCH higher rate of fire so you can really go after 'em.
I disagree with those who say to feed the squirrels. Feeding them will only bring more of them to the party, and once you stop feeding them you're screwed.
My dad feeds the squirrels around his house regularly and now has a LOT more than he used to have.
Aw, Rusty is so cute! :)
Rusty looks as though he is from the "tree rat bastard" hunting genus?? Good luck!
Here you go.
BTW, squirrels will eat meat if protein sources are low, or if it is easier to procure. There was a patch of highway up by the Utah-Wyoming border that I used to drive on when going camping. The ground squirrels were heavy in that area, and the road was covered with them. Any time there was a lull in traffic, a bunch of them would run out and feed on their fellow squirrels.
Hi, stumbled across your blog, I am new here.
You are too funny!
You'll love the dog, I have a chi, it will keep the squirrels scared shitless. Fuckers are little pitbulls...but with a lot more brains.
I hate squirrels. They are so militant. And like giant Rats.
Hammer-
Is your property zoned as a Free Fire one? I ask this cause I got a buddy down south in the National Guard who can get me an M-1 Abrams tank on fairly short notice. That is if it's not in use for next weekend's drill. You'll only have to pay for the ammo, fuel, and bomb crater repairs. Keep me posted.
Rusty is so dang cute!!!
Call me crazy, but what I have found to work wonder with deterring squirrels has been...fox urine. Yup. you can buy it in a squirt bottle at the feed store. Hunters use it. The squirrels absolutely freak out. One squirt in my attic had all the squirrels completely out, literally, in less than a minute. it was insane how quickly they got out of there. 3 years later, I still have my squirt bottle,but haven't needed it again...yet.
Hope you don't mistake that little rat dog for a squirrel some morning!
What a cute addition to your family.
You can't feel guilty about the squirrels. They ARE destroying your property after all.
Rusty is adorable. Better tell Marvin to get used to him.
Might be careful not to confuse Rusty with one of your tree rats.
If you feel guilty about killing the squirrels, they are pretty good to eat - no sense letting them go to waste. Look at it as if your tree was their last meal.
Once you name an animal, you'll keep it. That's how it works. Rusty is your now.
Damn, I didn't know squirrels were that destructive. Our destructive rodents are gophers. They tear the crap out of our yard. Of course, you don't need a gun to kill gophers. Just a garden hose and a shovel.
Holy hell, between this post and the pussying of the father figure a couple of days ago, I wonder why I've been away for so long.
The best type of squirrel is one you make a hat out of!
AWW isnt rusty cute?? LOL.. He is very adorable. I dont blame you with the squirls. They are cute but you cant have them destroying your tree's either.
Dogs are like potato chips, you can't have just one.
Sorry, but I feel bad for your squirrels. Can't you feed them so they stop eating your tree? I didn't even know they do that. Apparently my oaks don't taste as good.
awwwwww Rusty is so cute.
I know it's not funny but the whole picture of the squirrel thing you painted made me laugh.
Sounds like you need to explore some recipes for squirrel.
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