| Author | Message | ||
     Just_ziptab |
Squirrels are like rubber balls.Pretty resilient with one exception.....Arkansas squirrels. Eating one is like changing a truck tire with a screwdriver.Something about living on rocks hardens them. | ||
| 86129squids |
Well, sure, I'm against actual "cruelty"- but if you'll notice, that video of the squirrel launcher shows multiple "shots", many different angles- that little bugger got launched multiple times. Plus, the angle and trajectory is plenty low enough- unless there was a wall of spikes, an alligator pit or something, that little tree rat is plenty vigorous and well evolved enough to easily survive that little trip... somehow, living in TREES, methinks they can take a pretty serious drop. I've also seen, several times, exactly what Blake described, but from quite a bit higher- a squirrel will make a large "WHUMP" noise if it falls from a high point straight down to pavement. Yes, I find it quite funny.... I do have an electric fly swatter that will literally cook a fly, to the point where it actually pops and smokes- doesn't "bug" me a bit to fry those little &*^%$@#%$#'s... | ||
| 86129squids |
Oh, and BTW I remembered today to buy a new can of cayenne AND a new can of crushed red pepper flakes...  | ||
| Blake |
Greg, Highly unlikely the squirrels suffered any harm by that launcher. They are mucho-tough hombres. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same squirrel in each shot. Free food and a thrill ride back to the woods to boot. | ||
| Britchri10 |
I once shot a gray squirrel with a .410 from c15 yards. It fell out of the tree, shook itself & then ran off, none the worse for wear. They are some tough hombre's! Chris C | ||
| Sifo |
I would dare any of you to take a bungee powered colander to the face like the squirrel got. It's not like the squirrel was nice and tight against the back side when launched. It's more like smacking it with a board. I would rather just see the .177 solution. I've had squirrels fall near me in the woods before from quite high up. Their terminal velocity isn't very high, but they do make quite a whump sound. I've got a pair nesting in the tree right outside the bedroom window. I can see them laying in bed if I wake up at the crack of dawn. Interesting to watch them waking up and doing their morning routine before heading out on their morning raids. If they chew the house the furry of hell will come down upon them though.  | ||
| Xdigitalx |
mini guillotine? gotta get the squirrel in the right spot... but it would a super quick end. Then just drop the critter in the crockpot. Humane, entertaining and purposeful.  | ||
| Xdigitalx |
CROCK POT SQUIRREL RECIPE 7 or 8 gray squirrels Flour Cooking oil Salt and pepper 1-medium onion 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced 2-cans creamy chicken mushroom soup 2-cups sour cream 2-cups water Dress the squirrels and cut them into pieces. Salt and pepper them, then roll in flour. Heat some cooking oil in a large frying pan and brown the squirrels.Put the squirrel pieces into a crock pot. Add soup, water,onions,and mushrooms.Turn the crock pot to high for 1/2 hour. Then turn thee heat to low, add sour cream, and cook for at least 6 hours enjoy!! (no,... I have never) | ||
| Sifo |
Entertaining like a French revolution!  | ||
| 01x1buell |
i like squirels they are pretty cool,, they make weird noises and look funny... | ||
| Kenm123t |
Blake you should see if Darrel likes that recipe | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I LIKED squirrels before they chewed a hole in my roof over and over, before they stored excess food in my car. Now, my Benjamin Sherridan .22 Air rifle corrects their behavior. | ||
| 86129squids |
Sifo- the squirrel has a WHOLE lot less mass. Mostly fur and muscle, and some claws. Definitely not the same dynamic as human scale. (See that damn thing that looks like a human size gerbil/hamster traveling ball.) My great-grandmother used to put out whole walnuts to feed the squirrels... as a child I enjoyed that. Somehow I think squirrels are put here by God to entertain us... but I'm still gonna conduct my "hot nuts" experiment. I think at least the rate of consumption has slowed down. Next: the addition of 2X the cayenne, plus a large amount of crushed red pepper. | ||
| 86129squids |
Oh- and the elastics they use are similar to the doctor's earpiece (dunno the correct name), I remember Letterman using a similar rig to launch water balloons from a rooftop many years ago... The squirrel was probably startled, but OK. | ||
| 86129squids |
What the hell- is that tree rat drinking a Guinness or a cappucino? | ||
| Sifo |
The elastic is probably surgical tubing. I've used it for everything from non-slip ear pieces on sun glasses to launching 10' wingspan model gliders. Squirrels run a very fine line between entertainment and pest. They have done a pretty goo job at staying on the right side of that line around our house. One did take a big chunk of wood out of the deck railing as I watched though. The squirrels think our yard is a safe place compared to the neighbors either way with their dogs. We sit for the neighbors pit bill once in a while though. It's fun to mix it up for them opening the door to let the pit out into our yard at an inopportune moment. Squirrels love Guinness! Or other sources of alcohol. | ||
| Blake |
I'm sure the squirrel didn't like being launched. I just don't think it was injured by it. The only damage I've seen from squirrels here is some chewing on my wheelbarrow handles and the plastic tops on my extension ladder. | ||
| Blake |
That drunk squirrel sure is fat! | ||
| Blake |
Ken, Darrel's preferred recipe is to bury and let marinate for a few days. GAHK! | ||
| Sifo |
The only damage I've seen from squirrels here is some chewing on my wheelbarrow handles and the plastic tops on my extension ladder. Once they decide that they want to live inside the envelope of your house they become a real problem. They will chew right through any common building materials to regain access. Put up a steel plate and they will chew right next to the plate. That's when the .177 solution becomes one of the more favorable options. If they will stay in the trees they are just entertaining vermin. We had one chew through the screen on our back door at one point. I was in the garage when it happened. I walked in through the garage door at the font of the house and all hell broke loose at the bay window at the back of the house. Stuff was flying off the shelf as the squirrel bounced from one side to the other in a panic to escape. Damn near scared the crap out of me, I thought we had a break in! I got quite a laugh when I saw it was just a squirrel. Then I had the task of chasing him out.  | ||
| Pwnzor |
I love animals, especially tasty ones. I've got rabbits in my yard, they aren't being destructive.... YET. The minute they start going near the foundation, it will be the end of them. Until then, I'll discourage them. The chipmunk burrowing under my driveway is not experiencing the same leniency, I'm afraid. | ||
| 86129squids |
Mmmm, tasty rodents- we've got a fancy, white linen restaurant here in town- they change up their menu every two weeks or so- I'd planned to head over and try their fried rabbit liver appetizer, but waited too long. Oh well- at least we've got a new Popeye's, I can get some fried chicken livers there- it would have been fun to try such "exotic" fare though... I'd be sure the rabbits have access to some tasty, filling veggies out by the garden, watch them regularly, then get some good recipes and cooking supplies ready, along with your rifle and ammo... A good buddy of ours is an avid hunter and consumer of self-harvested tasty animals- he has a very interesting "cookbook" that details with diagrams and drawings how to do everything, from field-dressing to cleaning/skinning/plucking, then several good recipes- fascinating read! | ||
| Fast1075 |
Being born in the Delta and raised to hunt, I firmly believe in P.E.T.A (People Eating Tasty Animals). When I was a teen, Dad had a good sized garden behind our house....come fall, rabbits invaded...Dad got a night shoot permit from Game & Fish....Dad, Myself, and a neighbor shot 176 rabbits in one night...man was it easy....Dad rigged up some lights...we would turn them off for 15 minutes and then turn them on...pop a few bunnies and turn them back off again...repeat until we used up a whole brick of .22 LR...we did it every night for a week...until there were not many to be had. Everybody we knew had rabbit in the freezer for a long time after... | ||
| Pwnzor |
Rabbits are so easy to dress out... you cut under the skin behind the neck and just peel the whole hide off... Easier than scaling a fish! | ||
| 86129squids |
Good God! 176 in one night?! Then y'all did this for a week?! Any idea what the final tally was? I guess youn's had to set up a production line to process all the wabbits- did any of the ladies get new fur coats for Christmas?  | ||
| Fast1075 |
The "take" declined rapidly...we didn't do a total count...we also didn't clean them all...a lot of them were picked up whole by friends and neighbors....and a lot were donated to a local church that featured them in a "dinner on the grounds"...but my Old Timer Caping knife got a good workout by the time we were done. There was a large bayhead behind the old house (Thats swamp to you city fellers) so there were a lot of rabbits...with the first turn of fall, it was much easier to dine on the late veggies than forage in the 'head for food... | ||
| 86129squids |
Haha- I do love me some good ole church socials, what with all the home cooking- don't know of any time that rabbit was a featured dish though... I've never been a hunter, but as a kid I had several BB guns, pump action rifles, my favorite which was a CO2 pistol repeater- was a deadeye shot most of the time with them, still have 20/15 to 20/10 vision depending on whether I wear glasses or contacts. I may have to take up hunting before I check out someday... Gonna have to refill the bird feeders today, will be doubling the cayenne and also adding the crushed red pepper- will post my findings later... | ||
| Blake |
I was surprised to see a young cottontail in our little garden the other day. First one I've seen in the neighborhood. So for this year that makes, squirrels (of course), raccoon, possum, armadillos, frogs, toads, tree frogs, skinks, anoles, rat snakes, box turtles. I can hear the coyotes at night, but they haven't ventured into the neighborhood yet. | ||
| 86129squids |
Hahaha- "anoles", AKA American chameleons (DANG- spellcheck helped me!) I used to keep them as pets... found that I could use sewing string to make a choke collar, tie the other end of the string to a safety pin, then take the little buggers outside... Once they tried to bail enough to realize they couldn't escape, they calmed down and settled in, sitting on my shoulder. Me and my best buddy would walk about a mile to the store, get our candy, beef jerky, and junk... and walk back. I found that if a sweatbee landed on me, I could grab my pet lizard and set him/her in front of the sweatbee... BANG!! Sweatbee gone! I found out that I had to keep at least 3-4 anoles, because after a day out and back, they'd get so full eating sweatbees, they'd be no good for a few days- had to get a hungry one the next day. Good times! | ||
| 86129squids |
I'd bet that if you can hear the coyotes, they know their way through the neighborhood... |
