Smert' belkam (death to squirrels)

Early April is the time of year that my *big* bamboo grove starts putting out shoots. And I always look forward to seeing the new shoots come up and grow to their full height in just a few weeks.















But this season was proving to be a problem..........

Continued....

A lot of the new bamboo shoots were starting to show damage from something chewing on them. In some cases the shoots were attacked just as they barely started showing above the ground. In other cases the shoots could be well started, yet something would chew into the side, base, or the top, which would kill the shoot.















I was not happy......

I was pretty sure squirrels were to blame here, but just to be certain, I set out a game camera to make certain...











Yeah, caught them red handed.

So I hauled out the hunting blind I bought years ago, and set it up in the bamboo grove.

**discretion advised** dead bodies displayed

So I've been spending several hours a day, at various times of the day, standing (or rather sitting) guard on the bamboo grove.

The tally as of this moment is eight (8) confirmed kills, and five (5) pretty darn sure I got 'em, but couldn't find the dead body to confirm.












The last two pics were of a squirrel that I caught right in the act of chewing up a new shoot right in front of me. I have to be honest, I REALLY enjoyed that kill..

So right when I think I'm getting a handle on things, a new problem showed up...









I think I know what happened to those three (3) shoots....



To explain... I'm not completely heartless. I actually purchased two different spray products to try to dissuade the squirrels from chewing on the bamboo. One was advertised as a bonafide squirrel repellent 100 percent guaranteed to repel squirrels...

https://spray-n-growgardening.com/a...ent-32-oz.html?SID=e6q54cg5no36rfj1oobkcvc253

That ABSOLUTELY did not work!

So I tried another product that was supposed to repel ALL animals..

https://spray-n-growgardening.com/a...dy-to-use.html?SID=e6q54cg5no36rfj1oobkcvc253

That seemed to be a bit more effective, but within a few days of application, it seemed to rapidly lose it's effectiveness. And later on I actually read some reviews where someone claimed that raccoons seemed to LOVE the stuff. So my guess is those above three shoots that were knocked over were done do by a raccoon. I actually found quite a few shoots where it was obvious that something had been digging around the base of the shoots, which I have never seen before. So my guess is that the "repellents" actually attracted this attention from one or more raccoons, and possibly a possum. So I really can't blame the raccoon for this. And I sure can't bring myself to shoot a raccoon.

So anyway, I didn't see any more squirrels this morning, but yesterday afternoon I did shoot a squirrel that had jumped from a pine tree to the top of a shoot that is around 10 ft. tall, and started to chew on the tip of the shoot. Luckily I was right there, when he jumped on the shoot, so he went to the promised land before inflicting any damage. I also saw another squirrel close by a little bit later, but that one ducked behind a pine tree and I never saw him again. So there is at least one more squirrel I need to remove.

I don't know what got into the squirrels this year. I have had minor problems with them in the past, but generally it was just one squirrel. If I could shoot that one, then the problem was over with for the season. This year, they have just gone berserk and have done extensive damage to the new shoots coming up.

Quite honestly, every year I start feeling bad about shooting the squirrels. I don't allow them to come near the house as they are quite destructive. They are "tree rats" in every sense of the word. And if they had never bothered the bamboo, I would be a WHOLE lot more tolerant of them even then. But all it takes is a season like this one to see the wholesale destruction they are inflicting on my bamboo, and it's "game on, suckers!" I lose absolutely all sense of regret killing them. And I can say with no hesitation whatsoever, when I get to actually shoot one caught with his pay in the cookie jar chewing on one of my bamboo shoots, killing the little SOB is quite satisfying.

Please dont take this the wrong way!

But is there a specific reason why your trying to protect the bamboo shoots?
instead of letting the squirrels chew on them.

Im from the uk so i dont see any bamboo around here

but as for squirrels we see them taking birdseed etc... all the time and we think there amazing

Well, I planted the bamboo here, because I like it. That particular grove produces my largest bamboo shoots. Haven't measured them, but some of the shoots are getting to be around 50 ft. tall and a good 5 to 6 inches in diameter.

So the point is that I like my bamboo better than I like the squirrels. If they weren't bothering my bamboo, then I wouldn't be bothering them.

I guess it would be like you growing tomatoes, and the squirrels were getting into your garden eating them all. How would you feel about that?

I would love to have a bamboo grove.

Nanci said:

I would love to have a bamboo grove.

Click to expand...

You can't start any earlier than now. Your local climate should be comparable to mine here. But the running bamboo (Phyllostachys) WILL run unless contained. So you need room for them. Seems that all of the larger clumping types of bamboo I know of are much more tropical in nature, but the running types do quite well in the temperate ranges.

Of course, it does take time for bamboo to start reaching it's full potential in size of the culms. That grove I show in the above pics (Phyllostachys vivax) was one I planted about 25 years ago.

Hit a dry patch where I couldn't have hit a barn even if I was standing inside of it. But I did pop one this morning, so maybe I'm back on the beam. Score stands at 9 confirmed kills, and 5 probables. But yellow fly season is gearing up right now, so just walking to and from the blind is getting to be quite a challenge. When you have a half dozen of those suckers buzzing around your head and you know they are going to HURT if they take a bite, well, sort of takes all the fun out of a walk in the woods.

Still got a few new shoots coming up, but with the rains being sparse this time of year, I'm seeing some shoots just dying back because of lack of water. And I think either I have thinned the squirrel herd back substantially, or there are just greener pastures available for the remaining population of tree rats. But they sure as heck did a LOT of damage this year. I hope I remember this for next year and set up the blind early enough to start weeding them out BEFORE the bamboo shoots start coming up.

I'm having more trouble with rabbits down here. Usually the bobcats, panthers, and coyotes take care of them, but they must be lazy this year. As I got older, so did the scope sizes. LOL.

Yeah, I hear that. I'm not sure I could shoot worth a damn using iron sights any longer. My vision isn't what it used to be.

Actually I was thinking about getting a scope for one of my .22 pistols. I've got a pretty accurate Hammerli Trailside that a scope would probably work wonders for. I guess some sort of red dot scope would work pretty well.

My son has a Ruger .22 bull barrel model fitted with a silencer ( licensed) and a Redfield red/green dot plus laser. Quite a combination for taking out small vermin. Not sure if that scope is still available, everyone seems to be sold out.

How is the accuracy of the Ruger with that silencer? I've always heard that the wipes in a silencer can drastically affect accuracy since in many designs, the bullet will actually contact the exit end wipe.

Always been meaning to buy a Ruger .22 handgun, but for some reason it has just never happened. Maybe the next time I go to a gun show I should really look hard at one.

Several of my friends bought the Rugers and they say choose the heavier barrel model. My son has both models and I didn't see much difference in accuracy between them, and the silencer made no difference. I think he said his silencer was made by Advanced Armaments Corp. Their website showed the baffles but I couldn't tell if any had wipes. The NRA is correct, silencers don't make a gun silent. A better name would be moderator.
If you really want to have some fun, and your budget would allow it, check out the Sam Yang .50 cal air rifle.

Yeah, that .50 cal does look interesting. Sure would knock a squirrel for a loop. But a single shot wouldn't be my best choice for squirrel hunting. Sometimes quick followup shots can make all the difference between a confirmed kill and a dammit....

Yes, I had to be practical also, so I bought a Hatsan AT44 Tactical Quiet Energy in .25 cal. Gives you 10 shots, plus 2 additional clips. Picatinny rails in case you want to mount a laser or flashlight. It's a PCP air rifle that I charge with a scuba tank. I have a Benjamin Maximus .22 that is nice but single shot. I hate fumbling around for another pellet if I miss the first shot. I wouldn't pay the $570 usual price but got it for $350 on sale at Field Supply. I couldn't risk a stray bullet from my .17 or .22 in this area, so opted for air rifles.

Yeah, I like using the 17HMR cartridge. Small, light and very fast hollow point bullet, so it probably self destructs on the first thing it hits. With my property being very heavily wooded, it would have to be an extremely huge stroke of bad luck for a fired bullet to get off of my property. So far I haven't found any bullet holes in any of my buildings. Connie wouldn't be at all happy about that.. oke: