Where have all the squirrels gone?

[Carolina_Skinner]

Haven't seen a single squirrel over here in NC. Where have they gone? I've gotta test out my Great Plains Rifle on those tasty little buggers!

 

[tenngun]

They go in cycles, about 7 years here in the ozarks. Try about 30 miles away.

 

[coloradoclyde]

They've all congregated at my bird feeder....I have ten of them.... :haha:

No, you can't come shoot them....

 

[Mad Professor]

Yup, I've got a couple squirrel feeders that are standing room only too.

 

[Thing]

Hardly any around her either. Iredell county NC

 

[Mike Payne]

Last year there were no acorns produced from any of the oaks here in central Virginia an they all went else where or died.The years before that we always had lots of squirrels.
The little critters have not recouped yet. I do see a few but not like the numbers we had before. :idunno:
Mike

 

[rushlake1]

Bingo Mike...no nuts---no nut eaters..."Oh rats" as in tree rats!
The squirrels shot in the last weeks(Mn-Wis.) carried bloated full stomachs..No room for Nut--in...
Banner nut crop in 2015
Grouse numbers up too.
Give them some time or hunt the city parks :rotf:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Last year I saw four outside of the neighborhood, and darn few within the neighborhood. This year I got 4 in about 2 hours the only day I want hunting them. :grin: The season is still open and hoping to go out Saturday again.

I found that in years past they were in areas where nests were seen in trees, but in the past couple of years the woods where I hunt have aged a bit, and they are now living inside hollow trees.

LD

 

[nwtradegun]

in my case anywhere I am not when I have my musket.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I encourage people to feed them at home if you can through the fall, winter and spring months.

Observing them will teach you a lot about their habits and feeding habits...

Very useful when it comes time to go hunting them.

 

[Patocazador]

Around here if the acorn crop is poor, they just move to the pine cones.

2014 = no acorns, 2015 = tons of acorns. I didn't notice a difference in the number of squirrels.

 

[Carolina_Skinner]

We don't have a heck of a lot of pines round here in our woods. I just saw one today, in a cherry tree. Guess I'll just go out one morning and sit till I see one.

 

[Rat Trapper]

Cleaned up three today and got em in ice box will be super tomorrow.

 

[FishDFly]

Haven't seen a single squirrel over here in NC. Where have they gone? I've gotta test out my Great Plains Rifle on those tasty little buggers!

Everyone has theory on everything. When we went into the severe drought and high heat, the number of squirrels started to decrease. The acorns here where we live and at the ranch started to be gone. We keep corn and water out for them here at the house, seems not to help. I started putting out water in the woods to help them at the ranch.

In reality I think critters tend to cycle in population.

I remember the old men in East Texas talking at the feed store about squirrel hunting. They would say that when times were tough in the woods that the male squirrels would castrate the young males to keep the population down. Fact or fiction, no idea.

I made an agreement with the squirrels if they would stop chewing on my house, I would not put holes into them.

The wood peckers are still involved in the discussion.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I remember the old men in East Texas talking at the feed store about squirrel hunting. They would say that when times were tough in the woods that the male squirrels would castrate the young males to keep the population down. Fact or fiction, no idea.

I heard something similar....only it was the mother that would do it to the young....

One of my rabbits did it to Himself... :shocked2:

 

[Silky921]

All I have to do to see squirrels, is to go deer hunting. :haha:

 

[FishDFly]

You can hear about anything you want around a feed store.

I hunted with an old man and he taught me a lot about critters and hunting. For the most part he lived off the land, he lived during depression as my Grandmother did and he learned to survive.

How many folks have done so?

 

[Robert Egler]

I was seeing 3 to 6 a day hunting here in Central NC until about Christmas. Since then I've been hunting about 15 days, and I've seen 1 squirrel. One. It's like a UFO suddenly sucked them all into space!

 

[coloradoclyde]

Last week a male and female cardinal got inside one of my squirrel feeders before sundown..
Next morning the male was dead on the perch and a squirrel was inside the feeder....
Finally it ended up on the ground...Another squirrel came by and carried it over to an adjacent tree....And ate it...

That's the second time I saw a squirrel eat a bird.... :youcrazy: I guess they really are nuts.... :haha:

 

[wvbuckbuster]

They eat bird eggs also. Dan.