My sap was very weird looking today....

[Eric in Kinburn]

I got to my first bucket today and when I looked inside it was 3/4 full..GREAT! But then I saw fur. There was a dead red squirrel in it. So I tossed the entire bucket out.

Not that I have a lot of experience, but I have never seen or heard of that before. Has anyone else seen this before?

Cheers,
Eric

[bowtie]

about 10 days ago found a dead flying squirrel in one of my buckets. that was quite a surprise!!

[Kev]

to date from when I started helping dad with this obsession 10 + years
1 mouse, 1 bird.

[happy thoughts]

I got to my first bucket today and when I looked inside it was 3/4 full..GREAT! But then I saw fur. There was a dead red squirrel in it. So I tossed the entire bucket out.

Not that I have a lot of experience, but I have never seen or heard of that before. Has anyone else seen this before?

Cheers,
Eric


Why'd ya toss it? You could've made maple Brunswick stew! :rolleyes:

[argohauler]

Haven't caught a red squirrel, but lots of flying squirrels and one mouse. They'll get in even when there's a lid on it.

Nothing this year except for millers and snow fleas.

[holey_bucket]

What are the little buggers that look like tiny red ants? Tiny red ants?

[Kev]

What are the little buggers that look like tiny red ants? Tiny red ants?

oh ya a bunch of those too
I was counting critters and such, not crawlers LOL
I have decided they are sugar ants, cause thats the only place I ever see that size and color of ant here.( going in and out of buckets) I have no illusion that the scientific community agrees with me though :D:lol:

[Bucket Head]

Last week I found a small squirel in one of my buckets. That was the first time I have ever had an animal in my sap. I was surprised to say the least. And I did not tell the tree owner or my sister because I did not want to be called a cold blooded killer. What happens in the sugarbush stays in the sugarbush.

Steve

[michiganfarmer2]

never seen a critter in a sap bucket. I saw a dead black squirell in my 1500 gallon tank though. It was in the late winter when I was gearing up. Hot soapy bleachy water cleaned it right up.... the tank, not the squirrel.

[mapleack]

A vermonter would've wrung out the squirrel. :)

[Dill]

I had a coon get stuck in one of my tanks this year. I had emptied the tank the night before. So he was stuck in there. Sam (the old guy who owns the land) said "I got him right out of there, but no matter how nice I asked, he wouldn't let me wring him out."

[KV Sappers]

A vermonter would've wrung out the squirrel. :)

We Pennsylvania Dutch would have made squirrel pot pie!!!

[heus]

1 red squirrel and 2 mice in my buckets this year. Amazing that a squirrel cant get out of a bucket of sap.

[Bucket Head]

I posted earlier here about a squirrel in one of the buckets. First time I ever had an animal get into any sap. Yesterday my father found a mouse in one of the buckets! Unbelievable.

Steve

[adk1]

Nice to think about how many actually get out of the bucket after doing whatever it is they do in it first!:rolleyes:

[500592]

Thoose squirrels aren't to bright one year we went camping and fried some stuff in peanut oil and the next day there was 2squrriels that must have knocked the cover off but one was still swimming in circles and the other was belly up

[3rdgen.maple]

Im good for atleast one mouse a year in a bucket. I have caught several deer over the years dinking sap out of my buckets also. If i could only find the pictures I took of one once I would post it.

[wally]

we stopped using buckets over 20 years ago, but up to that time, we could count on a mouse or two per year, the occasional red squirrel, and one bat.

now, i have red squirrels in the sugar house, and they crap in the evaporator if it isn't completely sealed after each boil. just one more thing to deal with as part of the shut-down ritual.

[maple island farms]

Over the years we have lots of floaters. A person would think a red could swim enough to get out.

[Bucket Head]

Whats up with just the Reds getting in? No Gray ones? I'm no expert on them- are the Grays smarter? Just seems odd that only one type is getting in.

Steve

[wally]

fewer grays around here is one reason. perhaps outnumbered 20 to 1.