**** Squirrels

[danno]

I've got tubing on 3 big maples at the edge of my woods that are getting destroyed by squirrels. These 3 trees are all lateral end trees. I've had to change the tubing where it wraps around the trees every couple of days. Leaks are long past a temporary electrical tape patch - they are chewed through several inches long. They seem to like the end trees because the tube wraps all the way around.

Leaks are causing my vacuum to drop from 19" to 5". Is there a better end tree fitting that does not wrap around the tree? Should I take these 3 trees off line? - they give good sap but are killing my vacuum.

[Brent]

I've never hear of anyone doing it but if you don't want to get out the .22 you could get coil springs from the hardware store and try sliding the tubing through it as you re-rig.

[markcasper]

Danno, I have the same pecking problem as you. Whoever came up with the idea of wrapping a live piece of tubing around the end tree.?.....I'd like to met them in a back alley.

Here is what I have did and helps alot! Get some "end slide fittings", wrap a piece of electric fence wire 14 gauge around each end tree. The slide fitting has a hook on it. Hook that to the wire and it eliminates a whole circumfrance of live tubing around it. You can extend the piece of tubing long enough for you necessary drops.

Worst case and you can't get any, use a hooked connecter and hook it to the end of line wire. You won't be able to take up the tension using this method. In either case, I like to leave a good 12-18" out from the tree, that way all of the drops can fold back nicely after the season, therfore keeping them away from the tree.

The wire works great......way less tubing for those rat bastards to destroy. Yes bastards, call them what they are!!!!!

[KenWP]

Even if you could put the tubing inside of bigger tubeing might work. I am used to pigs chewing on everything and have had to run hoses and such inside of other pipes to stop them.

[tuckermtn]

you could use the end fork fittings- they use a "dead" piece of tubing to wrap around the tree...let the squirrels chew on them all they want- we actually use chewed piece as the tubing we wrap around...

[3rdgen.maple]

I think I mentioned this somewhere on here before but a guy told me once that he sprays a mixture of cayane pepper or tobasco sauce with water puts it in a spray bottle and squirts it on his lines. Says a squirells will only bite it once. I don't run tubing but it might be worth a try.

[Russell Lampron]

The pepper trick should work. That is how we keep the tree rats out of the bird feeders. A 1/4 tsp of red pepper doesn't bother the birds and the tree rats don't like it.

With the miles of tubing that some of us have it wouldn't be feasible to do every line but if it was only on a few end trees it might be worth a try.

[fred]

rat pioson and 22's are the only cheap cure

[KenWP]

Whats maple basted squirrl taste like. If they are abundant then maybe make them less abundant.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Might try luring them away with a pile of corn nearby and give you a bait to shoot them over.

PS forget the .22 and get a shotgun, might even get more than 1 at a time over the corn pile.

[TapME]

I just let the saphauler sight in his eye and the squirrels go away. We had a tree rat get into camp last year and believe me they disappeared. What a mess they make when they can't get out.

[danno]

Stupid buggers - I left the old tube around the tree below where I installed the new tube. They went for the old tube. I'm sure they will catch on soon enough.


What do you make of this - before the damage was too bad - I fixed a couple of spots with electric tape. When they came back, they chewed in the exact same spots - this time through the electric tape.

[fred]

once they taste the sap its all over , gotta bbq them