Here is all you should know about trapping squirrels for food.
People hunt for various reasons, including food, fun, fur, or survival. Whatever it is, the objective is the same; kill or trap targeted prey.
While this may sound strange to you, squirrels are hunted for food. Although not so popular today, squirrels have been hunted for food for centuries.
Trapping Squirrels for Food
The issue of safety is one that quickly comes up when such discussions are had. That is because squirrels are potential carriers of diseases.
Such diseases include tularemia, Lyme disease, salmonellosis, rabies, and leptospirosis. However, this doesn’t negate that trapping squirrels for food is still a thing in some places.
Not Dealing with a Squirrel Problem?
When trapping squirrels for food, it’s mostly assumed that you aren’t dealing with a squirrel problem at home.
This survivalist approach to squirrel trapping is made to provide an alternative source of protein. While this might sound gross, it’s a reality for others.
A survival situation means you must identify a small game within your location. Squirrels tend to be among the most common mammal species widely distributed across the world.
So, finding creative ways to trap these will be a better way to achieve your goals.
What Does your Local Trapping Regulation Say?
This might sound a bit off because you’re in a survival situation where you must hunt for food.
That notwithstanding, it won’t be a bad idea to figure out what local trapping regulations have to say. For the most part, the legal systems aren’t likely to charge you with a penalty in a survival situation.
If you can, consider checking what trapping regulations state about the method(s) used.
In a non-survival situation, it becomes increasingly vital to check the local trapping regulations to avoid an infraction of the law.
With that said, let’s proceed to find out more details on squirrel trapping for food.
A. Using Conventional Rodent Traps
There are tons of trap varieties designed for squirrel control.
These are also applicable for controlling other rodent species. To trap squirrels for food, you can deploy any of these traps.
These primarily come in three main categories; conibear traps, live squirrel traps, and tunnel traps.
i. Conibear Traps
You’ll mostly find Conibear traps being used in combination with box traps. These are designed to be positioned along squirrel paths as well as burrows.
It’s a lethal method of trapping that allows you to catch these rodents more effectively. This quick-killing device needs to be set appropriately for best results.
Also called a body-gripping trap, conibear traps can be used with bait to attract squirrels faster.
However, in situations where you’re placing such at burrow entrances, there’ll be no need for bait as these rodents will need to exit their burrows. The trap’s set of jaws is triggered as squirrels step on it.
The Conibear trap got its name from its Canadian Inventor Frank Conibear. Since its advent in the 1950s, the Conibear trap has proven effective in rodent control.
This can be considered an ally when trapping squirrels for food.
ii. Live Squirrel Traps
As the name implies, live squirrel traps are designed to catch squirrels alive. These mainly work best with bait. Plus, they need to be correctly positioned for the best results.
Now there are tons of live squirrel traps that come in various designs. These help achieve one goal; to trap these rodents effectively.
You’ll need to identify squirrel trails and caves for effective trapping correctly. Such knowledge gives you an idea of where to position your traps. Also critical is the need to understand how a surprise should be used.
Luckily basic operational instructions accompany each product.
iii. Tunnel Traps
The third class of traps is called tunnel traps.
Also called killed traps, these are set in several ways, including on ledges used by squirrels to access elevated areas and on tree branches. Now there are downsides to using tunnel traps when hunting squirrels for food.
With these, you cannot catch many as the trap can only handle a few. This reality might be less than ideal for you, especially in a survival situation.
When using any to keep reps, it’s essential to clear pets as they could end up injured or killed.
B. Making a Squirrel Pole
Aside from conventional squirrel trapping techniques, others like the squirrel pole are featured in several survival manuals, including those published by the US army.
This trap has a simple design that only needs a snare fire and a pole to create.
Here, an 8 to 12-foot pole is needed. If you find a tree frequented by squirrels, you can target that to set up your trap.
After leaning your 8 to 12-foot pole against the tree, the snare wire will need to be tied to the bar and about three to four nooses created.
The logic is this; squirrels love to squeeze through or push their way through tight obstacles or cover. So, your snare wire presents a challenge they want to surmount to get to the tree or off it.
As they push through the set nooses, it only needs further tightening, which traps and kills them.
This can be highly effective when set around trees frequented by squirrels. To use the squirrel pole trap, it’s essential to check with local legislation. This will mainly vary from one location to the next.
While that is true, Survival trapping is unlikely to attract any penalties.
Pest Control Approaches are Different
In the case of rodent pest control, the goal is to have squirrels expelled from homes and yards.
This is due to damage caused by them. Because squirrels can be clever, they must call for professional removal. This gives you a much faster result compared to DIY trapping techniques.
The strategies discussed above help with squirrel trapping for food.
These rodents can be hunted using multiple techniques. However, how you apply these techniques matters as they’re unlikely to get any results without the proper placement of traps.