Unlikely Predators

[Tom]

We've talked a lot about which predators to worry about when building outdoor enclosures. I met a new tortoise guy from here in Southern CA and he told me about personally witnessing scrub jays coming down and stealing babies. He also told me about catching bloody-mouthed ground squirrels in the act of eating hatchling heads and legs. He offered pics, I politely declined.

I've never had either of these problems, but felt it important enough to pass it on. I'm a big advocate of torts being outside, but be careful.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Wow, how gruesome. I can't believe he actually took pictures. I'd be freaking out too much to think about grabbing a camera...

 

[Tom]

That's what happened the first couple of times. He said no one believed him. He was walking around taking pic of his torts and when he rounded a corner, camera in hand, there it was. Originally, he thought it must be a possum or a raccoon.

 

[Candy]

Wow I never thought about squirrels Tom thanks for this information. I've been putting Ruby and Eddie outside in Dale's enclosure, but now that's going to have to stop because although we have Emma our Labrador I still see squirrels.

 

[terryo]

That's scary. Another thing ......I usually do some gardening while they are eating, and when I'm finished I take whatever food is left and bring it inside for later in the afternoon, especially now that I'm feeding venison to the boxies. I never leave any food outside. About the only thing here are squirrels....that I see.

 

[ChiKat]

Ughh I wondered about those devil squirrels. I have Nelson's outdoor enclosure on our second story deck, but squirrels do visit occasionally. I'll have to make it predator-proof come spring.
On a related note, I had a seriously disturbing dream last night about a Russian hatchling that had it's arm all chewed up

eta: Do you think a squirrel would ever go after my chihuahua? She chases them away from our house...she got chased by a rabbit once so I wouldn't be surprised

 

[Angi]

Oh that is awful I hate ground squirrels anyway. We have lots. My Rat Terrier keeps them out of the back yard.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Do those fake plastic owls do anything to keep squirrels out of the yard?

Otherwise, what could be a good deterrent if you've already got squirrels in your area? My gut reaction was "feed the squirrels. Keep 'em full and they won't need to hunt for tortoises" but then I realized that would just increase the number of squirrels visiting your yard probably...

 

[Angi]

I have one friend that shots them and my sons basketball coach uses a squirrel trap. It was full one time when I was at his house. I bought one and didnt have any luck.

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I just remembered a guy at the baseball field told me all about this thing he uses called a verminator. I checked it out I think the website was something like verminator.com. It was too expensive for me.

 

[chairman]

Sorry, I'm getting a tad bit confused. Is everyone talking about ground squirrels, or are some folks talking about arboreal squirrels too?

 

[Laura]

I wonder is tree sqrls would do that too? and if its a seasonal Need for them?
I would not have thought of them being a culprit.. hmmmm Jays.. yes.. Magpies, Crows, Ravens, HAwks, owls.. ?

 

[PeanutbuttER]

When I raised mice (yes, not squirrels but close enough IMO) I had a problem where they'd constantly eat their babies. After looking into it and trying to figure out what was going on I found out that the parents required more protein in the diet when pregnant. It's possible that squirrels are similar and that they'd only really seek out additional protein (hatchlings) when they're mating and breeding. In that case, it'd be a more or less yearly thing for them.

By the way, after switching to a higher protein diet I was quickly overrun with cute little tiny black and white babies. Very cute.

 

[Kristina]

One time I was sitting out behind the restaurant I worked at, taking a break, and I noticed a Fox squirrel sitting in a tree, eating something odd shaped. I walked closer to see what it was...

It had nabbed a chicken strip out of the dumpster and was going to town on it! So I would say they definitely eat meat, from time to time at least.

That said, we have squirrels EVERYWHERE around my house. As of yet I have had no issues with them, but I do not ever leave the babies outside unattended, either.