#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  Those damn squirrels!

## Mendip

Mrs Mendip is not happy.

She's got used to my dogs digging up her seed beds, running off with plant pots containing seedlings and digging up newly planted papaya saplings. She's not happy about it, but accepts it. And besides, next year I'm going to put a fence around her veggie area. Or maybe the year after...  when I get time.

But now she's really gone into one and I'm worried it's going to push her over the edge. 

She phoned me last night and couldn't stop talking about 'these bloody squirrels'.

For a long time now we've had a family of squirrels living in a small copse of trees adjacent to our garden. I've never begrudged them the occasional banana, mango or papaya,. I like to see them running around and if they're prepared to run the gauntlet of four dogs then I think they deserve the occasional treat. Mrs Mendip doesn't see it that way.

Papaya seems to be their favourite...



Jackfruit are also fair game...



And we get so many mangoes I don't mind seeing this most mornings...



I must admit, it does get slightly annoying when these squirrels just half eat everything, then move on to something else. But the chickens get the benefit of all the leftovers, so there's no waste.

But what has really now got Mrs Mendip's goat, and she's really unhappy...  the squirrels have moved on to her pride and joy, her lime trees. I never realised that squirrels ate limes, but maybe in the absence of anything nicer they'll eat what they can get - we've got no papayas or mangoes at the moment.

My wife has spent a lot of time developing the lime trees and we get a good crop almost year round... There must be about ten trees in all around the garden.





But now, every morning my wife has been finding five or six half-eaten limes scattered around the base of each tree. She also usually manages to see the back end of a squirrel and it's bushy tail as it scarpers over the wall. But too fast for a photo it seems.





I find it hard to blame the squirrels to be honest. Our area is getting more and more developed, the trees are disappearing and these guys are just trying to survive as their habitat disappears. But, try explaining that to Mrs Mendip!

Does anyone have any ideas for protecting her limes against these squirrels? 

I don't want to harm the buggers, just keep my wife happy. I've suggested to leave a couple of bananas out each night to fill them up so they can leave the limes alone. But Mrs Mendip's response wasn't really that polite.

I've seen fruit tree nets on Lazada designed to keep birds away, but my feeling is the squirrels would just chew through them?

Any ideas?

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## docmartin

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a9017491.html

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## headhunter

we had 6 a week ago after our fruit,got a rat trap cage,put a bit of banana insde[problem solved] take for a ride then drop them off near a building site.
aroy B.B.Q. ::chitown::

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## happynz

The squirrels would make for good tucker for the monitor lizards.

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## NamPikToot

Why not get her to make up a spray of Garlic & Chilli, spray it over them and see if the buggers like their limes spiced up

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## BoganInParasite

We've got our first and only lime atm, planted the tree only six months ago. The Thai wife would turn into an unrelenting murderess if something damages it. Hard enough for her to cope with the vege garden pests.

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## happynz

I saw a video where the world's hottest chilis were tested to see if rats would be repelled. It didn't work.

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## Mendip

^^^ Problem is, as they're Thai squirrels they will probably like garlic and chilli on the limes. I don't want to attract more.

Many years ago, in a previous life, I discovered how intolerant my then Thai girlfriend was to mustard. She could take limitless amounts of chilli, but a tiny smear of Colemans mustard hidden under the ham in a sandwich had her snorting like a horse. I found this strange as I can take mustard an inch thick on a ham sandwich but a small amount of chilli will get me going. 

Maybe a mustard spray on the limes would work?

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## Mendip

> We've got our first and only lime atm, planted the tree only six months ago. The Thai wife would turn into an unrelenting murderess if something damages it. Hard enough for her to cope with the vege garden pests.


Yes, my wife gets almost childlike with pride at growing a few limes or mangoes in the garden and I fear the worst for these squirrels if I can't find a solution.

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## Mendip

> we had 6 a week ago after our fruit,got a rat trap cage,put a bit of banana insde[problem solved] take for a ride then drop them off near a building site.
> aroy B.B.Q.


HH, I think this may be a solution. It does seem a shame to get rid of them as, like I said, I enjoy seeing them running around. But I think the wife's solution will be a lot less humane if the limes keep getting eaten.

Happynz - a last resort I think...  my daughter would never speak to me again!

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## Bettyboo

Firstly, I see no direct evidence that the squirrels are to blame; has Somtamslap's Pa been spotted in the area?

Secondly, the blame clearly lies in the Mendip's lack of foresight; why don't you buy some mangoes or bananas and place them on a bird table close to the squirrels?

Lastly, and this is the important one, is there any chance of seeing Mrs Mendip's goat? Just a snap or two for us goat lovers??

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## NamPikToot

> ^ but a tiny smear of Colemans mustard hidden under the ham in a sandwich had her snorting like a horse. I found this strange as I can take mustard an inch thick on a ham sandwich but a small amount of chilli will get me going. 
> 
> Maybe a mustard spray on the limes would work?


Supersize it with wassabi

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## Jeremia2

Get a cat - Let nature deal with things itself...

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## misskit

22 pellet rifle

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## Mendip

> Get a cat - Let nature deal with things itself...


We have several neighbours' cats secretly buried in our garden after they took one risk too many with our dogs...

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## HuangLao

FFS, just leave the critters alone. 
They do what they do.

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## ootai

I quite often take 3 of our dogs out in the sidecar of the motorbike, I take them out into the paddy fields and let them run wide they love it.
If they see me go near the bike they jump straight into the sidecar ready to go.

Anyway a couple of weeks ago we were going down the road and one of them sees a squirrel run across the road in front of us so he jumps out the front does a somersault and I go over him with the sidecar wheel. Luckily he only got a little bit of skin taken off.

Then when I get home I asked the Missus if they (Thais) eat the little bastards and she said no, when I asked why not she told me too much trouble as they are too small.
Once again I just had to shake my head as I see them regularly eating rats and small birds. Maybe the squirrels are too hard to catch.

Maybe if you don't want to kill them put some sort of barrier around the trunk of the trees so they can't climb up like they use on power poles.

I fully empathise with your missus if I had the little bastards eating any of my fruit I would kill them without hesitation.

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## misskit

^^ I don’t know about that. Every now and then there is a critter population explosion when they try and eat everything. Those damn squirrels got into my seedlings and made a mess of the project. Why? Nothing there they would eat! Dug up my bulbs, carried them over to their tree and licked the bone meal off them. Chew the bird feeders trying to get all the seeds out. Little shits!

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## Dillinger

Do your fruit and veg shopping at Big C you cheap bastard and leave nature be :Smile: 

My Missus would have eaten all those squirrels by now. 

And I dread to think what would happen to the creature who fucked with her papaya salad

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## cyrille

Aww, misskit I can't believe your attitude.  :Sad: 

Cute little critters they are.

Entertain me every breakfast time with their energy and amazing gymnastics.

I guess headhunter has concluded none of those lovable rogues getting spit roasted at the building site are his son's reincarnation.  :Very Happy:

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## Pragmatic

I say no to squirrel damage on your papaya. More like bird. Just cuz you see a squirrels tail doesn't make it the guilty party. Sorry.

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## misskit

Eastern gray squirrels are pests in the garden when their numbers get up. I’ve deer that nibble the plants as well as an occasional turtle. I can share. The squirrels just destroy things.

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## parryhandy

Back in the UK the squirrels used to climb up our bird table pole and steal the nuts left for the birds. It was quite funny watching them trying to climb the pole with grease on it.

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## Looper

Got the same deal goin on with the papayas in my garden.



But the culprits are not squirrels - they are flying foxes/fruit bats.



Managed to get there in time a week later.

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## Mendip

^ Bloody hell, sure that's not a pterodactyl? I thought they were extinct. Our dogs already go nuts watching the squirrels running along the wall - they would go ballistic if one of those things landed in a tree.

There used to be a colony of bats (normal size) living in a palm tree just outside our garden and I used to enjoy watching them stream out at dusk and start flying around - must have been hundreds. Unfortunately a gang of builders from Surin killed the lot for food. Seemed like such a shame, they'd been in that tree for years.

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## Mendip

> I say no to squirrel damage on your papaya. More like bird. Just cuz you see a squirrels tail doesn't make it the guilty party. Sorry.


I don't know, I've seen nibble marks in the Papaya but I'm sure the birds join in as well. However it would be a brave squirrel to run up a solitary papaya tree with four dogs roaming round the garden.

One thing I have noticed is that whenever I've tried growing European runner beans the bloody sparrows eat all the red flowers and we get no crop. Seems strange - back in the UK the sparrows never touched the bean flowers.

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## Mendip

> Maybe if you don't want to kill them put some sort of barrier around the trunk of the trees so they can't climb up like they use on power poles.
> 
> I fully empathise with your missus if I had the little bastards eating any of my fruit I would kill them without hesitation.


A barrier may work for the papaya trees as they are tall and tend to stand alone, although papaya protection isn't a a priority just now as the dogs have taken to digging my wife's papaya saplings. My first job when I get home will be installing dog protection.

The problem is, these squirrels tend to enter the garden from height - along power cables, the wall, or through overhanging and overlapping trees. I'm starting to think that non-lethal intervention will be impossible. I'm happy to leave them be but I have a feeling Mrs Mendip will take things into her own hand. One day I'll return home after a work trip and the squirrels will be gone. My wife will just shrug her shoulders if asked about it

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## headhunter

yesterday afternoon our electric R.C.D. came into play.found out it was in the loft.shower heater cable.seems to have been chewed? i have seen squirrels going under the guttering so as we have only lemons & limes for food which they wont touch,maybe its the covering on the cables.FRIED SQUIRREL ANYONE.

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## Mendip

> yesterday afternoon our electric R.C.D. came into play.found out it was in the loft.shower heater cable.seems to have been chewed? i have seen squirrels going under the guttering so as we have only lemons & *limes* for food which they wont touch,maybe its the covering on the cables.FRIED SQUIRREL ANYONE.


I beg to differ...  you can ask Mrs Mendip about that!

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## bowie

> One day I'll return home after a work trip and the squirrels will be gone. My wife will just shrug her shoulders if asked about it


The Perfect Solution. Yet, personally I wouldn't bother asking about their eventual disappearance, just chalk it up to their migratory/survival instincts.

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## headhunter

> I beg to differ...  you can ask Mrs Mendip about that!


call in and you can have a bag full,1 branch alone has over a dozen on it,grown in a pot.

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## Dillinger

Focus some  cameras on your yard to find out if it is the squirrels and  see how they are getting on the trees. 

Look on Lazada for Xiaomi dafang. Only 690 baht and have night vision. You can also control   them and shout through them remotely from your oil rig and tell your gardener to stop playing with your dogs genitalia.  :Smile: 

YOOT LEN HAM MAA!!! 
Will stop Somchai in his tracks :Smile: 

Also good for watching wildlife  and seeing what the snakes get up to at night and finding out where they are sleeping and hiding out in ambush to prevent your daughter from being bit. 






They spin around 360° and 93° vertically too

Put the mi home app on your phone and control them from wherever in the world

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## Dillinger

While your at it, look at these Xiaomi yee lights, only 550 baht.


They also run off that mi home app and you can set timers for when they come on and off for security or turn on and off when you want and light the place up like a Xmas tree with a full spectrum of colours and flashing lights, be it indoors or out.

Maybe train the dogs up so when you shout cats, Cyrille or snake through those cameras or the lights come on they will go in search.

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## Dillinger

> The problem is, these squirrels tend to enter the garden from height - along power cables, the wall, or through overhanging and overlapping trees. I'm starting to think that non-lethal intervention will be impossible.


You don't have to kill them, set up trap boxes in the trees, pop round Headhunters for the free fruit he's offered you and release the vermin there.he won't blame the squirrels either thinking they don't like citrus, the daft get :Smile: 





Another for your Lazada shopping list



<Don't forget to click my papaya coloured button for all this free sagely advice Mendip :Smile:

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## Dillinger

Your Missus could also get a bit of payback and clean that full bait box out in your snake house. Save you a few quid on pet shop mice :Smile:

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## Mendip

Well. A+ for effort Mr Dillinger, many thanks for the thought. I just tried to send you one of these greens but it won't let me. I'll try and sort that out.

You don't forget much, but a couple of points.

The gardener issue has solved itself. The dogs stopped lying on their backs and besides, two seem to have turned gay and are now more interested in each other. 

I don't work on oil rigs, I work on boats. I have some standards.

The camera is a good idea. I bought this from Lazada a couple of years ago but have never got it to work. It's now an expensive book stop in my office at home.



Do you have any actual experience with that camera you recommend? I'll think about the tree lights at Christmas.

Problem is, we see the squirrels coming and going so don't really need a wildlife camera for proof, I just want to keep them away from the wife's fruit trees to keep the peace at home. It would be interesting to see any snake activity at night and also to see what the dogs are getting up to after dark...  I tried this once before by strapping a webcam to one of our dog's heads but another dog just jumped on him, bit the camera off and ran off with it before chewing it up. That 30 quid webcam lasted about 5 seconds. 

I think maybe the box trap is the way to go. No chance of the missus going anywhere near the snake house to empty out the squirrels but the idea of dropping them off at HH's place makes sense, and get a few replacement limes for the wife while I'm at it.

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## Dillinger

> Do you have any actual experience with that camera you recommend?



I'll give you a demo of the neighbours bedroom tonight




> I'll think about the tree lights at Christmas.


They're not tree lights. You replace them with your normal lightbulbs. Supposed to last about 7 years too

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## Mendip

Aah, I read 'tree' lights, but it's 'yee' lights. I'd better check my work tonight.

Look forward to your neighbour's demo, don't get much action offshore...

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## Amina

Fully agree - Eastern Grey Squirrels are notorious for simply nipping on one piece of fruit, and then going to the next piece. They eliminated "ALL" our nectarines, and are now in the process of destroying our peaches and apples! Truly a real pain in the derriere......

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## Pragmatic

Birds I tell ya. Birds.

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## Mendip

^ There should be a couple of Dill's wifi cameras waiting for me when I get home from work next week.

 Instead of using them in the bedroom I was planning on setting them up in the garden to get to the bottom of this. I'll put one by the papaya trees and can hopefully can report back in a couple of weeks...

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## Mendip

I'm out the back this morning trying to save me fish and the dogs just won't stop barking.

In the end I relent and go to see what's up... and they're all looking up in a mango tree...





No sign of the neighbour's cat up there... but a bit of detective work...



Yep, those bladdy squirrels are back again! 

I wondered why they'd been leaving the limes alone... who wants a lime when you can get fresh mangoes?

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## Mendip

The missus ain't happy today.

Messing with her limes is one thing...



But mess with her jack fruit and you've raised it to a whole new level.



Yep, those damn squirrels are back. They're brave little buggers to risk a garden with five dogs running wild but they have really started something here. I've seen the missus like this before... usually about the time I decide to head back to work.

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## cyrille

> They're brave little buggers to risk a garden with five dogs running wild


They just know dogs can't climb trees.  :Very Happy:

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## Mendip

^ Yeah, but the wife can.

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## David48atTD

Fruit protection bags.



I'm sure there is a cheap Thai version.

---

While you are waiting for delivery, grab a few of these from TESCO ...



Wife might have a few already.

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## OhOh

> Another for your Lazada shopping list


You've been here before.

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## OhOh

> Do you have any actual experience with that camera you recommend?


We had some at my fathers house. They enables all the brothers to log in from their homes, zoom, rotate and even speak to him when he was by himself.

He eventually moved into an "care" home where he died after a few months.

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## Mendip

^ Yeah, it's all a bit deja vu-ish.

The problem solved itself last year because the squirrels ate all the jack fruit and then moved on to the mangoes. The wife doesn't seem so badly affected by losing a few mangoes since we get so many, and the gardener has learnt to hide the evidence early in the morning to stop her going into one. The limes seem to be a last resort when nothing else is on offer.

I'll look into these bags, but are they not more for bird protection? I'd have thought the squirrels would just nibble through.

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## Shutree

> I'll look into these bags, but are they not more for bird protection? I'd have thought the squirrels would just nibble through.


This is my first year owning some young fruit trees which look likely to bear fruit. In past years I have only looked at Thai squirrels as part of the scenery. This year I am more invested in that scenery, so my perspective might change.

My experience with UK grey squirrels was that they are strong, agile and intelligent. Persistent too. All my garden bird feeders had to be 'squirrel proof', which didn't stop the little hooligans trying to gnaw their way through the metal cages. Though unsuccessful they'd still hang around because some birds are messy eaters and a lot of seed would end up on the ground for the squirrels. 

I can see Thai locals using bags on their mangoes and guavas. I assume they discourage birds but I can't see them stopping a squirrel. It looks like a lot of work and is really only practicable with small trees.

Since this is a squirrel thread it isn't really off topic to mention the UK red squirrels. We used to take our children to Formby where there is a squirel reserve on the coast. Those red squirrels are really a pleasure to watch.

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## Iceman123

My only contribution to this thread is the amusement I have had by asking any Thai to pronounce the word “squirrel”

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## cyrille

:Very Happy: 

It passes the time.

Try 'crisps' next time.

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## Dillinger

> asking any Thai to pronounce the word “squirrel”






> Try 'crisps' next time.


Is this whilst your Penis is lodged in their throat?

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## Mendip

^ You're alive!

Pretty damning evidence tonight...



I spent some time wondering whether to do the right thing and shoo it away, but decided to try and get a decent photo instead. I'm not particularly fond of jack fruit anyway.



I really can't see this chap surviving long... as the saying goes, he has to be lucky every time, the five dogs only have to be lucky once.

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## CalEden

Get a pellet rifle!

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## Saint Willy

> I spent some time wondering whether to do the right thing and shoo it away, but decided to try and get a decent photo instead. I'm not particularly fond of jack fruit anyway.



 ::doglol::

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## misskit

The squirrels around my house in Chiang Mai look a lot different than the squirrels at Mendip’s place. The ones around my place look like the creature on kid’s movie Ice Age that chases the acorn around.

I finally got around to looking them up and found they are not squirrels at all. They are northern treeshrews. 



How stupid I feel not knowing these weren’t squirrels.

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## Mendip

^ That's a cute little thing misskit. 

Our guy did a recce to the front garden mango trees today... I saw him running back but he's skating on thin ice...

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## Saint Willy

Cute little guy, what did you name him?

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## Mendip

Ducky!

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## Saint Willy

Geat name, your wife is gonna be pissed.

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## Mendip

'Squirrel at Sunrise!'



I saw this guy about 200 metres from our house during the dog walk the other morning. They use the overhead cables as runways in the sky and cover great distances going between gardens and raiding the fruit trees. I like to see them but with another bumper mango crop developing this year the squirrels are going to have a field day. They seem to just take a few mouthfuls out of a mango before throwing it on the ground for my wife to find and moving on to the next. It drives her berserk.

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## Grumpy John

My only contribution to this thread is the amusement I have had by asking any Thai to pronounce the word “squirrel” Iceman123.  I do much the same with my wife.  I start talking about my grandson whose name is 'Maverick'.  I just asked the wife to say squirrel and she called it กระรอก after seeing a pix.  Sounds like 'star lock' when she says it.  Squirrel was a non-starter despite my requests!

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## Saint Willy

> the amusement I have had by asking any Thai to pronounce the word “squirrel” . I do much the same with my wife.


Does it make you feel big?How does your wife feel about your disrepect?

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## Grumpy John

> Does it make you feel big?How does your wife feel about your disrepect?


Well boofhead, we have a laugh, just the same as when I cannot say Thai words the right way.

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## Pragmatic

White ones are more common around here, Non Suwan, than the common greys.

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## Dillinger

The wife not eaten one of these squirrels yet?

Was having a joke with my wife the other day about wildlife and how the Thai eat all theres. She doesn't get feeding wild birds and gave a catapult signal.

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## Mendip

^ Is the 'catapult signal' two fingers? I've had that one a few times before!

I can only think that squirrels must taste pretty awful. My wife eats some pretty disturbing stuff but has never mentioned eating one of our squirrels. I can't imagine they'd taste a lot different to rabbit? These squirrels must be dicing with death now so maybe squirrel pie will be on the menu in the near future.

I had a walk around the garden first thing this morning and found this white stain on the ground... which only means one thing.

Yep, one of the wife's jackfruit is leaking.



That damn squirrel had nailed another in the night... there's not many left on this tree now but we have a bumper crop of mangoes developing so I guess he'll soon turn his attention to them once they're ripe enough.

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## Latindancer

Try some rat poison mixed with banana

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## baldrick

get one of these - trail / wildlife camera

and maybe a 10 meter waterproof  USB endoscope you can connect to your phone and stick in your pond

captcha | lazadacom

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## Shutree

> White ones are more common around here, Non Suwan, than the common greys.


A couple of places I lived around Nakhon Phanom and Udon Thani the squirrels were mostly off-white. They didn't seem uncommon.

Here in Nongbua I see fewer squirrels and they are more grey above and beige below. Finlayson's Squirrel aka Variable Squirrel, which is suggestive. According to Wiki:

_The pelage colour in this species is extremely variable and the subspecies are often defined by this feature_.

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## Shutree

This bit from Wiki is just for Mendip and his mangoes:

_Field evidence suggests that it has the usual form of dichromatic mammalian color vision, which may enable it to discriminate ripe from unripe fruits._

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## David48atTD

> The wife not eaten one of these squirrels yet?
> 
> Was having a joke with my wife the other day about wildlife and how the Thai eat all theres. She doesn't get feeding wild birds and gave a catapult signal.


Wait till she does the '(your) sausage/chop chop/duck' signal  :Smile:

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## David48atTD



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## David48atTD



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## Mendip

The trouble with those squirrel baffles Dave is that our squirrels attack from above and come down to eat. There's several large trees on vacant land next to us and the squirrels use these and the overhead wires to enter our property at will. As soon as they hit the ground I think that our six dogs would make short work of any intruders.





> Try some rat poison mixed with banana


As much as I'd like to see these squirrels gone, poison will never be an option. I wouldn't even poison rats... if we ever get a problem due to the chicken food, etc, I clean out the workshop and our dogs nail any rats or mice as they make a bolt for it. Much more humane I feel. I've previously tried to save two of our street dogs who'd been poisoned and it's not a memory that will go away. I find poisoning abhorrent to be honest and besides, you never know what will eat the dead squirrel. 

I have a feeling that this squirrel is getting a bit bold and will soon come a cropper by dog. If it came to the crunch maybe I could look at humane traps, but I must  admit I quite like watching them. 




> get one of these - trail / wildlife camera
> 
> and maybe a 10 meter waterproof  USB endoscope you can connect to your phone and stick in your pond
> 
> captcha | lazadacom


Yeah, thanks Baldrick, that's a thought. I think Dillinger suggested something similar last year but Kerry ballsed up the delivery and it never arrived. I may as well get some good close-up pictures of the squirrels to show the wife!




> Wait till she does the '(your) sausage/chop chop/duck' signal


Dave... have you seen the women in Birmingham? I doubt Dill is straying far.

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## David48atTD

> Dave... have you seen the women in Birmingham? I doubt Dill is straying far.


I googled '_women in Birmingham_' and this was the first result ...  :Dunno: 




This was the 2nd ...

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## David48atTD

Oh, for comparison, here is the first image for '_women in Odessa_'



but we digress  :Smile:

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## Latindancer

Getting back to the squirrels....

Mendip, perhaps you could make one of these ?

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## Mendip

I've just got back from Odessa but yeah, I like that. It's gone on my list!

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## Latindancer

Perhaps with a tiny platform underneath so that it doesn't look so suspended in mid-air....?

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## havnfun

> Mrs Mendip is not happy.
> 
> She's got used to my dogs digging up her seed beds, running off with plant pots containing seedlings and digging up newly planted papaya saplings. She's not happy about it, but accepts it. And besides, next year I'm going to put a fence around her veggie area. Or maybe the year after...  when I get time.
> 
> But now she's really gone into one and I'm worried it's going to push her over the edge. 
> 
> She phoned me last night and couldn't stop talking about 'these bloody squirrels'.
> 
> For a long time now we've had a family of squirrels living in a small copse of trees adjacent to our garden. I've never begrudged them the occasional banana, mango or papaya,. I like to see them running around and if they're prepared to run the gauntlet of four dogs then I think they deserve the occasional treat. Mrs Mendip doesn't see it that way.
> ...


You might find that its the birds. Thing is that the fruit is ripe for picking and you are a day late. So when you hear a lot of birds chirping at daylight they are into your fruit, Get out of bed and run out to the tree and pick it. Works for me, It's always the birds.

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## Shutree

> 


That's a UK girls' night out. Flash the flesh. Just look at the guy next to them with his winter coat done up and both hands in his pockets. Brrrr.
Not that I'd be rushing to cuddle any of those to keep warm.

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## Shutree

> Oh, for comparison, here is the first image for '_women in Odessa_'
> 
> 
> 
> but we digress



Please, keep digressing.

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## David48atTD

> Papaya seems to be their favourite...


Mate, we have a Paw Paw tree looking exactly the same.

But no squirrels ... we have fruit bats.

Normally the fruit doesn't get that ripe because SWIMBO has made a Papaya Salad ... but we now have an excess of trees, thus an excess of fruit.

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## David48atTD

> Please, keep digressing.


Main street in Odessa (Deribasovskaya Street) ...

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## Saint Willy

yes, I would

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## Dillinger

> Just look at the guy next to them with his winter coat done up and both hands in his pockets. Brrrr.


Nah, there's no erect nipples on show. That black guy would be like my Missus going out on a night out in Summer here :Smile: 





> SWIMBO has made a Papaya Salad ... but we now have an excess of trees, thus an excess of fruit.


On Mothers Day last week, I saw a papaya in the Chinese Siamburis here. 10 pounds and 50 fuckin pence.

Imagine paying 500 baht for a fucking cucumber :Smile:

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## Dillinger

> Brrrr.
> Not that I'd be rushing to cuddle any of those to keep warm.






> yes, I would



Shudder :Smile:

----------


## beerlaodrinker

> Nah, there's no erect nipples on show. That black guy would be like my Missus going out on a night out in Summer here
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mothers Day last week, I saw a papaya in the Chinese Siamburis here. 10 pounds and 50 fuckin pence.
> 
> Imagine paying 500 baht for a fucking cucumber


Her indoors got given a papaya  plant when we moved back to oz from a singaporean friend. This this is a year old and doesnt stop making fruit. Of course it never gets allowed to be yellow. All goes in the papaya salad . Saving me a motza. Papaya green or otherwise aint cheap

----------


## beerlaodrinker

She has another plant that she reckons is male so she has put a skirt around the  base to try to trick the kathoey plant into bearing fruit. Lets see how that goes

----------


## Dillinger

:smiley laughing:

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## Mendip

Before I head back to Odessa I want to get this thread back on track. It's supposed to be about these damn squirrels. 

The mangoes are getting ripe and I chased off this little yellow bugger today.

A free Green if you can spot the miscreant.

----------


## Mendip

> You might find that its the birds. Thing is that the fruit is ripe for picking and you are a day late. So when you hear a lot of birds chirping at daylight they are into your fruit, Get out of bed and run out to the tree and pick it. Works for me, It's always the birds.


Don't reckon. It would take some bird to gnaw through a lime skin, or a jack fruit skin for that matter. 

It's those damn squirrels!

----------


## misskit

No, no, NO! “Good’ Samaritan rescues an electrocuted squirrel.  :Smile:

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## CalEden

A gun you build and can go squirrel hunting with! Squirrel and chips, or with peas might be pretty tasty.

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## Saint Willy

> Shudder



bastard

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## OhOh

> A free Green if you can spot the miscreant.


Sitting on the "whitish" wall junction. Just above the convenient stick, left by the gardener no doubt.

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## Mendip

^^^ Cal, you seem to have a violent streak...

First you want me to hand grenade my pond and now to shoot my squirrels?

What's next? Choke my chickens?






> Sitting on the "whitish" wall junction. Just above the convenient stick, left by the gardener no doubt.


Yes, we have a winner! A Green is on it's way.

You can just see his bushy yellow tail sticking out from behind a papaya... which incidentally Dill can be yours for just 8 quid plus P&P. Let me know.

I leave that old branch leaning against the corner of the wall for a quick escape route for cats if they get cornered by the dogs. It's saved a couple already.

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## Dillinger

> You can just see his bushy yellow tail sticking out from behind a papaya... which incidentally Dill can be yours for just 8 quid plus P&P. Let me know


How many teeth marks are in it, I shall let her know, although she's been managing with these European Papayas now...

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## Mendip

Surely that's a turnip?

You're spoiling her again!

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## Dillinger

> Surely that's a turnip?


I know my onions mate


She'll get another week out of that

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## Mendip

To be honest I've often wondered what the difference between a turnip and a swede is, and which one is neeps?

I wonder if Lom knows?

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## lom

> To be honest I've often wondered what the difference between a turnip and a swede is, and which one is neeps?
> 
> I wonder f Lom knows?


Those are English names for some root vegetables so why would I know?  :Smile: 

Google knew:

White flesh = turnip
Yellow flesh = swede

neep is short for turnip

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## Shutree

> Those are English names for some root vegetables so why would I know? 
> 
> neep is short for turnip


I believe that neep is a Scottish name. I have heard of 'Neeps and Tatties' without ever knowing what neeps were, or caring enough to find out.

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## beerlaodrinker

> How many teeth marks are in it, I shall let her know, although she's been managing with these European Papayas now...





> Those are English names for some root vegetables so why would I know? 
> 
> Google knew:
> 
> White flesh = turnip
> Yellow flesh = swede
> 
> neep is short for turnip


And there it is. Explained.

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## Mendip

> I believe that neep is a Scottish name. I have heard of 'Neeps and Tatties' without ever knowing what neeps were, or caring enough to find out.


^ Yes!

Well now you know Shutree, brought to you by this fine thread.

I checked our few remaining papayas today and found this... it may have been there a while but hadn't registered before.

I just fukkin despair at times... I'm paying for this. Looks like the wife and gardener are conspiring to keep the squirrels out.

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## misskit

^ (Scratches head) How does that work?


Maybe a baffle made of a big flexible plastic bowl from your local cheap plastic goods store. Slice it to the middle and make a hole big enough for the papaya trunk. Slip it around the trunk.

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## Saint Willy

> I believe that neep is a Scottish name. I have heard of 'Neeps and Tatties' without ever knowing what neeps were, or caring enough to find out.



turnips and taters

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## Headworx

> (Scratches head) How does that work?


Yeah not seeing how that'd work either, from what I've seen the metal work needs more fabrication before it'll catch squirrels.

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## Shutree

> ^ (Scratches head) How does that work?


Plug it into the 220V mains?

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## Mendip

^ But then there would surely be the risk of taking out any other unsuspecting creatures, including the wife.

Aahhhh....

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## cisco999

> I don't want to harm the buggers, just keep my wife happy. I've suggested to leave a couple of bananas out each night to fill them up so they can leave the limes alone. But Mrs Mendip's response wasn't really that polite.



Brilliant idea.

The little bugger have to eat something.

Be happy you aren't hosting a family of raccoons.

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## Mendip

I was sitting with the dogs having an evening Leo tonight in the workshop because it was raining. 

As I looked out, our lam yai tree just leaned over and fell down. There was no wind... it must just have been the extra weight of the rain. I guess it could have gone any time.

I checked that all six dogs were around me and then went to have a look. The root system doesn't look much at all.



I debated whether to disturb the wife's soap opera viewing to tell her about her favourite tree collapsing, but of course it was too good an opportunity, so I ventured inside and told her.

She came out and gave the gardener a right earful, which I must admit seemed a bit unwarranted but I've long learnt to keep out of these things. He's not the greatest gardener in the world but I don't see how he could have predicted this.

And the relevance to squirrels... the absence of this tree has broken the 'squirrel tree bridge' to our mango trees... they will now have to walk across the ground to access our trees. I reckon this problem will disappear pretty soon.

----------


## Buckaroo Banzai

> And the relevance to squirrels... the absence of this tree has broken the 'squirrel tree bridge' to our mango trees... they will now have to walk across the ground to access our trees. I reckon this problem will disappear pretty soon.


Send them over here. Wife feeds them every morning LOL

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## Mendip

A few days ago I moved the gardener's strange papaya protection cage shown a few posts up, to protect a newly planted small lychee sapling from getting trampled or dug up by the dogs.



Yesterday I noticed that something has now nailed 30% of our papayas from the now unprotected tree. Surely just a coincidence?



I wonder if Pragmatic is on to something here... he's always insisted that the papayas were getting eaten by birds, not squirrels. It would be a brave squirrel to climb and risk getting trapped up a solitary papaya tree with six dogs running around. I'm sure Yogi would love to supplement his pigeon diet.

Are these nibble marks or peck marks? It also seems suspicious that all the seeds have gone... that doesn't seem like squirrel behaviour.



At the moment the squirrels seem to be concentrating on our mangoes... they run along the top of our perimeter wall and dine at will and there's nothing the dogs can do about it apart from bark and howl. It drives them to distraction. But to be fair we have hundreds of mangoes this year so I don't begrudge losing a few. We lost around 150 in just one storm last week.



We often find part-eaten mangoes on the ground. The squirrel's MO seems to be to take a few nibbles out of a fruit and then chuck it on the ground. This could get frustrating towards the end of the mango season.

----------


## Mendip

I've done a lot of investigating today... yeah there's not much going on at the moment. I really need a break in Bangkok.

The papaya had been revisited some time since yesterday afternoon and now looked like this. Definite peck marks I would say and my suspicions are on a pair of mynah birds I see quite often.



The good news is we haven't lost 33% of our papayas, only 25%. There was a small stubby green one at the top of the bunch that I'd missed.



Overnight mango losses are ongoing... these from just one tree and all had only a small nibble removed.



And a close-up of the nibble marks... completely different to the peck marks in the papaya. Despite our abundance of mangoes this will get annoying... why can't these squirrels finish up a complete mango before starting on the next?



And underneath our chompoo tree, or rose apple, or bell fruit?

Many part nibbled fruits discarded on the ground.



And here's the nibble marks... just a couple of bites out of each one. To be honest I don't mind this so much because I've always thought these chompoos are just rubbish.

----------


## strigils

Fake snake

----------


## Klondyke

From my garden, as collected yesterday, as usually after the first larger rain - Meng Man - Price as its weight of gold
This year harvest not so huge,  


I waived my portion in favor of others...

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## nidhogg

> Those are English names for some root vegetables so why would I know? 
> 
> Google knew:
> 
> White flesh = turnip
> Yellow flesh = swede
> 
> neep is short for turnip


In Scotland, neeps are what other parts of UK call swede.  In Scotland think they are known as yellow turnip or neeps.

So, anywhere else, neeps and tatties would be mashed swede and potatoes.

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## Shutree

> Despite our abundance of mangoes this will get annoying... why can't these squirrels finish up a complete mango before starting on the next?
> 
> 
> And here's the nibble marks... just a couple of bites out of each one. To be honest I don't mind this so much because I've always thought these chompoos are just rubbish.


I don't know as fact, I guess it isn't deliberate spoiling. My working hypothesis is that squirrels are smart enough to hang on to the branch above the fruit, rather than the fruit itself. After a bit of nibbling the ripe fruit falls from the tree. This leaves the squirrel with two choices; either walk the long way down to the ground and risk being set upon by dogs or make a short hop across to a nearby twig and start a new mango. Easy decision.

Chompoo are okay to eat from the market, while our local trees do indeed produce rubbish fruit. The gf has one in front of her house, it is continually dropping leaves or fruit or both. The fallen fruit are barely edible, only attract wasps and other insects, then get squashed by vehicles and are a complete pain to brush away. Worse than a waste of space.

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## lom

> This leaves the squirrel with two choices; either walk the long way down to the ground and risk being set upon by dogs or make a short hop across to a nearby twig and start a new mango. Easy decision.


I don't think choice is involved at all, it is prolly as simple as:
My mango disappeared.
Oh there's another one.

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## Shutree

> I don't think choice is involved at all


I am sure you are right. This being the squirrel thread, I was bigging up the squirrel.

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## Mendip

^ I don't want these squirrels 'bigged' up... they're turning into right little b@stards.

There must have been 50 or 60 chompoos on the round under the tree this morning, and virtually every single one had just a little nibble taken out of it.



Even some of the live ones had been nibbled. Why couldn't the damn squirrel have finished that one off before going to the next?



I guess on the plus side I don't mind losing these chompoos which are hard and tasteless... and maybe this will divert the squirrels away from my mangoes?

Still, I hate waste so these went to the chickens... who don't like them much either. I have to crush them up to even tempt a chicken to take a couple of pecks.

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## Mendip

Now that I've stopped the habitual Leo drinking I'm rarely outside in the evening but tonight I sat with the dogs a short while to have a small nip of Hong Thong while waiting for my spaghetti to boil.

Something caught my eye... and I think it was Troy who just recently mentioned he saw a white squirrel? I couldn't fond the post.

Anyway, I like to think I have balls of steel but I have nothing on this guy... we have a garden with seven marauding dogs...



Up the papaya tree he went...



So this is where our papayas have been going...



I take my Fez off to him... he deserved that snack. There were 7 murderous dogs scouting about.

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## Shutree

Squirrels are fast.
My ex's sister had a lurcher. Ugly dog but fastest thing in the park. It used to tease big dogs by getting them to chase it.
Then one day it chased a squirrel. Squirrel straight up tree. Dog straight into tree. All kinds of bones broken and massive vet bills. The poor thing never fully recovered. 
Don't mess with squirrels.

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## mudcat

I am sure you have seen mooring rope rat guards at one harbor or another in your nautical life.  I am sure any sheet metal shop could fabricate these at modest cost.  This would work if all trees within the Venn diagram of your yard are protected.

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## naptownmike

Interesting I haven't seen any squirrels that color in Thailand before. They usually seem a bit darker.

Something put a hurting on this sad looking bunch of bananas.

Brother in law was having to much "fun" over new year and left them to long.

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## beerlaodrinker

> I am sure you have seen mooring rope rat guards at one harbor or another in your nautical life.  I am sure any sheet metal shop could fabricate these at modest cost.  This would work if all trees within the Venn diagram of your yard are protected.


That's a good idea would work for the wifes pawpaw trees I think

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## Mendip

> I am sure you have seen mooring rope rat guards at one harbor or another in your nautical life.  I am sure any sheet metal shop could fabricate these at modest cost.  This would work if all trees within the Venn diagram of your yard are protected.


That looks a great idea Mudcat. I found an old plastic bin lid which I was going to modify but I can't find a papaya tree suitable. I need an isolated tree as with the others the squirrels just leap across to nearby mango trees which they use as bridges to escape to safety. These damn squirrels are surprisingly athletic when there's a pack of barking dogs chasing them.

The only tree I found where this may work was this one, but I can't see any self-respecting squirrel wasting it's time climbing this... it certainly isn't one of the gardener's finest efforts. Sometimes I wonder if I should actually call him a 'gardener'.

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## ootai

> These damn squirrels are surprisingly athletic when there's a pack of barking dogs chasing them.
> 
> The only tree I found where this may work was this one, but I can't see any self-respecting squirrel wasting it's time climbing this... it certainly isn't one of the gardener's finest efforts. Sometimes I wonder if I should actually call him a 'gardener'.


There are only 3 things you need to do.
1. Call him your gofer!
2. Let you Missus worry about the papaya trees, when she has none she will do something about it (whinge, kill the squirrels, buy them at Makro).
3. Teach the dogs to climb trees.

Problems solved.

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## Mendip

> 2. Let you Missus worry about the papaya trees, when she has none she will do something about it (whinge, kill the squirrels, buy them at Makro).


I didn't even know Makro sold squirrels.

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## malmomike77

Between the Deer and Wild Boar in the freezer section Mendip

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## Mendip

^ Thanks MM... I rarely go down that aisle.

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## malmomike77

Oh, along from the duck throats, surely you've bought them before?

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## CalEden

Fasten the Rat glue mats around the tree trunks.

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## hallelujah

> Oh, along from the duck throats, surely you've bought them before?

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## Mendip

> Fasten the Rat glue mats around the tree trunks.


I thought you'd be recommending hand grenades, Cal?

Anyway, it's very difficult to defend against attacks from above. I watched this incoming b@stard enter one of our front mango trees via the electricity wires this morning. The mango tree is full of blossom and I reckon he was doing reconnaissance for when it fruits.

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## CalEden

> I thought you'd be recommending hand grenades, Cal?


Of course, hand grenades would be more exciting and damaging too!  Too many tree stumps than you have time to remove!

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## headhunter

get a rat trap,it works every time,just put a bit of any fruit in it,then the wife wife will do the rest,taking them for a walk,or if there are any cambodeians working nearby they will bar-ba-que them.

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## Mendip

I took this very Shutree-esque picture of our white squirrel today while sat inside, looking out of the window.

If you look very closely at the tree trunk to the immediate right of the left-hand Spirit House you can see his tail as he disappeared up into the mango tree foliage.

I can't say I'm too optimistic about this guy's long term future. I watched him take a short cut across the corner of the garden instead of sticking to the top of the wall which would have taken him on a 3 metre longer route. As they say, he has to be lucky every time... our seven dogs only have to be lucky once.

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## Shutree

> If you look very closely at the tree trunk to the immediate right of the left-hand Spirit House you can see his tail


Got it! Great shot.  :Smile:

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## Mendip

All this rain we've been having has produced a glut of papayas.



And bounty time for the squirrels...



This tree is just about still standing thanks to the gardener's efforts.



It seems that the squirrels are getting fussy and have so much choice that they now leave the seeds.

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## Mendip

I took a walk around the garden earlier during a rare moment of dryness between all the rain, with the pack of course in attendance. 

Yogi suddenly took off, quickly followed by the rest and a beautiful yellow squirrel just escaped by running up the _long gon_ tree.

A bit of investigation revealed this. The squirrel seems to nibble off the skin and spit it out before getting into the middle of the papaya.



Another treat for the chickens.

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## DrWilly

stealing the food from the squirrels. poor beggars.

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## Mendip

^ It's the exact opposite. These damn squirrels are eating more of our papayas than I am.

They just wait for the perfect ripeness, then come at night and nail them.



This papaya must have been twice the weight of a squirrel and it's been demolished.

The chickens know what to expect.

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## Shutree

> This papaya must have been twice the weight of a squirrel and it's been demolished.
> 
> The chickens know what to expect.


Same problem here. I need to get myself some chickens.

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## Reg Dingle

^ You mean some "splendid cock" :Smile:

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## malmomike77

> I need to get myself some chickens.


I'm sure with Mendip's new found DIY skills he could come up with some contraption to scare them off

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## Shutree

> ^ You mean some "splendid cock"


I'm good. Only a flock of chickens needed.   :smiley laughing:

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## prawnograph

Supporting our squirrel population, they've just about finished these bananas, yesterday on a jungle expedition over the back fence, further back from these trees, i found and uncovered a huge bunch wrapped in vines, that's the wildlife fed for a while

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## prawnograph

and in partnership with the squirrels - - once they leave their banana snacks, we've seen a pair of birds cleaning up the now opened bananas.
Hear them more often than see them, I'd thought a type of pheasant, now we know: 

*Greater coucal*
Centropus sinensis
Thai: นกกระปูดใหญ่)

The greater coucal or crow pheasant (Centropus sinensis), is a large non-parasitic member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. This is a large species of cuckoo at 48 cm. The head is black, upper mantle and underside are black glossed with purple. The back and wings are chestnut brown. A widespread resident in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it is divided into several subspecies, some being treated as full species. They are large, crow-like with a long tail and coppery brown wings and found in a wide range of habitats from jungle to cultivation and urban gardens. They are weak fliers, and are often seen clambering about in vegetation or walking on the ground as they forage for insects, eggs and nestlings of other birds.

----------


## Topper

^ how do they taste?

----------


## Mendip

^^ We get a few of these about the place... they have a wonderful call.





There is a big tree just outside our perimeter wall where I think the squirrels have their drey.



It looks to me that they may live in the fork of these branches. The problem I have is that the branches of this tree merge with the branches of our longan tree, the branches of which in turn merge with the branches of our jack fruit tree. 



So the squirrels have a 'tree bridge' into the garden and it's impossible to keep them out.



I'm not prepared to kill them so we will just have to learn to share. I haven't mentioned this to the wife though. The dogs may occasionally get lucky but there's nothing I can do about that... that's between the dogs and the squirrels.

These small white egg-shaped things scattered around the floor at the base of one of our jack fruit trees are jack fruit seeds. This only means one thing... that one of the jack fruits has been nailed by the squirrels. The gardener had thoughtfully placed protective plastic bags around a couple of jack fruit close to the ground and I must admit that while I appreciate we live in Isaan and they have their own practices, I have my own thoughts about this. For one, there isn't a chance in a million that the squirrels will go for low hanging jack fruit within reach of the dogs. Also, I would have thought that any self-respecting squirrel will just gnaw through the plastic if it fancies the jack fruit... the plastic just falls apart after a few weeks in the sun anyway. But as I mentioned elsewhere, the gardener is determined to make this place look like a rubbish tip.



Not surprisingly the jack fruit seeds came from one of the 15 or so unprotected jack fruit, high up in the tree, that has been nailed by the squirrels. All the dogs can do is just watch and bark.

----------


## ootai

Mendip
It could be worse at our place the BIL's cows come in the back gate and eat the low hanging jackfruit and I might add any that the BIL knocks down.

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## Shutree

> I'd thought a type of pheasant,


According to Wiki, early arrivals in India thought they might be pheasants, so killed them to eat. To answer Topper's questuion, they reportedly taste vile.
There are quite a few around here and they are happy to walk away rather than fly if they don't need to. They also seem to eat just about anything, I have seen one with a small snake.

----------


## ootai

> ^ how do they taste?


obviously not very nice or the Thai's would have caught them, which would be easy as they run on the ground a lot and eaten them all.

----------


## misskit

Those coucals are horrible things. They watch bird nests until the babies hatch then come in and eat the helpless chicks. If only I had my pump BB rifle here in Thailand there would be fewer around here. 

 ::spin::

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## hallelujah

> Those coucals are horrible things. They watch bird nests until the babies hatch then come in and eat the helpless chicks. If only I had my pump BB rifle here in Thailand there would be fewer around here.


You have to hold on to your emotions, leave the birds be and let nature take its course, MK. 

There's a reason it's called *wild*life.  :Smile:

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## Shutree

> They watch bird nests until the babies hatch then come in and eat the helpless chicks.


Nature, red in tooth and claw. Nestlings are a snack for snakes and rats, probably tokays too. And don't get me started on domestic cats.
In UK, magpies are often seen in the earliest days of spring perched on the bare branches of tall trees, keeping watch. the research now suggests that they are mapping birds' nests before the foliage is too thick and that they can remember where those nests are.

----------


## Mendip

> Those coucals are horrible things.


They're only surviving Misskit.

Everything has worked in balance for thousands of years until humans came along and changed it all.

In the UK songbirds are becoming increasingly scarce but you can't blame the magpies... their influence is a drop in the ocean compared with humans'  modern farming practices and pet cats.

----------


## prawnograph

The overgrown area behind the house, my goal is to clear the vines smothering the bigger trees, get clear space under the trees, otherwise leave it to nature. 

The pair of coucals I don't mind - though I didn't know of their bad habits. 

If only they ate cats, there's one stray that of all the places it could go chooses to crap in the rock garden area. 

I won't start a thread _"those cute squirrels"_ but this morning with daughter #1 at breakfast watching from the kitchen window 2 adult one junior bouncing around on the branches a reminder of why we built on the edge of town, spent some time earlier this year working back in my old life in Wellington NZ, small city, but not for me anymore.

Those damn/cute squirrels- having munched through every banana on one tree, they didn't touch the edible flower.

----------


## Mendip

> Those damn/cute squirrels- having munched through every banana on one tree, they didn't touch the edible flower.


Yeah, but those damn wives will soon nail that banana flower!

----------


## Mendip

Once it was started on, that jack fruit lasted only two days. Now only the skin is left.



The dogs watch the squirrels come and go above ground, through the trees, and it drives Yogi mental.

----------


## Mendip

I went down to see the chickens this morning and saw this, which only means one thing...



Those damn squirrels had visited during the night. We picked most of the jack fruit last week despite some not being fully ripe yet. It was the only way to save them.



I went to look at my beans and to my amazement, looked up and saw this.



They've become very bold and the dogs don't even bother trying to chase them any more. I shouted and he ran off.

I looked up again a few minutes later...



That's two for sure and there's also a yellow one around as well. We seem to be supporting a whole family of squirrels.

----------


## aging one

> We seem to be supporting a whole family of squirrels.


and they are calling and texting friends and neighbors telling them all about the good pickings at Chez Mendy.




Perhaps cooking a a nice pot of this will make them think twice about raiding your rai.   :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 


Traditional Brunswick Stew (Appalachian Squirrel Stew)

----------


## Mendip

^ I'm way too soft to kill one AO but if the dogs ever do get lucky I may well give that recipe a go!

----------


## Shutree

> Perhaps cooking a a nice pot of this will make them think twice about raiding your rai.


Even the Isan gf hasn't mentioned eating them, which is a surprise. Usually any wildlife I point out gets a response about how it can be eaten. To be fair, she leaves it there, I don't have to deal with cauldrons full of witches' brew in the outside kitchen.

----------

