Mysterious Squirrel Deaths

Hmm, it couldn't be the folks here at Harvard, as they don't use hooks.

Seriously, I don't want to see the critters murdered.

Is there a neighborhood dog or cat which might be responsible?

How high is the squirrel proof feeder? No chance of the squirrels having fallen from it, suffered a mortal blow, staggered and fallen? (Would explain the "from nowhere" blood trail...)

Or perhaps you have a bird of prey around? A small hawk maybe?

Jespah--

Iffy, Noble Family Dog, would probably have reacted to an invading domestic animal. Besides there were no tracks--and the bodies were left in situ.


Sozobe--

The feeders are hung from a rope strung eight or nine feet from the ground. Squirrels seem to fall regularly without permanent damage. Even if one squirrel were unlucky, two? Also the bodies were not directly under any of the feeders or the rope.

Fishin'--

I thought about hawks---but don't they migrate? Hawk Mountain is about 50 miles south of the Poconos and they counted record numbers of red tail hawks fleeing the northern winter this year. In the past we have had hawks feeding on both squirrels and songbirds from the feeding area.

I considered crows, but crows are gregarious birds and a Murder of Crows is noisy. I've never seen crows mob either a victim or an intruder quietly.

It's just me, I'm practicing my long range sharpshooting. Watch out for ordinance.

Hmm.. I see some small hawks and a few owls around up here in MA most winters. I'm not sure what types they are though.

I suppose it could be most anything but I see the squirrels at my place collecting seeds from the ground that the birds knock from the feeders. They are completely exposed and "death from above" would seem to explain the short blood trail.

I dunno.. Just seems plausible.

Noddy, did the two dead comrades fall in the same place?



Grrrr Our revenge will be merciless!

And Mr. Noddy better watch out, he prefers those naughty winged things to us smart rodents.
Plus, he's a suspect, too!

Curiouser and curiouser.

Two of them in quick succession would seem to go toward a predator. Especially if the first kill was ignominously removed. Hawk makes sense.

The feeder is new, but yeah, 8-9 feet doesn't seem nearly enough to fell a squirrel (unless they were already somehow weakened...?)

We hooked up an extension cord to a metal feeder and when a squirrel would get on, we'd plug it in. ZZZZZZZZZAAAAAPP! You've never seen a squirrel jump like that. Good times.

By the way, I've shot squirrels out of the treetops and watched them fall forty feet and hit the ground running, so a 9' fall isn't gonna hurt them a bit.

Cjhsa, you torturer!

I bet you've run over several of my comrades in your car-avatar.

Actually, I have tried, and it is very difficult to run over squirrels for some reason. You still see a lot of them painting the roadways red though.

OK Cjhsa. Enough.
That puts you in the official hit list of Als-Quairrelia.

Why do I get the feeling that this thread belongs in the Riddles and Games section?

I don't think it's a theoretical situation, if that's what you mean, Frank.

It is a puzzler, though.

Just having a bit of fun with it.

Here is something I have asked about at least a dozen times this year:

Why are there so many squirrels this year?

Fact is, there are more squirrels around (here at our home and off on the golf courses) than I ever remember before. And the increase seems to be significant.

Perhaps there are people who see the same thing -- and are using small guns, perhaps even BB guns, to deal with the situtation.

Me...well I feed 'em.

I actaully stow away acorns during the fall to put out in the winter.

Fishin'--

Thus far the hawk theory is most promising. The last snow fall ended in sleet and rain and the mice would be safe--and inconspicuous under the crust.

The average squirrel (whether or not it is fattened on black oil sunflower seeds) weighs about a pound and even a red tailed hawk has trouble taking off with a pound of prey. They could easily knock squirrels out of trees, particularly when the sap is out of the branches.

Laeknir--

The victims were found eight or nine feet from each other. The blood trails were completely separate.

Mr. Noddy is a reluctant bird watcher. His feelings about squirrels--"rats with fancy tails" come from old fashioned thrift. A squirrel eats about a pound of birdseed a week and I've counted as many as 18 squirrels in the yard at one time.

Cjhsa--

Local squirrels seem to lack traffic savvy, particularly on seldom-traveled roads. Fall is a bloody time of year--I presume because teen-aged squirrels are out on the highways and byways with learner's permits. Many of them never get a second chance to learn.

Frank--

Why do I always seem to be in your sights when you have a sack full of aspersions? Just because the victims are four-footed do you have no desire to know whodunit?

Frank--

As for the population explosion. The year before last was a year of drought. Last year the oak trees produced a bumper crop of acorns, enough to feed a number of squrrels through the winter and into mating season.

Well fed mothers produced--and raised--lots of healthy, foolhardy babies.

QED.

The blood coming from nowhere sounds like the clue. A popular rat poison works by destroying the ability of blood to clot. It is considered safer than other poisons because because it is slow acting and vitamin k is an easy antedote.