As Maxwell Smart might say, "Aha!  The old 'fake owl' trick!'"  We tried a
similar trick with the pigeons that had invaded our corn crib.  Instead of
the phony owl, we ordered from Nasco Farm and Ranch supply
<www.nascofa.com> (though you could just as easily make one of these) a
"bird scare octopus."  The octopus is constructed of a half-circle plastic
dealy, with big spooky eyes painted on it, and it has a bunch of
plastic-y, reflect-y doo-dad strips hanging from the bottom of it.  (Don't
you love my descriptions?  I should've been an English major!)  The
miraculous aspect of all of this is...the damned thing worked.  I don't
know why a pigeon would be afraid of a plastic mollusk, but it sure kept
them out of our corn crib.

Actually, the eyes, combined with the rustling sound and the motion did
help to keep the critters at bay.  It might work with squirrels, too,
provided the flappy tentacles have a breeze to move them (and if you have
this in your attic, it may be a greater concern than even squirrels!), and
provided you move the device every 7 days or so.

Good luck with the squirrels.  May this topic rest in peace.

Rob Martin


On Fri, 31 Aug 2001, Mario Rups wrote:

> Only, I fear, until the squirrels get used to the fake owls.  Or the fake
> snakes, which will also work -- for a while.  Or the taped owl hoots.
> Squirrels ain't dumb, and it will not be long before you see them perching
> on top of the owls and snakes and chit-chattering their defiance at the
> world in general and humankind in particular.
>
> Mario Rups
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