Trap for Big Squirrels from Pieges Ouell traps

Our neighborhood has become over run by the squirrel population. Destroying the garden, ravaging the bird feeders and trying to get into the garage. It was time to take action to prevent any more damage. This trap has been incredibly effective. It is extremely rugged and we'll built. It works, buy it if you have a squirrel problem. For more details, see below.In the last 3 weeks, we have eliminated 15 squirrels and 2 chipmunks with one of these larger sized traps. I'm sure that number would be much higher, had I been home to reset the trap during the day and if I had known about baiting it properly. The count generally goes up over the weekend when I'm home all day and down during the work week when I'm not.My baiting tips. At first I baited as the manufacturer suggested, with a soft granola bar piece on the nail in the trap. That yielded nothing but ants for me. Since the squirrels are going after our bird feeders, I decided to try that. A small pile of peanuts and sunflower seeds in the trap has been very successful. My trick is to make sure the pile is visible with a few accessible where they can be reached. They get a taste and then they are committed. See the attached photo.Make sure the trap is in a safe location. Keep far away from children and pets. This thing will easily break adult fingers, so it could do great damage to children and pets. In my case, I have a fenced in back yard with no kids or pets. If someone came over, I'd be sure to remove the trap. It's a little intimidating setting it the first couple of times, but it's quite easy after only a few tries. Make sure to follow the instructions. I've looked up videos on YouTube and some people were demonstrating it incorrectly. Watch the manufacturer video, if in doubt.Be advised that this trap typically kills the squirrel instantaneous, but not always. I've witnessed it in action. Most of the time it works as intended and breaks the neck of the squirrel and it's over before they know what's happened. I've also seen a squirrel dodge into the trap and get their shoulder into the trap. If that happens, it's not quite so quick, FYI. There have also been a couple of occasions of some blood. Only 2 out of the 15, but I thought it might be worth mentioning. Squirrels don't seem to care about smell, blood or their dead relatives. I've seen squirrels squeeze by a dead one to get the bait. Ruthless little rodents.If you need to reduce your squirrel population, look no further than this we'll engineered beauty.July 2025 update: approaching 80 squirrels that have been taken with this trap. Still functioning great. The only change I've made is to mount the trap on a larger, heavier and wider board, to keep it from getting overturned when a larger squirrel thrashes about for a few seconds if it's not killed instantly. Still plenty of squirrels in the neighborhood, but I'm doing my part to keep the population in check.

Our yard is overrun with squirrels that ravage our fruit trees. After the trap arrived this morning I baited it with peanut butter and staked it at the base of the pecan tree the squirrels nest in. No joke, I had caught a big one within an hour. It looked like a swift, clean kill. This is a sturdy, well-designed, effective trap that is already working to protect our yard.Minor cons: takes some strength and care to set and then open after a successful catch, feels a tad overpriced but is a quality trapEdit: three squirrels in the first week! I just saw one get caught. The trap is very effective but the kill is less swift than I thought.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I bought this rather expensive trap because fox squirrels take about half my apricot crop a season despite my best non-lethal efforts. This thing is the real deal, hence the price. If you are on the fence about small or large, go large. It’s the perfect size for fox squirrels but would be just as effective on Norway rats, pack rats, smaller squirrel species and other similarly sized critters. I would not recommend it for possums or skunks as it is too small to be effective/humane. Followed all the instructions about anchoring the trap in place (screwed it to a 2x4 and attached it to a fence). This is important since all strikes are not immediately lethal. Do wear gloves when baiting and arming the trap to mask your scent. The trap is simple to set, but requires the upper body strength of an average male or athletic female to set the spring loaded double kill bar. I am reducing from 5 to 4 stars for the fact that it might not be possible strength-wise for some to safely set the trap. Otherwise, this is absolutely effective and sturdy. It should last for years and was not made in China, so I’m not dinging them for charging a fair price. Finally, I have saved at least the cost of this trap in produce realized in one season on one tree. My top day saw 3 squirrels eradicated, so check frequently for animals. Snowflake trigger alert: In case of an animal that has not expired, have a back-up method of dispatching the animal. I use an inexpensive pellet rifle and a single shot behind the ear at point blank because it allows me to dispatch without touching the animal or the trap. For 8 squirrels caught, I had to do a follow-up only once. Do your part to stop the spread of invasive species and wasted food. If you can handle setting it, get this trap!