Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: Badger on October 04, 2010, 02:02:41 pm
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My girlfriend was living in a mobile home park in the city with a large population of red squirrels which are not native here. One particular squirrel appears to be about 5 times the size and weight of the others and regularly taunts the cats face to face and has even taken on my chihuahua, he bangs on the sliding glass door and makes the dog go nuts, they race back and forth fighting with the glass inbetween them. The stupid thing sleeps on top of a telephone poll just tempting the red tail hawks to come and get him, when they go in for a swoop at him he lunges at them. Just walks around like he owns the world. Same color as the others just a lot bigger, I was wondering if this could be a fox squirrel? Or a cross of some kind, anyone ever heard of this before? If he wasn't so entertaining I would pop him with my pellet rifle. I would guess he weighs about 4# or so. Steve
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We've go fox squirrels down here and they are much bigger and more brazen but I've never seen anything like what you're talking about. That's crazy! You gotta get some video!
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Man Steve....all we have here isFox Squirrels....but I can't say that I have ever seen a 4 pound Squirrel before....sure it ain't a Pine Martin..... ;D
Damned Squirrels on steroids for.sure.... :P
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Is he always 5 times the size of the others, even in summer? Or could it be that he is getting a thick early winter coat and it is making him look so much bigger? I ask because when I went out Saturday morning, I saw several fox squirrels that looked way bigger and heavier than they normally do, kind of like what you are saying. One came down a tree and was having a standoff with a wild turkey. Guess who won? The turkey decided to take his morning groove somewhere a little less hostile.
CP
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4# is just a guess, we don't have winter here in So Cal, they don't really get winter coats from what I can tell. I have never been aware of any fox squirrels around here either but not sure if I would know one when I saw it or not. He might just be very very fat like obese and it gives him this huge impression, but face to face with a normal size cat he doesn't look all that much smaller. Steve
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Pics we need pics!!LOL
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ive seen many fox squirrels in the last three days that weigh atleast 3.5 lbs
this things are toads this year
havent seen this many this size in atleast 2 decades
too bad i hate eating rat
i could have shot 15 tonight alone
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Steve, we have Fox squirrels in Florida. They are about 2' long, bandit, black eyes, and real light colored. and weigh about 2 to 4 pounds. We also can't hunt them anymore, they are on the endangered list. Mostly because they are big and stupid. I'll put a picture up tomorrow, I have one mounted, before they were illegal to shoot.
This isn't the same species they have up north. These squirrels live in open pastures with cattle and tall pine trees. And some are almost blonde.
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Sounds like a fox squirrel, but without pictures, it would be hard to tell. We have them down here, but you can't hunt them any more, since so much of their habitat has been destroyed. That would be a Humongous squirrel, even for a fox squirrel. You have any nuclear plants, or waste dumps near you? Any meth labs near you? ;D Maybe you should take your pellet rifle, and trim his ......uh......that place in California,......uh oh yeah, el Ca hones ::) That might calm his aggressive nature down. My cat is a great squirrel catcher, and eater. But I don't know about a four pounder! :o Heck, I would have to help him eat that one! :o
Yes, pictures......maybe even a video of the glass door confrontations......You might be a ten thousand dollar winner, on funniest animals. ;) Sounds like you have quite the entertaining squirrel there. Could he possibly be some exotic that someone let loose, or escaped?
Wayne
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Mebbe his daddy was a woodchuck?
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did He look like this?? This is a Big One eyed Rat I had around the House for two years...he would eat peanuts from my Hand...
[attachment deleted by admin]
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He looks just like the one you posted, not living their anymore so I cant photo him, I was just watching the ones in my yard today and got to thinking about him.
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Supposed to be good eating. Does that mean good eating, if you're hungry?
Anybody tried some?
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Supposed to be good eating. Does that mean good eating, if you're hungry?
Anybody tried some?
Absolutely great eating, blindfolded I could not tell squirrel from rabbit, especially corn fed Iowa squirrels. Older ones are tough though. They're a bugger to clean, squirrel hide is easily the toughest skin I've ever seen. I would estimate only about half of a charge of #6 shot from my 20gauge actually got through the skin when I shot them as a kid. Those that did were nearly always inside the skin on the other side. I've heard their rawhide makes great bowstrings but I've never tried it.
George
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Bowstrings you say? Someone gave me 2 squirrel skins and I'm going to try and tan them. If that works I'll try a bowstring.
I'm also going to try and harvest one to try to eat and skin.
I know they're cute but they are also meat.
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I believe strings are made from rawhide. Take a look here: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,3042.0.html If you want to try a squirrel string, what you have is probably perfect. If you google squirrel rawhide bowstring you'll find some tutorials out there too.
Good luck.
George
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You don't want to tan them....if you are going to make a string from them....you want Rawhide....either scrape.the fur off....or leave it on....don't matter and take the hide and start cutting a continuous strip a quarter inch wide....in a circle....till you end up with a curly cue piece of leather....do it again ...and then you are ready to start making a string..
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Dang George...we must have been typing at the same time.... >:D
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El D-
So it takes a couple big squirrels to have enough for a string? I'm interested in trying this. But I think all we've got here in Indiana is fox squirrels.
CP
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So whats the problem? Are they protected?
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Nooooo, actually I need some clarification - I always thought red and fox were the same, but I read in the link you put up where fox work the best for strings and red aren't as good. I meant to say I think we only have red here. Because ours are kind of small and pretty smart. Don't get me wrong, I still plan to try it no matter which they are. I just don't know the difference between red and fox, I always thought they were the same ???
CP
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our gray squirrels are good eating!!! tender and taste like chicken!!! dip 'em in franks hot sauce for an hour then roll them in flour and fry like chicken good stuff. whats a fox squirrel??? 3#'s that would be cool JEFFW
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I guess we were El-D. :D Isn't there even a tool out there to help you cut perfect rawhide lacing circles?
Everywhere I've lived we've used red and fox interchangeably to refer to what is really a fox squirrel. There were gray squirrels in Illinois, but they were smarter, smaller and harder to get a shot at. Our Texas fox squirrels look like this:
(http://72.64.80.21/gks-pictures/blue-squirrel.jpg)
One time we got a trail cam picture of a more proficient squirrel hunter having success at the feeder:
(http://72.64.80.21/gks-pictures/blue-bobcat.jpg)
Boy, the Moultrie sure takes better pictures than the Remington. :o
George
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There is a western red squirrel, which is a pain in the arse when hunting, and it is smaller than the grey squirrels. The Fox squirrels down here in Florida, are reddish and grey, like a fox, and a black, and a reddish with some black. They get pretty big. Both the fox and grey squirrels are quite tasty. My mother used to cook them with dumplings, just substitute the squirrel for the chicken. She also used to fry them, like chicken. Either way was delicious, but my favorite was squirrel and dumplings, with a side of field peas, and fried okra, and fried corn bread, a platter of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet and onions, oh man! It just don't get any better! ;) :)
Wayne
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weve got all three here
the red squrriel is smaller and noisy as all get
then the gray,they are smarter than the red
thn the fox which is red/grey like fox,and much larger than the gray and also as smart
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Here is one of ours in Florida.
[attachment deleted by admin]
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thats cool Eddie 8)
but where did that squirrel ever find a taxidermist to make a mount of that kid :o
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Eddie, that looks like and about the same size as the one I was talking baout, mine might be a bit fatter but looks about the same. Maybe it is a fox squirrel. Steve
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Now the head on that one looks bigger and fatter than on the ones here, but ours are mostly the same color as that one. We do have greys here I know that, and as said above they are supersmart and fast, and then we have some that are red or reddish grey, but they don't seem quite as big as that guy. I will say this though, if you get ahold of a 2 year old or older male red he will have a tough hide. I tried to poke the tip of my freshly sharpened pocket knife through an old buck's hide once, and really had to work to get it in there.
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He looks bigger than most grey squirrels here in England. Maybe they grow bigger there.
Our native squirrel is the red which is smaller and more wary than the grey and usually solely a woodland animal. They grey was introduced here from America (I don't know why?) and being bigger and bolder than our red has virtually taken over and wiped out the red. The native reds are still strong in some areas of UK but the grey is taking over their territories and wiping them out gradually. The red is a protected species here now. I've never seen one around here in the south.
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That ain't shit Wally....they introduced the European Pine Martin here in the USA to control some.damned Beetle.that they ate in Europe....well.as viscous as Tue little Buggers are...and as big as they are....they decided that Red Squirrels and Bird Eggs were a much better diet....so now you can go almost a full season without ever seeing a Squirrel or a Partridge....that Human INGENUITY......
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The squirrel my Grandson is holding is 15" from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail.
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That's a big Tree Rat ..Eddie
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Mike, in this species that is average. With tails they are all of 3' long. They are getting real scarce now and tasted like crap eating them anyway. They spend there day in Longleaf pines eating pine cones.
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That looks like a very big squirrel to me.
Been out with my mate with his air rifle and bagged 4 grey yesterday. I've got their skins soaking in water overnight, but as my missus is a vegetarian she thinks I'm a murderer and don't want them cooking in the house so I've frozen the carcases. She doesn't know what's in the plastic bag in the bottom of the freezer trays, ssh!
I'm trying to tan two of the skins and make green rawhide with the others to try for bowstrings.
Anyone know when you cut rawhide into long stringlike strands do you the plait it?