A big thank you to whoever posted the info on controlling marauding/fig damaging squirrels using the water barrel/ sunflower seed method.
I got rid of 4 squirrels in a couple of days this way. The first 2 went in within 1 hour of setting it up.
I hate to have to do this , but they were digging in all the fig pots and vegetable containers every day and wouldn't stop when I warned them of the consequences.
Anyway it worked well and the digging has stopped.

How large of a barrel are you using?

It looks like a 30 or 35 gallon barrel
about the same height as a 55 gallon barrel
I did have one squirrel that was long enough that I saw it hang by one leg on the rim and reach down to get the seed, sit on the rim to eat it and go back for more , so I lowered the water level a little and put soap on the rim.
Not sure the soap helped , probably just the extra reach to get the seed . 

drivewayfarmer,

Will you please post the link to the info on controlling squirrels and if available, a photograph of your setup?

Thanks,
Jimmie

JD ,
I'm not sure where I read it.
One of the fig forums for sure.
All I did was put the barrel in the corner of the fenceline where they hang out or pass thru frequently
They can look down from the fence to see the seed laying there ,obscuring the fact I suppose that it is actually floating on water. I put a scrap of 1x4 board across the top of the barrel and placed a few of the black sunflower seeds to entice them out on the board. From there I guess they do their best to reach down to get the seed . Usually I find the small piece of board has slipped away from them, but I've never seen them fall in.
My friend who approaches it more seriously descibed how he fixes the board to the barrel with a hinge inside the barrel, they walk out on the board to get the seed and fall in.

I wonder if we can get coons that way too?

Thanks this is great info Drivewayfarmer .
Found this on garden web .

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg081636542006.html?f3b2acd5ffd9ee331d2640d78089de4aFSl0I

Barrel pics 3/4 way through thread .

John

YES!!!!!
I love it!!!!

Cathy,

I think you'd need to get a bigger barrel.....

noss

Not sure if it was my post you were refering to but that is the BOD "Bucket Of Death"  I was referencing to in the squirell damage thread. I did not want to go into a lot of detail, because  prior time I posted on it I got spamed and spoofed I assume by some animal rights folks because I received thousands of emails as well a XXX email sent out to everyone on another forum list I below to sent from "MY EMAIL"  or maybe it was Squirell themsleves extracting revenege on me because I have found the BOD very effective
  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/search?searchid=12761329&showas=post&userid=1459686

sorry that was the wrong thread link
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5162422

strudeldog that was probably the post I saw.
I appreciate that it has worked so well. I got 2 more yesterday after I re- baited the barrel. The sunflower seeds eventually sink , so put a new layer on the water and few seeds on the board across the top of the barrel.
Had noticed some more digging in the fig pots , didn't know why the trap stopped working. Adding more sunflower seeds was all it took to get it going again . I don't enjoy this , but the damage is just to much to ignore and there is no shortage of squirrels.
Thanks ,
Kerry

Anyone tried something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Contech-Electronics-CRO101-Scarecrow-Motion-Activated/dp/B000071NUS/ref=pd_bxgy_ol_img_b

Would it be possible to post pictures of your barrel set up?

Cathy ,
My combination of being a technophobe and super busy right now , I probably won't get to it, but I'll try.
It really is just a plastic barrel sitting by the shady fence corner with a piece of 1x4 board sitting on the top opening. Barrel is about 1/3 to 1/2 full of water with black sunflower seeds forming a thick layer on top of the water to hide the water. I put a very  small handful of seeds on the board to get them to check it out.

I just use a 30 Gal standard size trash barrel, with the board across. I usually remove our bird feeder for a few days and place this in the same area.  I thought about using a single sheet newspaper or maybe a thin plastic under the seed to keep them from sinking and looking wet, but I never tried it. A few years ago I probably disposed of a least a dozen in less than a week. I didn’t care for the task, but the damage they were inflicting had to stop. I actually am afraid I have created a locally super race of squirrels.  All the stupid stand still and get shot or go swimming. The smarts live to reproduce; because of recent it  did not work as well.  I actually set up one with the deeper type bucket at one time and that is a tricky getting the water deep enough but not so they can reach down, it is better going with the full size trash barrel or such, as I doubt an escapee would make the same mistake. The key I think is setting up where they frequent and that small sampling of seeds on the board.

My biggest problem are coons.  They are drawn to the birds (my cockatoos) and their fruity smelling pellets which they love.  It has been a consent battle to out think them with the birds.  We started by raising the cages off the ground with metal pipes and yet still managed to get on the cages.  Then we wrapped the trees with aluminum flashing to keep them from crawling up the trees and jumping onto the cages.  Then the suckers started jumping 4' off the ground so we then wrapped the entire bottom 5' of the cage with aluminum flashing and yet they still managed to get to some cages.  So then we built another frame around the existing top exposed portion of the cage and covered it with wire, basically making a cage within a cage.  Now they have decided to start digging.  Then we got a dog - she's a puppy but does not seem to be bothered by the coons.  She will bark every now and then at them.  

Cathy--I don't know the details of your cage set-up, but if there's a way to utilize an electric "hotwire" it might be very effective against raccoons. I had an old "FidoShock" unit that I hooked up to some wires around my tree cage and it immediately put an end to javelinas getting inside. It won't injure people and it's a great deterrent for critters.

Hi TucsonKen,

Cathy, your dog will do the trick!  I have a huge squirrel problem and a dog will stop them.  So, I'm leaning towards getting 2 small dogs that won't tear up the yard as much. 

Is this something that comes with time?