Shopsmith Forums

Yes they do need to be maintained and repairs are often needed.

Last winter we had 4 squirrels living in our house, packed in for sure. Most time in the past there has been a mother with a couple of young ones who then get booted out about the time the babies come. This year was different.

I'm starting to think times are a changing. Many many times this past fall we got to see one particularly industrious squirrel making trip after trip up the tree carrying as much leaves as it could in it mouth. Later it started adding plastic bags.... now that was fun to watch as the wind would catch them and dealing with that and catching on things make for some interesting times.

As is normal the box ends up getting to the point that not even a squirrel wants to live it any more and they head off to make nests in the near by trees like their forefathers/mothers did. So this is the time I either take the box down or at least have to loosen the mounting screws (due to tree growth). The top is hinged so when I get up there I take a look and do what is needed.

This year the box was very full and several other issues were presenting them selves so it was time to take it down.

This is getting to be no small task as I get older. The house weighs in at 23 pounds and is rather large to handle and get back up while working on a ladder. Taking it down is even more of an issue in some cases. Wonder why? Well it is lot heavier after they fill it up. How much heavier? This year it was 21 pounds heavier! So now I was dealing with a 44 pound house.

I was able to get it down without any major problem and nothing destructive happened. Here is a picture of it sitting on the ground.
The roof will need some minor repairs, I have learned that they like to chew and by adding some branches they will not damage the house as much as much as they could. A good cleaning and fresh paint are a must.

So lets have a look inside.
The back wall gets a far amount of water due to the open seam where the hinges are. They also like to scratch the inside, trying to get a bit more space I guess. I have seen them scratch all the way through the wall to the outside. This time that damage is minor. A seam along one side has opened up so that will need repair. All in all it doesn't look to bad.

The house is 24-3/4" tall. Take off the roof and you have 24 inches minus the thickness of the floor or 23-1/4" of height. The box was filled with in 8" of the top!
In this last shot you can see the scratching and the open seam. I had used a coated nail in my nail gun to see how well that would hold up. It didn't. Keep in mind the load and weather exposure it would be a lot to expect of a nail joint.

So out with the old.
They had shredded the bags, and it was interesting to see things like gum wrappers and all manor of other human waste that they had incorporated in to the box.
About a foot down in the box I pulled out a squirrel tail. Not far behind was the body of a full grown squirrel. Sorry no pictures of that. No idea what the story on that could be. No particular odor so it must have been dead for a good long time and pretty well preserved by the leaf particulate. This was a first for us, never before I have we found a dead one in the box. It was also interesting on how much plastic had been found and used. Back some years ago we never found plastic in the materials.

So in the next few days I will be doing the repairs, including new hinges and new paint and adding some screws but other then that it will be ready for another year or two.

Ed

reible wrote:Yes they do need to be maintained and repairs are often needed.

Last winter we had 4 squirrels living in our house, packed in for sure. Most time in the past there has been a mother with a couple of young ones who then get booted out about the time the babies come. This year was different.

I'm starting to think times are a changing. Many many times this past fall we got to see one particularly industrious squirrel making trip after trip up the tree carrying as much leaves as it could in it mouth. Later it started adding plastic bags.... now that was fun to watch as the wind would catch them and dealing with that and catching on things make for some interesting times.

As is normal the box ends up getting to the point that not even a squirrel wants to live it any more and they head off to make nests in the near by trees like their forefathers/mothers did. So this is the time I either take the box down or at least have to loosen the mounting screws (due to tree growth). The top is hinged so when I get up there I take a look and do what is needed.

This year the box was very full and several other issues were presenting them selves so it was time to take it down.

This is getting to be no small task as I get older. The house weighs in at 23 pounds and is rather large to handle and get back up while working on a ladder. Taking it down is even more of an issue in some cases. Wonder why? Well it is lot heavier after they fill it up. How much heavier? This year it was 21 pounds heavier! So now I was dealing with a 44 pound house.

I was able to get it down without any major problem and nothing destructive happened. Here is a picture of it sitting on the ground.

IMG_6839sc.jpg

The roof will need some minor repairs, I have learned that they like to chew and by adding some branches they will not damage the house as much as much as they could. A good cleaning and fresh paint are a must.

So lets have a look inside.

IMG_6840sc.jpg

The back wall gets a far amount of water due to the open seam where the hinges are. They also like to scratch the inside, trying to get a bit more space I guess. I have seen them scratch all the way through the wall to the outside. This time that damage is minor. A seam along one side has opened up so that will need repair. All in all it doesn't look to bad.

The house is 24-3/4" tall. Take off the roof and you have 24 inches minus the thickness of the floor or 23-1/4" of height. The box was filled with in 8" of the top!

IMG_6851sc.jpg

In this last shot you can see the scratching and the open seam. I had used a coated nail in my nail gun to see how well that would hold up. It didn't. Keep in mind the load and weather exposure it would be a lot to expect of a nail joint.

So out with the old.

IMG_6854sc.jpg

They had shredded the bags, and it was interesting to see things like gum wrappers and all manor of other human waste that they had incorporated in to the box.

IMG_6861sc.jpg

About a foot down in the box I pulled out a squirrel tail. Not far behind was the body of a full grown squirrel. Sorry no pictures of that. No idea what the story on that could be. No particular odor so it must have been dead for a good long time and pretty well preserved by the leaf particulate. This was a first for us, never before I have we found a dead one in the box. It was also interesting on how much plastic had been found and used. Back some years ago we never found plastic in the materials.

So in the next few days I will be doing the repairs, including new hinges and new paint and adding some screws but other then that it will be ready for another year or two.

Ed

I don't see any evidence of them chewing on the painted surfaces but I don't think I would paint anything that was intended to house wild animals (birds, squirrels, etc.). The animals don't know the difference as evidenced by all the man made stuff you found in the nest and it could be harmful to them.

However, I applaud you for providing habitat for the squirrels.

I think it must have been a couple of years ago that I posted information on this project. I'll have to see if I can find it. As I recall I had a link to the plans posted. I don't know if anyone else has built one but they are simple to do for any skill level. I would encourage anyone interested in build one of these or any other animal boxes to do so.

The roof of this design is the weak link as far as chewing goes. Well that and the vertical that attaches to the tree and where the squirrels like to hang out. The young ones especially like to find something to chew and the edge of the roof is a favorite due to it being so close. Below you can see a picture of the highlighted chew locations.
I don't think it needs to be replace this year. From past experience these house last in the 4 to 5 year range. So with that in mind I think I will do the minimum needed to the house and hope of the roof to last another year or two or three.

As for our backyard:
We are pretty friendly to almost anything

Ed