mail slot

[Gus]

I was sitting in my recliner chair reading "Mistakes were Made" the other
day and I hear a noise at the door. Sounded like the mailman. But I do not
see a mailman in the window. I get up and look out... Damn squirrel!
Apparently it was climbing on the door. So can I not leave my inner wood
door open anymore? Can a squirrel climb through the mail slot opening? I
like to open the inner door to let light in through the outer glass door..

I am really hating squirrels more and more.

[Pat Kiewicz]

Depends on the species of squirrel. My guess is that an adult (American)
red squirrel could easily slip in, a grey squirrel maybe, fox squirrel less likely,
without some immediate motivation (such as evading a predator outside,
or a large, obvious pile of peanuts on the inside).

Red squirrels make storage middens, and they've been known to make them
in houses and outbuildings. I've heard stories about people going to open
up their cottages Up North and finding heaps of cones stashed by red
squirrels inside. And I once noticed one going in a small hole at the top of
the neighbor's foundation, which apparently was going up through the wall
to stash food in the attic. These little guys are tough--I've seen them stand
up to and even run off much larger fox squirrels.

I watched a 'love-sick' male fox squirrel follow the female of his desires
around the other day, but she was having none of it and rightly so; despite
all his frantic tail-waving and posturing, he was inferior in size to her.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored

[Frank]

Rented a house that had clothes dryer in the basement and vent at ground
level. A rabbit got in and died. Talk about a mess with smell and
maggots. Could not use the dryer afterwards.

[John McGaw]

It would depend on the dimensions of the mail slot and the squirrel in
question. My local adult grey squirrels are well-fed and rather rotund so
I'd imagine that it would take a rather large slot to accommodate one of
those. On the other hand, one of the very young ones might make it through
a 1-1/2" slot.

[Gus]

"Pat Kiewicz" <pkie...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:20130606-1...@Pat-Kiewicz.news.eternal-september.org...

> Gus said:
>>
>>I was sitting in my recliner chair reading "Mistakes were Made" the other
>>day and I hear a noise at the door. Sounded like the mailman. But I do
>>not see a mailman in the window. I get up and look out... Damn squirrel!
>>Apparently it was climbing on the door. So can I not leave my inner wood
>>door open anymore? Can a squirrel climb through the mail slot opening?
>>I like to open the inner door to let light in through the outer glass
>>door..
>>
>>I am really hating squirrels more and more.
>>
> Depends on the species of squirrel. My guess is that an adult (American)
> red squirrel could easily slip in, a grey squirrel maybe, fox squirrel
> less likely,
> without some immediate motivation (such as evading a predator outside,
> or a large, obvious pile of peanuts on the inside).

Just grey squirrels around here and they are fairly round. Though there are
some young and up and comers around. I don't think it would come in the
slot, it's about 2 inches but has a guard/tray on back that is usually
closed. The squirrels around here don't seem very afraid of people. One
keeps hanging out in my backyard. Caught it snoozing on the on the top of
the deck railing the other day. Had to chase it off.

[Todd]

Maybe you could modify this Redneck mouse trap for squirrels:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Redneck-Mouse-Trap/

[Todd]

Here it is in action:
http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_may2013/RedneckMousetrap.gif