squirrels

are grey squirrels a direct threat to rabbits?

i have a couple that have started to appear in the morning. passing though the garden for about a month now, collecting hazlenuts that grow nearby.
they get pretty close but don't seem to show any interest in the rabbits but they are nasty animals & i don'y trust them - apart from the possible fleas/ticks etc they might have.

mikek said:

are grey squirrels a direct threat to rabbits?

i have a couple that have started to appear in the morning. passing though the garden for about a month now, collecting hazlenuts that grow nearby.
they get pretty close but don't seem to show any interest in the rabbits but they are nasty animals & i don'y trust them - apart from the possible fleas/ticks etc they might have.

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I hope not... I feed two grey squirrels in my garden [emoji38]

They are very friendly! And haven't bothered my outside buns at all

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ah, cheers Graciee. slightly reassured.

i used get these to scare cats off (i take them off the fuse rope & light them & throw by hand - they are like banger fireworks but 10000x louder) but next door don't like it.
was thinking might have to get some more.

P.S. no harm to cats has been done, they're very quick animals.

mikek said:

ah, cheers Graciee. slightly reassured.

i used get these to scare cats off (i take them off the fuse rope & light them & throw by hand - they are like banger fireworks but 10000x louder) but next door don't like it.
was thinking might have to get some more.

P.S. no harm to cats has been done, they're very quick animals.

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Surely these must petrify your rabbits as well as all other wildlife. I'm not surprised your neighbours weren't keen

joey&boo said:

Surely these must petrify your rabbits as well as all other wildlife. I'm not surprised your neighbours weren't keen

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I got you one for Christmas! Nightmare

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loobers25 said:

I got you one for Christmas! Nightmare

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Just what I always wanted:lol:, ta L

When I had outdoor rabbits I never had any problems with squirrels, they didn’t go anywhere near their aviary run and wouldn’t have physically been able to make contact.

I wouldn’t recommend using those bangers personally, they could harm an animal and also could really frighten your rabbits too. Some rabbits will go into stasis if there are fireworks close by.

Cheers all.
- & i won't be getting any bird scarers. It was a long time ago i used them.

mikek said:

Cheers all.
- & i won't be getting any bird scarers. It was a long time ago i used them.

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Great news :thumb:

Yeah, I doubt pets, local wildlife and neighbors like things that bang. That'd be pretty upsetting for anyone in the vicinity and could hurt an animal.

What's wrong with squirrels anyway? I've got loads of squirrels and think they're lovely, they're not nasty at all.

William said:

Yeah, I doubt pets, local wildlife and neighbors like things that bang. That'd be pretty upsetting for anyone in the vicinity and could hurt an animal.

What's wrong with squirrels anyway? I've got loads of squirrels and think they're lovely, they're not nasty at all.

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I think it's difficult sometimes, I mean we have to protect our pets from dangers, which wild animals can present and grey squirrels have a reputation in UK after basically killing off the red squirrels - I don't personally see it like this, but a lot of people do. The two that come into my garden are very sweet and get pretty damn close to me tbh, but don't seem to be a threat to the buns. I have a family of foxes living in the garden too, their den is in the bottom amongst the trees, these are an issue and have been a pain from time to time with the buns, but not enough for me to do anything about it, and the family has lived there a long time, and I'm glad they have somewhere safe to live. But I guess the question is how'd you know what to do for the best? I like everything to coexist, and would never hurt an animal, but I also have a duty of care to the domestic animals in my care. I find this one difficult tbh.

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I do agree with graciee.. its difficult. I don't want to ever harm an animal, but if they pose a risk to me or my pets then I need to do something. I would prefer everything to cooexist, but I can't exactly tell a fox that they need to get along with my rabbits. so I had to block of areas they could get in, and do my best to stop them from wandering the garden. I had a close call of one of them at Snoopy's hutch, so that was it. eventually they gave up as it became more and more difficult.

I need to protect my family and pets (although they are family), if a human, or animal, poses a risk I will do something about it.

nobody said squirrels were nasty mean things and off with their head - a member simply asked if they posed a threat (which is fair). they don't, so all is fine.

Yes they did :? They said squirrels are nasty. Look at the first post.

A squirrel in a hazelnut tree is not going to kill rabbits... The neighborhood cats and dogs are more likely to give your rabbits fleas and ticks or whatever. And fleas and ticks aren't even common on rabbits anyway.

Do people on here drive hedgehogs out of the garden too? Because I've seen quite a few people on here talk about how lovely hedgehogs in gardens are, how hedgehogs are declining and need help, how they struggle in more urban areas (I wonder why:roll.

Driving squirrels and such out of your garden when there's no risk and then claiming anyone who doesn't do so is not "doing their duty of care" to their pets is just wrong. I haven't actually seen anyone say that no, squirrels do not pose a risk. If people have said that than good, I agree.

I get that with grey squirrels it's maybe a bit different in the UK, but tbh I think habitat loss is a much bigger risk to red squirrels and it's kinda pointless to just focus on the one issue. There's several issues besides greys, and they all need to be addressed for red numbers to start increasing.

Graciee said:

I think it's difficult sometimes, I mean we have to protect our pets from dangers, which wild animals can present and grey squirrels have a reputation in UK after basically killing off the red squirrels - I don't personally see it like this, but a lot of people do. The two that come into my garden are very sweet and get pretty damn close to me tbh, but don't seem to be a threat to the buns. I have a family of foxes living in the garden too, their den is in the bottom amongst the trees, these are an issue and have been a pain from time to time with the buns, but not enough for me to do anything about it, and the family has lived there a long time, and I'm glad they have somewhere safe to live. But I guess the question is how'd you know what to do for the best? I like everything to coexist, and would never hurt an animal, but I also have a duty of care to the domestic animals in my care. I find this one difficult tbh.

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The reputation is not unfounded, as in areas where they both live greys will see the reds off their food, although I suspect outright killing is an overstatement. The whole squirrel pox thing is awful but, again, it's not like the greys are intentionally infecting the reds

We have squirrels: my rabbits ignore them unless they do something stupid. The squirrels aren't interested in the rabbits either. At my parents house, when we had Nethie Charlie, he hopped out of his hutch and past a sun barrier (bit of chipboard) at the exact same time as a squirrel and they both scared the wotsits out of each other. It was hilarious XD That was about the only incident though!

my friend had a bird nesting box right outside his bedroom window & i had babies in. One morning in the summer he opened his curtains and he described how a squirrel was reaching into the box and it killed all the babies.

I am vegan & would not harm an animal, but was worried about the squirrels.

same with cats. next door (the other side) have a young cat now & i have seen it stalking the rabbits quite a few times. Bunnies with sticky-up ears are alert to cats way before i even see them, but Poppy & Chester were both floppy ears & didn't hear them at all. Chester died but Poppy's new companion is sticky-up ears so this has helped a lot.