Squirrels...a somewhat funny story...

[Jenny Wilkie]

I'm curious if anyone knows much about squirrels. Do they leave a scent trail like cats or dogs? The reason I ask is because my grandmother asked me, and I have no idea.
She's had issues with squirrels eating all the birdseed and climbing her screen porch to GET to the birdfeeder. So she came up with what she thought was an ingenious plan...trap them, drive them 5 miles to the local park, and release them. After a while, she started thinking she was seeing the same ones, so when she'd trap them (she has a lot of time on her hands to be trapping and driving squirrels to the park), she'd put a dot of non-toxic green paint on their tails. Lo and behold, she started seeing ones with green paint on their tails coming back from FIVE MILES away to attack her birdfeeder and claw her screens. We've all though this was pretty funny...she has since removed the birdfeeder altogether, but the squirrels continue to climb up the screens thinking the seed is still there. It's now starting to really do damage to the screens on her porch, any advice on getting rid of them for good? Apparently trapping them and releasing them five miles away isn't doing the trick, they just come right back a few days later! She doesn't want to hurt them (and neither would I, they're just looking for food!), but her brand new screens are starting to tear and it's really causing a problem. I'm still laughing about the fact she was putting the paint on their tails and they're still coming back!

[Lisbeth Mønsted Larsen]

Like all other teritorial mamals they leave sent marks and fight over females ect and are quite interresting to watch. They have staches where they keep their wintersuply of nuts.

[Darrell]

Jenny:

You must drive them at least 10 miles away. Been there, done that (about 20 times -- then new squirrels move into the area).

I used to have very tame squirrels running loops on my (wood siding) house several times each day. I went to walmart and bought an airsoft uzzi (toy gun) that shoots harmless 0.12 gram spherical plastic BBs at the rate of something like 3 per second in automatic mode at something like 100 fps. One harmless blast at the squirrels on the house and only one ever returned for a second blast. RESULT: the squirrels now stay off the house. (and there were no squirrels harmed)

Too bad my ground hog won't take the hint.

[Jenny Wilkie]

Haha there's an idea. I don't think my grandma would go for it though. And I knows she wishes she could go further, but after she had a stroke in 2005, she doesn't really drive further than 5 miles or she panics (we don't want her driving at ALL but so far that hasn't happened)...
I think my dad has one of those toy guns, maybe he can go over there and help her out.