Interesting that you've seen that change, too. We took a break from vegetable gardening during the years the kids were busy with high school and college. When we started up again, found we could no longer grow much of anything but okra and herbs because of the increased squirrel activity. Most of the natural predators were
chased away long ago and feral cats or roaming pets are now scarce compared to 10 or 15 years ago. Though raptors have started regularly feeding in the neighborhood again during the past year, so maybe they'll eventually restore some balance.

Crazy about the giant backyard greenhouse. Are there any photos? I had considered caging the dwarf tree, but decided against the look and effort in that location. Might still try it with a new tree in a different spot.

I keep one or more live traps out year round to control squirrel and other wildlife population. I relocate most healthy rabbit, possum,coon and skunks. Cats with tags are released unless they were previously seen molesting birds or baby chicks. Cats with no tag are usually treated as vermin. If and when I have a problem critter,out come's leg and body hold traps until it's eliminated. So far we have deer and hogs at bay near my home,crop and pasture land suffer a lot of damage.

I think the biggest change is people put out bird food, which the squirrels steal. They get enough food to survive the winter, and in the summer become a big nuisance. In the past winter would thin out the rodents.

Unfortunately, the bird seed also feeds the rats.

Um, a squirrel chopped the branches off your tree? Looks like they used a saw. Those squirrels are getting clever.

My squirrel trapping and relocating season will start in a few weeks. My local owls don't do the job, nor do the few resident urban coyotes. City code prevents killing of squirrels. They're just too cute, I guess. I actually think rats and mice are kinda cute, but the city doesn't agree.

Yep,little devils have took to packing cordless DeWalt sawzalls. Feller next door caught them in the act and forced them at gun point to cut him a rick of fireplace wood. On a serious note,cities don't make wildlife law in Tx,TP&WL does. Most cities forbid discharging firearms within city limits but if you can clobber destructive wildlife there's nothing they can do. TP&WL forbid's consumption or otherwise using carcass unless it's in season and you have hunting license. If the offenders are deer it's a good idea to call TP&WL for instructions on carcass handling. They often ask you to carry deer to a processor where state pays processing and meat is donated. I've dropped several in crop fields.

Giggling about how dexterous the squirrels are nowadays.

Ha... better to have clarified "I decapitated....". Squirrels with power tools would be a Stephen King scenario. They already do enough damage trying to chew through the frieze board to gain access to our attic space while standing on their tiptoes at the top of the fence - with a ladder and sawsall, they'd own the house.

We enjoy watching a bird feeder, but have not had one for years because even with a "squirrel-proof" feeder, they were still attracted en masse to all the seed cast about or dropped by the birds. Had not thought about the rats that were likely visiting after dark.

We do resort to live or lethal trapping for the occasional squirrel that gets truly fixated on car wiring or creating a way into the house. We also experimented with relocating them from the garden the last time we tried to grow tomatoes. However, the survivors still got the entire crop in spite of the snap traps placed under cedar shakes beneath the plants to scare off those who managed to avoid the live traps. I posted this photo before and am still not sure how they did it, but have to admire the creativity (or luck?) in their obscene gesture :-)