Lots of baits work: sunflower seeds, bird seed, all kinds of nuts, from walnuts to almonds, etc, and lots of types of fruit, like apples or cherries, and even sweets, such as marshmallows. But really, nothing is going to do better than peanut butter and whole peanuts in shell, so why bother messing around?
Nuts/Peanut Butter
After all, squirrels gather nuts and seeds from your yard (though they will try to eat just about anything). You can bait a humane trap with peanuts to entice a hungry squirrel by smearing the pan with peanut butter and embedding a few unsalted, in-the-shell peanuts in the peanut butter.
Bait the trap with toast covered in peanut butter and sprinkled with sunflower seeds. I would put 1/4 of peanut butter toast covered in seeds outside the trap in order to tease him inside. Chipmunks like it too, you may catch them too. If you are the person with squirrels in their attic, sometimes you need to be harsh.
Spread peanut butter thinly all over the trigger, just enough to make it smell like peanut butter. Are squirrels pests?
Whole peanuts (in shell) or other nuts make good bait for a squirrel trap. You can use peanut butter to set them in place inside the trap. Fruit such as apples or oranges is also a good choice. Some bread with peanut butter will work also!
Squirrels' favorite natural foods are hickory nuts, pecans, black walnuts, and acorns. Their favorite feeder food is black oil sunflower seeds, their least favorite feeder food is Nyjer® (thistle) seed.
Other favorites aren't exactly natural, but the squirrels love them anyway. These additional foods include peanuts, peanut butter, pecans, pistachios, grapes, corn, squash, zucchini, pumpkin, strawberries, carrots, apples, sunflower seeds and even snack items, such as Oreo® cookies.
Scents like white pepper, black pepper, and garlic are naturally unpleasant to a squirrel. The same goes for sweet smells such as peppermint. Try spraying your plants and flowers with water and then sprinkling on pepper or peppermint oil to deter squirrels.
You can use several types of baits or foods to catch squirrels in a cage trap. Peanut butter is great, with the peanut butter smeared on the trap pan, and some whole peanuts in the shell stuck to the peanut butter, or any kind of seed or nut. They'll even eat bread, marshmallows, a whole bunch of foods.
Strong-Scented Repellents: Squirrels have sensitive noses and dislike strong scents. Soaking cotton balls in vinegar, ammonia, or essential oils like peppermint, eucalyptus, or citrus can create strong-smelling repellents. Place these cotton balls in areas where squirrels are active or use them to plug entry points.
Baiting your traps properly is one of the most important aspects of ensuring they are effective. If a squirrel is only mildly interested in the bait inside the trap, they will not enter because they're aware that the trap is a foreign object. Their desire to have the bait has to override their skittishness of the trap.
Squirrels can indeed smell peanut butter and are often attracted to its strong aroma. The rich scent of peanut butter can travel through the air, making it detectable from a distance. This is why peanut butter is commonly used as bait in traps; its appealing scent draws squirrels in, making it easier to catch them.
SQUIRREL FACTS
Peanuts and peanut butter are superior baits. Walnuts and apples are good baits since they may naturally occur in the squirrel's diet.
Fill a large bucket or tub with water, leaving enough space at the top so the squirrel won't easily escape. Place a plank leading up to the rim of the bucket. Place bait on the plank and some floating on the water. The squirrel will walk up the plank and lean to get the floating bait, tipping into the water.
Fruits. Squirrels are pretty undiscerning pests and will enjoy most foods that they can find. Fruits are a major draw for them and they'll gladly chow down on things like apples, grapes, kiwi, bananas, strawberries and peaches.
Avocado skin and seed are toxic. Consumption can lead to breathing difficulties and heart-related issues. 3. Onions and Garlic: Onions and garlic, in any form, can be harmful to squirrels as they can cause damage to their red blood cells, leading to anemia.
Squirrels hate the smell of peppermint oil and will stay away from areas where it is used. You can use peppermint essential oils in a number of ways - you can add it to water in a spray bottle and spray it around your property, or apply it to cotton balls and position them in areas where squirrels are active.
Its strong, pungent aroma is unpleasant to many animals, including squirrels, making it a popular choice for natural pest control.
In North America, snakes, raccoons (Procyon lotor), red foxes, grey foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), bobcats (Lynx rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) will take Grey squirrels.
Use wire to outsmart squirrels
Well, wire is your answer. Squirrels are too big to walk on vertically-positioned wire, so they'll have to jump up and down it instead.
Bait the back of the trap using whole maize, being careful not to obstruct the treadle. Other baits can be bird food, peanuts or hazel nuts in their shells, peanut butter or aniseed (Bird Puller). Place a small amount of food in the entrance to attract the squirrel into the trap.
Mentioned above was the squirrel species' love of nuts and bird seed, so naturally, they also love to eat seeds from plants, such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, safflower seeds, poppy seeds, and any other available seeds.
Sugary foods: candy, cookies, dried fruit, banana chips, soda, fruit juices, sweetened yogurt, granola, sweetened breakfast cereals. Junk food: french fries, potato chips, pretzels, crackers, anything salted.
In the wild, squirrels mostly drink water. However, squirrels that have adapted to urban environments and had close contact with humans have been observed to drink other things. They especially love sweet drinks like sodas but have also been known to drink alcohol and milk.