What's pooping in my pool?

[MVFM]

Just to give an update,

I put out some rat traps last week, which seem untouched.
The type was those "Tomcat Rat and Mouse Killer"

I also put out RatX at the same time.

I narrowed the droppings down to originating to a corner of the pool where there's a tree hanging over it.
There's always a ton of squirrels in my backyard, running along the top of the fence, in the trees, digging up the lawn, etc...
I'm pretty sure it's squirrels at this point, because the rat traps were not touched.

The droppings have been significantly decreasing day by day since I put out the RatX.

I intend to trim the tree, but will probably wait till the fall as to not harm the tree in the heat of the summer.

 

[Dirk]

You could suspend a tarp between pool and branch to confirm: poop in pool = not from tree vs poop on tarp = squirrels!

 

[pb4uswim]

The trap is the "rat handle." Cut the line, just grab the remaining line or the trap, all goes in the trash. Buy new trap.

Exactly what I do. I’ve never understood the willingness to remove a dead mouse/rat from the trap just to save a few bucks. Ewww. I just pick the trap up with some pliers or my grabber thing and in the trash they go. Love traps over any thing like poison so I know what’s being caught and know that the job was done.

Squirrels get the live trap then disposed of. When I lived in the sticks, they’d get disposed of with a .22. Now that I live in the city, they frown on such things so I move them to the park. I don’t like that as it just transfers my problem to someone else, but gotta do what you gotta do.