There aren't many Fox (Red) squirrels around here but I've had great success calling Grey squirrels. The only difference in the sound is the Fox sq. is a little raspier sounding. I have bought every manner of manmade squirrel call. The best combination in my opinion is: 1) a baby sq. in distress call which is a little metal disc kind of a little flying saucer with holes on top and bottom, and a diaghragm turkey call for barking. First I blow (don't worry, you can only make the right sound with this call)on the distress call like I'm a baby squirrel being pulled out of the nest by a predator. Basically it's just "swe! swee! sweeee! sweeeee! sweeeee! sweee! swee! swe!", then I'll take a small branch and rattle, shake it against whatever bush is nearby or on the forest floor. Then I'm sure to be super still because any squirrel within a hundred yards WILL be looking in your direction right now, and start with the diaghragm call. I used to cut a split in my old turkey calls for this but now they sell 'em that way. Cutting/barking is basically: "chuck!...chuck,chuck,chuck..chuck...chuuuuuck, chuck..chuuuuuuuuuuck" I don't know if you can hear the cadence or tone but that's it. This has been the most successful sequence I've tried. You HAVE to be silent and still though. Usually there'll be two or three looking in your direction 'cause they want to know what the hell's eating their cousin. One will almost always come to see up close. Every now and then I'll tap the ground with my toe just to keep interest up. The last one I called in came to within 5 feet of me, she came down out of the den tree she was in and made her way about 50yds across the woods using only branches and saplkings that were about 2-5 feet off the ground. Every time she seemed to hang up, I would just make a very soft, drawn out (about two seconds) very low volume lip squeek, and the tone goes up at the end. That's the sound they use to communicate contentment/harmony. She came right to me but was getting VERY skittish at about the 10 foot mark. I was totally camo'd. That is a must for squirrel calling. Squirrels DO see in color. She had her eyes fixed on my facemask. When I thought she wasn't coming any closer, I let her have full bore......BOO! You never seen a squirrel climb so fast, hell she jumped the first fifteen feetup the nearest Pine tree! I love squirrel hunting and even more, calling them. I've spent my whole adult life outside. I own a residential tree service and have been doing treework for almost twenty years now. I've raised probably ten squirrels on my back porch. They were victims of accidental den removal. When I destroy their home, I kinda feel obligated to get them on their feet. I've learned intricately all the sounds in the Grey Squirrel vocabulary, what they mean and how to imitate them effectively, usually with just my lips. There aren't many sounds, but if you learn a few and how to make them in what order, tone and length, you can almost always get ol' Rocky to come check you out. Do it long enough and get good at it and they will usually RUN straight to you!
I bought a video by Knight and Hale once called "The magic of squirrel calling." It was helpful. If you want it but can't find it, I'll sell you mine for $10 plus probably about $3 shipping. I know it by heart anyway.
