Go John,
What a story, what a shot, but no picts ???
You have to show your G/F the book on Squirrels, and that there favorite food in the spring are song bird eggs ! They are one of the largest predators of bird eggs. Then she can see what a Hero you really are, saving her song birds.
My wife had a pet squirrel that came to our back window for cookies, she even bought that buggerits favorite brand, heck I don't get that kind of attention, I just get cookies ! Well this squirrel had over half it's tail missing, and she called it no-tail, and was very happy with the way things were. No-tail had a litter of little basta&ds, when they were old enough, they chewed on her, and drove her off.
The wife wanted me to get those bad squirrels, and I did, but too late for old No-tail. NowI can take anything in the yard that I want, but I still don't get "MY" favorite cookies !
So give it a thought, if my wife could change her feelings toward squirrels, so can yours.