![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A few minutes ago, I had ten (10!) squirrels eating the seeds I put out this morning! This might be a new record. I didn't even know that many lived in my yard.
One was eating bird-seed out of the bird-feeder. Now, I love my squirrels, but the seed is also intended for the neighborhood bird population. We have Jays, Cardinals, Doves, and many varieties of Little Brown Birds. So I went outside to have a chat with the fellow in the feeder to encourage him to leave. Most of the other squirrels scattered when I opened the sliding-glass door; however, en route, one squirrel on the back patio refused to move more than a few steps out of my way. Brave little beggar - I think this is the one who stands at the door asking for dinner every day. Here's a before-shot of the party; Brave Dude is in the center-front, nearest the glass:
When I reached the garage, the bird-feeder squirrel just looked at me for a few seconds as I stood mere feet away. "Hey, little fellow, those are for the birds." *blink-blink*
Then he hopped to the ladder on the side of the garage (a foot or two farther away) and stared at me for a few more seconds until finally getting frustrated that I wasn't leaving. I went back inside to heat up some coffee. Minutes later? Yeah, back in the feeder. *sigh*
Just in case you missed 'em in the last photo, here is a visual aid. Note that three are not visible: one each to the right and left, and one in the fire-pit gnawing on dead Jack-O-Lanterns:
Every day is a party at Casa del McKitterick!
Chris
One was eating bird-seed out of the bird-feeder. Now, I love my squirrels, but the seed is also intended for the neighborhood bird population. We have Jays, Cardinals, Doves, and many varieties of Little Brown Birds. So I went outside to have a chat with the fellow in the feeder to encourage him to leave. Most of the other squirrels scattered when I opened the sliding-glass door; however, en route, one squirrel on the back patio refused to move more than a few steps out of my way. Brave little beggar - I think this is the one who stands at the door asking for dinner every day. Here's a before-shot of the party; Brave Dude is in the center-front, nearest the glass:
When I reached the garage, the bird-feeder squirrel just looked at me for a few seconds as I stood mere feet away. "Hey, little fellow, those are for the birds." *blink-blink*
Then he hopped to the ladder on the side of the garage (a foot or two farther away) and stared at me for a few more seconds until finally getting frustrated that I wasn't leaving. I went back inside to heat up some coffee. Minutes later? Yeah, back in the feeder. *sigh*
Just in case you missed 'em in the last photo, here is a visual aid. Note that three are not visible: one each to the right and left, and one in the fire-pit gnawing on dead Jack-O-Lanterns:
Every day is a party at Casa del McKitterick!
Chris
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
I have bird feeders, too (including me; I love feeding the chickadees by hand) but we've only had one squirrel so far, which is odd, as our new home is backing on the woods.
Of course, we've also got a chipmunk and a couple of big raccoons ....
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
It's addictive; every time they show up, I want to run out there with them. XD
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Something is eating all my seed - might be flickers. I have a Clingers Only feeder covered by a Dinner Bell for the little birds. I fill it in the morning and it's empty when I come home. WHAT EATS 24 OUNCES OF SEED IN ONE DAY??? D:
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Mine LOVE the pumpkins! At least some of them do; maybe it's an individual-taste thing. I should take a close-up of the horror-show that is gnawed Jack-O-Lantern.
What eats that much? Urban wildlife is what. If I put out a cup of seed in the morning, by noon it's gone. For ideas, see photos, above.
From:
no subject
Except for flickers and starlings, I don't have enough large-bird traffic to eat 24 freaking ounces of food a day! Maybe I'll try to watch this weekend and see just what the hell goes on around there when I'm at work. It's possible bigger birds are trying to access the feeder and tipping it, spilling seed onto the deck where it gets eaten by juncos.
Remind me - are any of your squirrels hand-tame? Will they eat from your hand? I was walking the backyard with an arborist recently and it was kind of embarrassing being trailed by jays and squirrels, with Athos putting his paw on my leg when we'd stop. I think you'd really enjoy feeding your crew this way.
From:
no subject
I used to hand-feed squirrels in my Dad's Minneapolis back yard, and it's a highlight of my youth.
From:
no subject
Once you've got them to that point, bring the scarecrow into the shed, take the cap & coat off of it, put them on, and carry out the cup of feed. Walk out & make yourself comfortable in approximately the same position as the scarecrow, and wait. They'll fly right down and eat out of your hands/the cup.
From:
no subject
Apparently, he quit doing it, because we've got nests in our local trees again. Which, frankly, are necessary, because my town has more nut trees than you would believe, and I'd much rather have squirrels eating them than skunks & opossums!
From:
no subject
*Arborist says it's the biggest hawthorn he's seen. English, fairly invasive. I'd have it removed except it's actually valuable habitat - we get nests in it and everybody eats the berries.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
My mom gets all those various magazines associated with "Taste of Home." I read an article on it in one of them several years ago.
And WHAT A CUTE ICON! Is that a baby coyote??
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I have a bird feeder similar to this that I got at Earl May. The sell them at Ace Hardware too, for those of you not local.
The whole outer cage drops down if a squirrel climbs on it, and they can't get into the top either. They tried for a week or so, and finally lost interest.
I've had gangs of sparrows come through and decimate a feeder until I started chasing them off. Then I changed to safflower seed only because the grackles, who were also chowing down the whole feederful, don't like it.
From:
no subject
Plus 1
and all that!!