Well, today was a rematch.
The bird feeders have gotten a bit fancier and diverse; we now have 4 feeders out offering niger, safflower, a seed mix, and sunflower seeds. The sunflower seeds have got to go. The squirrels find them way too tempting.
We have filled the peanut wreath and hung it out--but the squirrels empty that in one day. Then they turn to the feeder with sunflowers.
All day, it seemed, I kept shooing them away. They are such piggies; no birds can get in while the squirrels are raiding.Finally, I got a water bottle, and began trying to squirt the offending squirrels. The first several times it genuinely surprised them--off they ran. After several squirts, though, one particular squirrel caught on. He hopped back to the tree trunk, then just edge behind the trunk, out of range from my squirt bottle.
As I said--squirrel - 2/ KGMom - 0.
16 comments:
I think he's snickering in that last photo!
May as well give in, Donna.
I thought the same thing Lynne mentioned - that squirrel is snickering! How rude!
Reminds me of that Dave Berry comic strip where he showed a man taking a ladder out to fill a high feeder on a perch. Next frame was a squirrel on stilts! Where there is a will.... :c) Good luck with the good fight.
Have you ever tried feeding them corn?
As a diversion, some distance from the feeders?
We battle squirrels, too, and being as close to woods as we are, there is always a tree close enough for them to be able to jump onto even baffled feeders.
This year, I'm trying corn.
We have very healthy, plump squirrels to appease.
Oh, I'm laughing. Sometimes I've counted 8 squirrels in my yard!! I also got rid of the sunflower seed and replaced it with safflower seed. That worked for months. Now there is one errant squirrel that seems to have taken a liking to safflower seed -- Arghhh!!
One squirrel though has ingratiated himself to me. I've named him Buddy and he doesn't come by every day but a few times a week I'll be getting ready for work and Buddy will sit on my porch wicker looking in my window waiting for me to come out and hand feed him some unshelled peanuts. He graciously takes them one at a time and hops across the street to burying them, then hops back to get another one. What a cheeky devil! I think he must have heard what a sucker I am from Trouble the raccoon.
Ha ha! I hadn't read the story about your squirrel catching the snowball - such naughty little critters! We don't get squirrels in our yard, (except for the occassional flying squirrel) so our feeders are safe. All the squirrels around here seem content to stay in the woods. My parents' neighborhood, though, is teeming with obese, slow-moving, bird-feeder pillaging squirrels, and my dad wages never ending battles, constructing increasingly wacky devices to try to foil their plans.
They are persistent little buggers, aren't they. They won't be denied, will they.
A water bottle? Get yourself a supersoaker and see how far away you can hit them from. (I have occasionally wanted to get a supersoaker to use in class, when a student has been burning the candle at both ends and drifts off. Sometimes the mouth is open and it's too tempting! Then Lois reminds me of the times that I drift off when others are talking!
You could try a free-standing one with a cone-shaped baffle under the feeder. If it's not close to any other climbing structure, it will probably work. But they're crafty little imps -- very hard to defeat.
Definitely he's snickering at you. Do you have separate squirrel feeders with corn on them or anything? Or would he just eat all of that too?
I miss the big squirrels. They are not found this far north yet. We have small red ones here.
You may need to learn to enjoy the antics of the squirrels. They can be as interesting as the birds.
To all:
yes, I do feed the squirrels separately--the peanut wreath is one example. I have it close to the bird feeders, so I can watch the squirrels as well.
I am quite fond of them, actually--they are ingenious. And it is fun to watch how quickly they adapt to whatever challenge we humans put before them. They are more single-minded that I am!
As for better ways to foil them--baffles, separate poles, super-soakers etc.--of course I could try all that. I think a baffle is the only thing I might try.
I will keep putting out peanuts for squirrels. I still have one special squirrel who eschews raiding the bird feeders--instead he (or she) comes up on the deck, looks in the patio window and WAITS for me to get special peanuts for him. How can you not love that?
I'm with Philip--I do enjoy the antics of the squirrels.
We will never win. At least they entertain us :o)
I take comfort from the fact that the little squirrel monsters who are currently raiding my feeders will be asleep soon. I lose every battle with them, so I've surrendered. I'm just waiting for them to hibernate.
Carolyn H.
They're so clever--that's what gets them into trouble. I have only a couple and love to watch them too.
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