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| I'm convinced the squirrels in my yard enjoy vexing me. |
Some days my writing isn’t as
productive as I would like. I’m going to go ahead and blame squirrels for that.
Bear with me here, and I’ll explain.
I often write in view of my deck,
where I have hanging feeders to attract birds. I enjoy glancing up from my work
in progress to see the birds happily munching away. I do not enjoy seeing
squirrels stealing seed from what are supposed to be squirrel-proof feeders. It
makes me leap up from my manuscript and rush out on the deck, waving my arms
and yelling things.
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| They shake this feeder so the seeds fall out. |
Now where was I? Oh, yeah.
Explaining how squirrels disrupt my writing. Even
the thought of those darned things (rats with furry tails, I call them) rattles
my concentration.
They’re a nuisance I don’t want near
the house. They gnaw on the wood of the deck, they dig up our crocuses and they
take bites out of our ripening garden tomatoes. On one nightmarish occasion, a
squirrel snuck down the open flue of the chimney and got loose in the house.
Can you tell I don’t like them?
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| A bird! That's more like it. |
I do like birds, though. This
conundrum has resulted in me spending a small fortune, not to mention brain
power, on bird feeders that might keep the squirrels out. Probably my most
effective feeder was attached by a suction cup to the window. After almost a
year of squirrel-free bliss, the annoying things figured out how to hang from
the window frame and raid that feeder too.
I’ve included photos of my current
feeders. The only one squirrels don’t bother with is the hummingbird feeder.
They shake the round cage feeder so the seed falls out. I was really excited
about the suet feeder, but they even figured out how to beat that one by
hanging upside down from the deck.
As you can see, there’s also a photo
of one of my nemeses. It’s lurking
beside the hummingbird feeder but is poised to sneak onto one of the other
feeders. Darn rats with furry tails. How am I supposed to get any writing done?
What distracts you? If it’s not
squirrels and you’ve found a way to beat them, let me know! I will be forever
in your debt.
14 comments:
Sorry this went up late! Obviously I haven't figured out how to automatically schedule something. I'll be on the road but will check in later. By the way, guess what was on my feeder when I woke up this morning?
But they can be soooo entertaining:-) One was playing on the swingset in our backyard a few days ago. He would climb up the wooden post and jump onto the swing, swing a few seconds, jump down and run around like crazy, then back up the wooden post to start it all over again. It was hilarious!
So ... um ... maybe if you built them a swingset? :-D
Darlene, I used to have the same problem. I loved the cardinals who came to my feeders, so my Australian Shepherd's job was to run out the house barking, to get rid of squirrels. It scared the daylights out of them and they would run away. Unfortunately, the intrepid little things always returned.
My ten-year-old daughter used to say, "But, mom, squirrels have to eat, too!"
That made me laugh, but even so, I wanted cardinals coming to my yard more than I wanted squirrels!
Okay, I've not actually tried this because I don't feed the birds anymore (got tired of weeds springing up in the flower beds from dropped seeds) but I've heard one tablespoon of cayenne pepper added to 10 lbs of birdseed will keep the squirrels away. The pepper is not suppose to harm the birds in anyway - they can't taste it. But squirrels can. And it's hot. And they don't like it.
So give it a go. The only problem I can forsee is in Louisiana squirrels - maybe the Cajun squirrles like that hot seed? LOL. You might end up with Cajun (or hot Latin lover) squirrrels at your feeder.
My biggest problem with squirrels is that they try to commit suicide in front of my car. It's like their little brains short circuit when they hear a vehicle approach. They can be happily sitting on the side of the road but then a switch goes off, "Run. No, that way. Wait, other way. No. Stop."
And my kids, after watching the movie UP, always yell out, "Squirrel!" in the exact tone of voice as the dog. If you haven't seen it, you should. The beginning is one of the best love stories ever. My husband and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes during that scene, neithr of us able to say a word. Or needing to.
We have thousands of sulphur-crested cockatoos here (huge white Australian birds with a yellow crest). Their shrieking is deafening coming from just one, but flying around our garden in huge groups…
Apparently they’re worth over $20 000 each overseas. I could make millions if I caught them. Overseas buyers are welcome to them!
I much prefer it when the colourful parrots drop by!
Darlene, it definitely sounds like you're dealing with a squirrel conspiracy. I wish I had some helpful advice to offer, but I can't think of a thing! Except...do you have a cat? All of our cats were once feral and they are all adept at squirrel hunting. The other day I found a dead squirrel just outside the front door, on the welcome mat--I felt like I was in a scene from The Godfather.
Your squirrel stories did the impossible. They made me laugh. I didn't think anything was funny about squirrels.
Pamela, no way am I building the squirrels a playground!
Mary, I understand your daughter's pronouncement. But squirrels can eat at someone else's house.
Liz, already tried the cayenne pepper. Squirrels didn't like it, but neither did my birds.
Kristina, none of the squirrels at my house are suicidal. They're too happy eating my seed.
Sonya, how funny that screeching cockatoos are your problem. I never thought of them as pests but then I haven't been to Australia. Your problem is definitely more exotic than mine.
Kathy, we don't have a cat. My daughter is allergic. So I guess I'll have to live with the squirrels. Sniff.
We once lived in a fifth floor apartment. I had planted a balcony box with gladiola bulbs which were getting ready to bloom. We came home from work one day and the leaves were droopy. I quickly went out to check on them and the darn squirrels had eaten all the bulbs. The stems were still tied to their stakes.
Still in the same apartment, our cat Tiger waited below the ledge of the sliding balcony doors and attacked a squirrel who went straight off the edge of the balcony. We rushed out to see what happened to the squirrel and he was scolding us from the balcony one floor lower.
We have lived in our house for almost 30 years now. I can't tell you the number of peanuts we have dug out of our garden. When we mentioned this to a neighbor who we knew put out peanuts he just laughed at us. We laughed at him the following spring when he went to put up his outdoor umbrella as the squirrels had nested in it and ruined it.
Sorry but I have no idea how to get rid of them.
I feel your pain, Kaelee!
Hmmm, they sound like our rats. We have rats that are bigger than some of your squirrels. I hate rats! Can't get rid of the damn things. They have tunnels everywhere. The dogs get them when they can. We've set traps and caught some, but nowhwere near what's out there. But I guess it's the price of living in a rainforest.
I don't particular like squirrels. I found one once, drowned in the toilet. It's teeth showing, fur all wet and it just looked discusting. I screamed really loud and then almost fainted. Thankfully it was the only time one entered our house.
mouse, i really had them :(
Oh, Jo's daughter. The drowned squirrel in the toilet sounds like a scene from a horror movie. I'd need therapy if I'd seen that!
Snookie, as much as I dislike squirrels I do prefer them over rats. Shudder.
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