Squirrels! Hrmmph!
Sitting at my computer this morning, a furry blur caught my eye. On top of one of the feeders. One with a squirrel baffle. Hhrmph. I took a closer look.
But, it was hard to be too annoyed. This rascal had suspended him/herself from the top of the feeder and was munching away. Quite amazing.I have no idea how it had managed to get there -- maybe leapfrogging across the tops of the other feeders from the nearby dogwood? My gardening companion thinks that it probably leaped down from the big Southern red oak -- this feeder used to be in the open, but things are growing well this year.
I mean, really -- this squirrel was dangling there for ages chowing down, before I went outside and it nimbly scampered up the thistle feeder to leap into the dogwood.
I had a similar experience a few days ago, and made a short video. Cheeky beggars... see my post: http://zone3b.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/furry-not-feathered-at-feeder/
ReplyDeletethey are very resourceful critters. Of all the critters, I have little issue with squirrels. Now --rabbits, voles, shrews, moles, muskrats...etc etc.
ReplyDeleteI have had luck with a squirrel resistant birdfeeder which the weight of the squirrel lowers a cover over the seed trough. But notice I said resistant. I did have one squirrel do the upsidedown hanging trick and get to the seed. But after I put vaseline on the corners of the metal roof he was hanging from, he hasn't been back since. - Dave
ReplyDeletehttp://snjgardener.blogspot.com/
They ARE resourceful and cheeky. We've put vaseline on the poles in the past -- it's definitely time for another application. There's plenty of food out there for them, so I'm not worried about them being hungry. One was out there again today, even after my husband (aka my gardening companion) moved the feeder farther out!
ReplyDeleteLisa
Nice blog and beautiful pics. I bet, although I can't tell the distance, the squirrel jumped from those adjoining branches onto the feeder. If he went up the pole the baffle would have defeated him, he had to approach laterally or from above. I have a video of a squirrel jumping from a piece of lawn furniture, about six feet, above a squirrel baffle onto a bird feeder, see if interested
ReplyDeletehttp://www.squirrelrepellent.net/squirrel-repellent/squirrel_baffles
Again, very nice pictures.
Sparky