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[going squirrelly]
Aug. 28th, 2014 05:55 pmI am in a war of attrition with a squirrel.
Here's the thing: it is not wrong to say that this is a conflict that has spanned generations, because I clearly remember my grandfather fighting this fight nearly two decades ago, and I feel it's pretty safe to say that I'm not battling the same squirrels today. So it's an enduring antagonism passed down upon death. And I admit that I'm coming from a place of weakness, since because my grandmother didn't plant flowers this summer we've pretty much ceded the front flowerbed to the squirrels. But.
Outside my kitchen window are two birdfeeders. I had been filling them both until about two or three weeks ago, when one of them suddenly started emptying out practically the day I filled them. I was starting to wonder if I had a prowler, but I think it's the squirrel. So I stopped filling that one.
The other one... suddenly started getting filled up with leaves. Not falling leaves, either; fresh leaves that something was pulling off and stuffing in there. Which is kinda creepy. So I have been pulling the leaves out, sometimes multiple times a day.
I'm pretty sure you can see where I'm going with this.
The squirrel, I think, believes he is burying the seeds in the feeder for his winter cache. He's shoving them all back into the box part and layering leaves to 'keep' them. I, on the other hand, would like the birds to be able to still get in there. So I leave the house in the morning, clean out the feeder. Come home after work, clean out the feeder, have an exchange of opinions with the squirrel (yes, out loud, what?). Have dinner, clean out the feeder.
Eventually, one of us will get tired, right?
Alternately, ideas for how to scare off a squirrel but not the birds gratefully accepted.
Here's the thing: it is not wrong to say that this is a conflict that has spanned generations, because I clearly remember my grandfather fighting this fight nearly two decades ago, and I feel it's pretty safe to say that I'm not battling the same squirrels today. So it's an enduring antagonism passed down upon death. And I admit that I'm coming from a place of weakness, since because my grandmother didn't plant flowers this summer we've pretty much ceded the front flowerbed to the squirrels. But.
Outside my kitchen window are two birdfeeders. I had been filling them both until about two or three weeks ago, when one of them suddenly started emptying out practically the day I filled them. I was starting to wonder if I had a prowler, but I think it's the squirrel. So I stopped filling that one.
The other one... suddenly started getting filled up with leaves. Not falling leaves, either; fresh leaves that something was pulling off and stuffing in there. Which is kinda creepy. So I have been pulling the leaves out, sometimes multiple times a day.
I'm pretty sure you can see where I'm going with this.
The squirrel, I think, believes he is burying the seeds in the feeder for his winter cache. He's shoving them all back into the box part and layering leaves to 'keep' them. I, on the other hand, would like the birds to be able to still get in there. So I leave the house in the morning, clean out the feeder. Come home after work, clean out the feeder, have an exchange of opinions with the squirrel (yes, out loud, what?). Have dinner, clean out the feeder.
Eventually, one of us will get tired, right?
Alternately, ideas for how to scare off a squirrel but not the birds gratefully accepted.
