57127--the squirrel wins

[zyzyly]

My grandparents had a bird feeder in their back yard. It was a flat square that sat on top of a pole in the middle of the yard.You could easily see it from the kitchen window. My grandma knew all the regular birds. There was a pet store in town where we would go and buy a bag of bird food. Whenever I stayed with them my job was to feed the birds. There was an old coffee cup in the garage that we used to measure out the food.

So naturally, I have a feeder in my back yard. It hangs from the branch of a tree. I can see it from the kitchen window, where I sit at the same table that was in my grandparent's kitchen. We get a lot of the same birds every day. There are a family of doves that seem to have been around forever, but maybe it's the next generation already. We also have a couple of squirrels.

The squirrels like to raid the bird feeder. One of them will lean out from another branch and see what he can get. I think they like the sunflower seeds. They tend to spill a lot of the food in their attempts, and it falls on the ground, where some of the shyer birds will eat it.

I decided to move the bird feeder out farther on the branch to see if they could still reach it. They couldn't. One of the squirrels found this unacceptable however, and decided to act boldly. He leapt off the tree branch and landed on the feeder, sending it crashing to the ground. I went out to assess the damage and saw him sitting in the middle of a pile of food, very pleased with himself. The feeder was broken.

I went to the hardware store yesterday to get a new feeder. They also sell feeder poles that are squirrel-proof, so I got one of those too. They also sell squirrel feeders and food.

So now I have a new bird feeder and a squirrel feeder. The squirrel feeder is on a tree outside the window where the cats like to sit in the afternoon. A few minutes after I put it up and filled it, the squirrels were there. They seemed happy. The birds are happy with their new feeder. The cats are happy for the entertainment. I'm happy too.

Comments

[pasticcio.livejournal.com]

Squirrels are interesting animals that's for sure .. aggressive, feisty, stubborn and very territorial .. I know this from first hand experience .. lol

Looks like you'll have some good photo opportunities from the squirrel feeder as well :)

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

Our neighbor doesn't like them because they eat the fruit on his trees. But the fruit they don't eat just falls to the ground anyway, so why not share?

He does let us take whatever fruit we want, and half his lemon tree is on our side of the fence. But we're not squirrels

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I love both! Glad you now cater to all. It is like the best sort of family tradition.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

It is. Grandma and grandpa would be pleased.

[thoughtsbykat.livejournal.com]

I am sure you made the squirrels very happy. Squirrels are determined little buggers.


I wanted to tell you that there are some lavender labyrinths in Oregon and Washington. I ran across one in Kastellaun, Germany on FB and thought of you.(I googled them to see if I could find a picture of it for you.) It might make a nice stop if you ever go on a road trip north.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

We are going to Oregon next month. I will have to see where they are.

When I was on a retreat in the town of Guelph, near Toronto Canada, I came across a labyrinth carved into a field of wheat. I walked it at dusk and it was just beautiful.

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

Not just the squirrel... sounds like with your small investments of money, time, brain, and brawn, everyone wins.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that. I wrote the title before I wrote anything else, and I think my perspective changed with the words, as it often does.

[annie-r.livejournal.com]

I finally have a squirrel-proof bird feeder that the squirrels haven't outwitted (yet), but they still get enough birdseed that falls on the ground. Since a few invaded my attic crawl space, I'm even less of a fan, but they are still kind of cute.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

Squirrels in the yard are nice. Squirrels in the attic aren't.