Squirrels

[Dave W]

First trailer for an upcoming Timur Bekmambetov film. Apparently production hasn't started yet.

[Highlander]

[BAA-DUM] Be afraid... (BAD-DUM] Be very afraid... [BAA-DUM-BAA-DUM]

[Pilgrim]

The last line of text says it all!

[Highlander]

Imagine a sewing machine with four needles - two pointing up, two pointing down... each needle is about 1/16"...

Place your hand on the sewing machine, press the peddle, and feed it through...

That's my best description of being bitten by one of them... not a joke... it's happened more than once...

[godofthunder]

Kenny I have wanted to ask this for the longest time. What is the UK's fascination with squirrels? Here in the USA they are viewed as pests not much more than rats with fuzzy tails. Sure fun to watch but we don't go out of our way to feed them, not that we can stop them from getting at our bird feeders. I only have know one person in my entire life who had a pet squirrel and that was over 45 years ago!

[Pilgrim]

Our neighbors long had a habit of throwing corn out in the back yard (next to a green belt) to feed the squirrels.  We'd have a dozen of them gathered around the corn.

Their latest effort involves setting out food for raccoons.  We have a game trail across our back yard (no fences in this neighborhood) and we've seen five of them cross the yard headed to dinner.  

Of course, Boomer the dog goes ballistic when the coons cross the back yard.  We need to draw the blinds over the sliding door at dusk before the 'coon dinner rush starts or nothing but "arf" is audible for the next 15 minutes.

Boomer on the couch...we think he's probably half Beagle, half Dachsund.

[Dave W]

Kenny I have wanted to ask this for the longest time. What is the UK's fascination with squirrels? Here in the USA they are viewed as pests not much more than rats with fuzzy tails. Sure fun to watch but we don't go out of our way to feed them, not that we can stop them from getting at our bird feeders. I only have know one person in my entire life who had a pet squirrel and that was over 45 years ago!

I like squirrels. They don't bother me and they take care of a lot of the walnuts that fall too soon in my back yard. If I had a bird feeder I might feel differently.

Besides, the Beastly Boys wrote a song about them. 

[Highlander]

Looks about as vicious as our hound, Al...

Scott... "tree-rats"... I don't know if it's a fascination with squirrels, more as a general overview of critters in general... the greys are getting a bad press due to the (now critical) loss of habitat of the red squirrel; they unfortunately also carry a virus they are able to cope with but is lethal to reds... we've had two (greys) as "pets" but it was more a lifetime sentence for a wild creature... the one that lasted longest (nearly 10 years) was hand raised and came in with closed eyes; Jackie raised hand fed her; she was three-limbed (the other was limp - she could grip though), but she was naturally "wild"... the other lived for 8 years in captivity after an RTA wrecked her tail and damaged her pelvis - lived reasonably well but... I'd prefer to feed them as they are: wild...
They have flying squirrels in some parts of Europe... no greys though...
No 'coon's, Al, but they have re-introduced beaver in Scotland...
We became entranced by their habits, initially trying to stop them wrecking the bird feeders, and then fascinated by the lengths they would go to overcome the obstacles, to feeding them just to keep them off the feeders with their own chow...

Now gotta watch the video...
Try making more and more complex methods of stopping them - flat-round discs that tip are good... also suspending feeders on ropes with discs at each end, far enough to make it really awkward to jump past... makes it a "sport"...  
We are just critter-friendly... Jackie was pregnant and we were still looking out for things... I have a pic of her in late pregnancy over the heathland trying to get our baby crow flying, and failing... had to go to a caged aviary to learn to use those flight muscles... we've had foxes come into the house to feed, let alone squirrels... hand feeding birds is not unusual for us and several (UK) robins have often come into the house to tell us (TIC!TIC!TIC!) the food dish is empty... Pavlov's Human...?  
We don't really have a hunting mentality (UK in general) so critters get a good ride here - no real top predators, excluding avian and foxes, so...
Our back garden is a regular "pet" cemetery, 21 yeas on... several birds, two hedgehogs, the squirrels (three: one other kitten didn't make it), two hamsters and three guinea-pigs; oh, and several fish (don't ask) and some mice...
If we can't help a wild creature there is a wildlife hospital locally we take them to... once centre we went to looked after "reject" simians - one time I had one of them with it's tail round my neck "grooming" me when we took a BIG fox out to the countryside for release... rejects, you ask...? damaged goods... Joe Public does not like to see "monkees" with digits missing, or gamey legs or arms...

[TBird1958]

 Scottish Beaver you say.......................... 



I like squirrels, they're abundant here, as are the 'coons - both regularly tread through my slightly overgrown back yard along with coyotes and the very occasional fox.
I don't like the squirrels that dart across the road here, earlier this year I killed one, he came bounding across the road and ran right under the front wheel of the Subaru before I could do a thing - it killed him instantly and flipped his body into traffic - Not a good way to start the day.   

[the mojo hobo]

We feed the birds and we feed the squirrels. The bird food companies also sell a squirrel bungee that you can put a big ol' cob on and enjoy watching the squirrels jumping for the corn. This after we put baffles to keep them off the bird feeder. http://www.amazon.com/Birdola-54322-Squirrel-Kob-Bungee/dp/B001BY9AM8

We also have cats. The birds eat the cat food during the day, and the possums eat their food at night so they are always entertained. This is Charlie who is adept at catching birds, last week I saw a jay land right in front of him and suffer instant death. Here he is stalking squirrels. When he was young he lost an eye in a fight, but he doesn't let it slow him down. The bungee is above the middle squirrel.

[Lightyear]

We bought some friends on these:

http://shop.wbu.com/p/wbu-eliminator-squirrel-proof-bird-feeder/feeders_squirrel-proof-feeders?pp=12

They were overrun with the little monsters and this did the trick.  Plus, they tell us it's fun to watch them try to defeat the thing.

[Pilgrim]

My wife and I were having a cold drink in the back yard this PM after finishing some yard work and a two-point buck with velvet on his antlers pranced right past us - about 6 feet away - and just kept moving through the back yard.

[Dave W]

We bought some friends on these:

http://shop.wbu.com/p/wbu-eliminator-squirrel-proof-bird-feeder/feeders_squirrel-proof-feeders?pp=12

They were overrun with the little monsters and this did the trick.  Plus, they tell us it's fun to watch them try to defeat the thing.

That's a very neat solution.

Not a problem for me since I don't have a feeder. I do think one of my neighbors will appreciate this.

[uwe]

"Not a good way to start the day."

 

[TBird1958]

"Not a good way to start the day."

 

Bad for me....

 It was worse for the squirrel!