Cheeky squirrel

knuckleduster

Had a smile on my face this morning watching a squirrel sitting on the bird table eating the sunflower seeds. But my smile vanished when he started to bury his stash of seeds in the lawn. Cheeky little thing.

Read in the newspaper yesterday that due to the wet summer, squirrels are short of food and will be competing with the birds even more for the food we put out. Was looking at the bags of bird food and feeders at the garden centre yesterday when I started to chat to a man (total stranger) who was also browsing. I've always found it impossible to stand next to someone and not talk to them which was awkward when the children were small and I was always telling them not to talk to strangers :roll: . Anyway, this man said he puts out on average 400 fat balls each year. 400! I thought. Obviously I'm putting out the wrong brand of fat balls because our local birds won't even look at them, let alone eat them and I end up putting them in the bin.

Janet xx

fowls48

I wished i could do that , but having 4 cats would not be a good idae for the poor squirrels and birds

stickywicket

Well, Janet, your squirrel should be OK this winter with his lawn-larder full of goodies.

I once sat outside the golf club with my coffee and book while husband and son played 9 holes. The squirrels were picking up nuts and burying them - on the practice putting green :shock:

wall1409

We used to make our own fatballs and the birds love them, really easy , used to use the old shells from previous ones and fill the melted lard with seeds, nuts fruit, anything really.

mellman01

Well any drop in the squirrel population will be good for song birds as the feckers like cats predate on them and their young, that said I get them round here and in the past I’ve shot them but now I just accept them as part of the eco system and let them alone, mind you I found one trying to get into my loft the other year and he was dispatched because if they do get in they can cause serious problem being arboreal, and they have been known to eat through electric cables, and as for digging up lawns they are storing food for later is all and aren’t malicious it’s just their idea of a fridge.
And as for fat balls I don’t put them out these days as last winter I made a huge one out of pork fat and used a small plastic pudding bowl as a mould proudly I put it on the bird table and it lasted all of 30 minutes as the rooks and crows came straight down and destroyed it in short order and then flew off with the bits the sneaky buggers I had to laugh though.

barbara12

We saw some red squirrels the other week...they were in the forest in Nottingham..they are so tiny compared to the grey ones...it such a shame they are depleting...has for the grey ones we have trouble keeping the bird food from them, but I dont really care I love to watch them...
Mell I didnt know they went for the birds... :shock:

knuckleduster

Help - they're multiplying. We haven't got just the one squirrel, we've now got three. And the poor lawn is full of small holes where they're burying the food and then digging it up.

Janet xx

bubbadog

We have a family of Squirrels living in an oak tree in my next door neighbours garden and we put nuts out for the birds in bird feeders and the poor birds never see any nuts because of the family of squirrels! It is fun watching them hang upside down eating the nuts untill you notice they have broken the feeder! My OH had to make the feeders re-enforced this year so the cheeky bleeding squirrels don't break them! We put the feeders out on Sunday afternoon, and on Monday I watched the baby squirrel get some nuts and then disappear down the back of the fence and reappear under the fence. He ran over to one pot with a fir tree in it and dig the mud and hid some nuts, then he ran across to another pot dig a hole and put some nuts in it and cover it. They are clever animals and fun to watch but the little blighters have got through 2 bags of nuts in one month and poor the birds haven't seen any! And nuts are expensive! got to find something cheaper to put in the bird feeders!!