Squirrel Innovation

This last year we put out an attractive bird feeder and have faithfully supplied a nice platter of various seeds. The black sunflower seeds are the most popular and interestingly the English Sparrows don't seem to fancy them. There is also a spattering of millet and a few other unknown varieties but it would seem there is some thistle seeds in there as the finches muscle in for the action.

The sunflower seeds, however, also attact the gray squirrels, three of them this winter, and they are for the most part content to eat off the ground as long as some of the slob birds like the blue Jays scatter the sunflowers hither and yon while bolting as much as they can jam down their crops. There are a couple of other riflers that jsut push and shove, all of them in cahoots with the bushy-tailed squirrels. It seems symbotic but maybe not. The jays are just slobs.

Early on I had the hanging feeder too close to the grounds so the better high jumpers of the squirrels would get a run and jump 4 or 5 times their height and latch on to the feeder. They did this if the food on the ground ran low or if they just thought greed was good (Ryan style--or was it Carl Rove, Ayn Rand?). Once on the feeder they would load up the jowls and gullet and head back to their lairs to stash the booty.

I raised the rope to keep them off the feeder because their behavior was too glutinous for me and I knew it was a matter of time before they would bust open the entire contraption and dump the contents. It worked but I knew it was a matter of time before the dip-shits would get low on ground-action and then get out the ropes and pitons, and ascenders.

Of course that is the truth and it wasn't too long before they were caught trying to walk the rope. They would head out on top of it Walanda style but would fall only to find they could do it upside down. Once on the feeder, the looting started. Then I put a milk jug on the line so as to make it goofy for them--if touched the jug would spin. Worked. Ultimately I had to put on a jug on each side and to this day they have yet to get on. But I can see them out there looking up trying to figure it out-- looking around for options, then to the tree, then scamper to the left, look, ponder, but nothing yet. It looks like I have out smarted the squirrels. How about that shit?