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Post by Cher on Aug 16, 2005 18:59:52 GMT -5
Aren't squirrels totally amazing. We feed the birds here to and have continual battles. We have a mansard style room with 3-4 foot eaves so thought this would be the perfect place to hang the feeders and keep the sqirrels out. NOT! They climb the spruce tree next to our house, jump onto the roof, crawl down the shingles to the bottom of the even then jump and manage to grab on and get in the feeder. I've tried everything, including spraying them with the hose.
That sure looks like a black squirrel to me, maybe you should send a pic to the Michigan DNR and prove it to them. Great pic Ron, thanks for sharing them.
We have a feeder called the Yankee Flipper that has a weight activated feeding perch is calibrated to react to a squirrel’s weight. When a squirrel steps on the perch, a connection is made with a motor that makes the perch spin, and the squirrel is flipped off the feeder. Sometimes they hang on and go round and round ... they must think it's their own private merry go round. *smile*
Cher
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 16, 2005 19:47:11 GMT -5
my parents have the answer, they feed the squirrels too, so they are so full they leave the birdseed for the birds.
well, they leave out so much sed they have another problem...raccoons and deer.
i chased a Doe and fawn out of the yard this afternoon, eating machines.
they are pretty but so destructive.
KD
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Post by docone31 on Aug 16, 2005 20:36:21 GMT -5
That ain't no Black Squirrel, Big Brother told Winston Smith it was really three untill Winston saw three instead of two!
It ain't no Black Squirrel, but, I bet it was worth every old CD, and the extra bird food! Isn't it really something, when you make eye contact and know. What a treasure. I bet Big Brother has not taxed it yet.
Jenne has her own Dragonfly who waits for her to go outside. The mosquitos prefer her to anything else in Floriduh. That Dragonfly flies around her from the moment she goes out, to the moment she goes in. We can see the Dragonfly sitting on the rose bush she planted. Waiting for its next meal.
Every place has something, if we just know how to look.
Great photos.
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Post by joe on Aug 16, 2005 23:15:54 GMT -5
Great squirrel pics! I have a few who hang around my feeders. Mine are red/gray but they are just as resourceful as yours. CD's are child's play. I put out 18" pizza tins. They get around it. I've seen 'em jump 5' straight up, rebound off the tin and continue up. Kinda like they have their own laws of physics. Cher, I love the idea of the Yankee Flipper. The video at <http://www.yankeeflipper.com/droll> is hilarious. It was great until I got to the price.  A little steep for me! If you ever want to get rid of yours... I use KD's parents method of trying to bribe the little food machines. It works for a bit, but I think they attack the bird feeder as a kind of squirrel sport. I shot 'em with a slingshot- Ok, so all I shot at them was corn and beans. Corn and beans both have horrible aerodynamics. I don't hit many squirrels, but when I did they at least jumped off the feeder and ran away. Satisfying. Then they realized I was shooting food at them! One would run across and draw my fire and the others would hide in the garden and watch where the ammo landed and pounce on it! I surrender. The sqirrels win. They ARE kinda cute... Joe |
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Post by Tweetiepy on Aug 17, 2005 11:51:03 GMT -5
I've seen feeders where the "food door" closes when the weight of the squirrel is on the little perches. It stays open for the birds but shuts down for anything heavier. Which is also good for those big birds that steal the littel birds food
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Rose
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Member since November 2004
Posts: 875
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Post by Rose on Aug 17, 2005 11:57:41 GMT -5
LOL squirrel with attitude ! Reminds me of the film the great outdoors with the raccoons, trashing the bins evey night and talking to each other about the efforts to stop them  |
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Post by Cher on Aug 17, 2005 12:48:29 GMT -5
Hey Joe, you have to get one like I did. I agree, it's a bit steep but mine was a gift from my son. For as long as they last, I decided that dividing the cost over a number of years, vs the amount of feed it has saved me made it worth the initial cost. ... Not to mention the antics are hysterical providing us with a daily dose of laughter.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 17, 2005 14:31:20 GMT -5
Cool- Black squirrels are supposedly just a grey squirrel mutation- well we have them here in NY also- They used to only be in Canada but now they are invading the US Cool picture- Hmmm wonder what CD's they DO like to listen too-
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Post by Alice on Aug 17, 2005 16:35:55 GMT -5
those black ones are little buggers! They're smart and aren't really afraid of much.
We have a nest in one of our trees with a family of grey-ish squirrels here.
I usually leave some squirrel feed for them on an old rotting tree stump that we have out in the back yard. Besides the grey squirrels, I get many blue jays, cardinals, some annoying black birds, woodpeckers (to peck at the stump) and ONE of those black squirrels (I have no idea where it's from). But it's willing to fight to keep the food to himself. The grey ones are more sociable, and don't mind eating with the "family" or with birds for that matter.
on the back of the squirrel feed, it says that if you don't want squirrels in your bird feeder, you should make a feeding station in your yard just for squirrels (low to the ground)
Our squirrels like sun flower seeds, peanuts, and dried corn the best.
but your squirrel seems to have already discovered the bird feeder, so I don't know if it'll work.
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SilverHeights
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2003
Posts: 101
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Post by SilverHeights on Aug 17, 2005 21:01:34 GMT -5
I tried to keep squirrels out of the bird feeders and after wasting 2 years trying I realized I enjoyed watching them as much as the birds. I put up 2 metal feeders, one for niger seed and one for sunflower seeds. The squirrels cannot get into them but they still try. See picture!!  I feed the squirrels on a platform attached to a tree . It also feeds the deer and larger birds such as jays. I enjoy watching all the animals now.   Dorothy |
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Post by Alice on Aug 17, 2005 22:59:24 GMT -5
wow Dorothy, what a sight! a deer!
wish we had that over here. All we have are mutant cats and racoons.
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Post by joe on Aug 17, 2005 23:03:10 GMT -5
Ok try this. Attach a pine cone to a wire. A long wire. Coat the pine cone with peanut butter. Dip it in birdseed to make it irresistible. Hang it from a tree. The squirrels aren't supposed to be able to get it, but they shimmy down the wire and hold on to the cone as they try to eat it. If they aren't able to get it, your birds should enjoy it.
Cher- you make that sound sooo rational. I'm tempted, but then I think I could maybe get a twelve lb. tumbler for the money. So little pension check, so many toys!!!
Dorothy- cool feeders. Where did you get them?
Joe
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Duckbean
fully equipped rock polisher
Looking for rocks in all the wrong places
Member since February 2005
Posts: 1,072
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Post by Duckbean on Aug 17, 2005 23:25:41 GMT -5
I don't mind feeding them, I've even put out a container of feed just for the squirrels, along with the ear of corn. Need to get me some of the metal feeders because the little buggers keep eating the bird feeders! They can't get the feed out fast enough to suit them so they chew larger holes and then shake the feeder to get the feed out! Then set around and gorge on the feed they have spilled all over the place. We have mostly red and grayaround here, but black also, But their rare!
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SilverHeights
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2003
Posts: 101
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Post by SilverHeights on Aug 17, 2005 23:26:11 GMT -5
I got the feeders at our local Home Hardware. They were about $20 for the pair. Well worth the price. Racoons were a problem but we managed to trap them and relocated them to a wilder place. Lots of that still close here. Bears haven't been a problem yet this year but that could be because of our dogs. We have had a grizzly right outside our livingroom window!!
We feed the deer in the winter as we get lots of snow/rain and then ice so its hard for them to get down to the grass sometimes.
Dorothy
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Post by joe on Aug 17, 2005 23:33:55 GMT -5
A grizzly bear!! I draw the line at bear feeders!! What would you put in them? Never mind, I don't want to know. Joe |
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stefan
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Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 18, 2005 13:20:46 GMT -5
hey ron look at the squirrel in the secon set of photos - he is reaching way down to get to the feeder- look at his little paw- I think He's flipping you the bird!
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 18, 2005 13:59:53 GMT -5
i can't believe he is hanging on by a toenail in that second photo....too funny.
KD
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Post by joe on Aug 18, 2005 18:23:15 GMT -5
Hey Joe, bears have a real attraction to pastries. Ron Oh great. I'm an ex New Yorker whose only experience is with bears that have names like Yogi and Smokey. I have a lot of experience in pastry shops, and now I have the knowledge that a bear would be happy to fight me for a canolli.! The things I have to look over my shoulder for!! joe |
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stefan
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Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 22, 2005 14:16:10 GMT -5
Strangest thing last night- I was starting a fire to cook some Ribs- I was sitting out on our garage patio and I heard this bleeting (kinda like a sheep) It was windy so I thought maybe it was a creaky tree- but it kept getting louder- I spun around and there was a fawn walking down my driveway! Looked at me and bleeted again- Scared the bejeebers out of me! well I moved slowly to grab the camera but it spooked and took off- Well I spotted it in the woods with momma and sibling (It was just calling for momma) so I knew all was gonna be ok- but I've never heard any noise come out of a deer (except an occasional snort)
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chassroc
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Rocks are abundant when you have rocktumblinghobby pals
Member since January 2005
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Post by chassroc on Aug 22, 2005 15:04:52 GMT -5
Damn Squirrels get into everything! They are smart little buggers. We stopped feeding the birds; we were afraid the squirrels would go right through the slider screen...My next door neighbor feeds the birds all year round. She tells me she goes through a big Costco bag (25|50#?) of sunflower seeds each week, She attracts all the birds and everything else. We have lots and lots of Deer which love the azalea and Rhodedendron and any evrgreens in the winter, what beautiful awful pests and with the ticks(lyme disease) and west nile virus from the birds. Her birds attract a Hawk who loves the supplied food (live bait!). PLus groundhogs and other assorted critters.
Last year we had some veggies growing in containers on the decks that attracted a racoon who would poop on the deck (do they do that to mark their turf).
I've never seen those black squirrels, great pictures!. Upp until a few years ago we only had gray squirrels. Big fat grey squirrels...these critters belong in and are just like Americans(unfortunate fact for man or beast...when food is cheap, we tend to get fat!). When I would go on vacation I would see scrawny and mangy gray and even scrawnier and mangier red squirrels...with all the food from my neighbor we now have both...I'll have to ask her about black squirrels, I haven't seen any yet.
Last year the squirrel population just exploded. I even made my own squirrel swimming pool to make them feel at home after they invaded my attic and I had to call in the marines(that would be the exterminator)...ah nature, love it and hate it at the same time!
csroc
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A little steep for me! If you ever want to get rid of yours... 
I feed the squirrels on a platform attached to a tree . It also feeds the deer and larger birds such as jays. I enjoy watching all the animals now. 
