Category Archives: squirrels

For the love of squirrels

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That’s right, this is a post for the love of squirrels. How can I not love a squirrel? They’re cute, they’re funny and they’re smarter than I want them to be. Anyone with a bird feeder knows that.

My lot is only 100 x 100 feet square smack in the middle of Hyannis yet some days I have up to a dozen squirrels hanging out in my yard. I’m not sure where they all come from and why the number stays pretty constant. We have a pair of foxes that helps keep them in control as well as a pair of red tailed hawks that pick them off pretty regularly and that doesn’t even account for traffic or coyotes or feral cats. And yet, the squirrel population is still robust. This week,after one of the snow storms I looked out the window and there were 8 squirrels taking their fill of sunflower seeds.

012Over the years I’ve devised all kinds of things I hoped would keep the squirrels out of the bird feeders and this is what I found out. Squirrels like a good obstacle course. Those soda bottles strung on the rope only offer them a chance to become squirrel circus performers. Squirrels can leap great distances. And do. A squirrel can travel from tree to roof and leap almost 10 feet onto a feeder.

So over the years I have moved my feeders around. They are near a stand of old lilacs which give the birds cover but which are too flimsy for the squirrels to use. They are about 20 feet away from the house so no roof jumping and I finally invested in some good solid baffles which after a little experimenting with the placement really do baffle the squirrels.

003Here’s the thing. I’ve been watching one squirrel run up the pole under the sunflower feeder and bang on the baffle. At first I thought it was trying to move the baffle and in a way, it is. It is shaking the pole so the seed falls on the ground.

005Then the squirrel and its little squirrel friends stuff their little squirrel faces. I also throw seed on the ground for them, especially when it is very cold or stormy, As I said, I do get a kick out of these little guys. I just don’t want them hogging all the feeders.

005Right now you may be noticing that some squirrels are looking quite well padded. Most of these chunky squirrels are actually pregnant and soon will disappear from sight while they give birth and nurse their new little ones. Don’t worry. it won’t be long before they’ll be back at the feeders and in a few months they’ll introduce a whole new generation to your backyard. In the meantime, it may be a good idea to stock up on more sunflower seeds.

 

 

 

"Someone’s been sleeping in my bed," said the little owl…

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Earlier this week a reader of my Weekly Nature Watch column (Enterprise newspapers) called to tell me they had a screech owl sitting on a branch in their yard. They had previously had screech owls in a nesting box they had built but the day before they called me a squirrel had moved into the box. It was rainy, windy and cold the day I went over and sure enough, there was the little screech owl sitting on the branch, watching the box…..Every now and then the squirrel peeked out of the box but mostly it stayed inside and let the owl stare and stare and get wet and cold…..Screech owls are pretty common on the Cape and they are fairly easy to lure to nest boxes. Owl nest boxes have a 3″ hole which unfortunately is plenty big for squirrels, too. You can see that this box has even had the hole edges chewed on, most likely by squirrels, which enlarges the hole. It is not uncommon for screech owls and squirrels to go back and forth winning the box back and then losing it again. Home owners that prefer the owls are encouraged to clean the squirrel nest materials out of the box daily so the owl can return. The squirrels may still win, however.

These homeowners were adding several other nest boxes this week so it will be interesting to see what happens next. Screech owls are using boxes or holes in trees to roost right now. They don’t nest until February or March. You may be hearing great horned owls right now because they are getting ready to nest and all that hooting is helping them find a mate. Screech owls don’t hoot, by the way. They either let loose with a blood curdling screech or make a sound that is sort of like the whinnying of a horse.

Squirrels and pine cones galore

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It’s the time of year that squirrels and chipmunks love. Fruit, seeds and nuts are everywhere and free for the taking. Squirrels in particular love to peel the scales off pine cones to eat the tender seeds within. There’s a lot of discussion among Cape naturalists as to whether or not gray squirrels eat pine seeds. Some insist only red squirrels eat pine seeds and gray squirrels stick to acorns.

No one has told the multitude of gray squirrels in Hyannis about this thought. There are no red squirrels in my quasi urban neighborhood but lots of gray squirrels. I watch them strip pine cones daily, especially from the tall spruces out back. This is what remains…..