Squirrel Wars

It is that time of year again when Gary puts out birdseed and suet for our avian friends.  We have up to a dozen kinds of feeders dispensing four or five kinds of treats.

We do get hundreds of birds in the cold of winter, most of them house sparrows (weaver finches) but we can expect four kinds of woodpeckers, several varieties of finches, blue jays, cardinals, doves, starlings, juncos, chickadees, and nuthatches. A Cooper's hawk keeps a careful eye out for all of them, but the birds avoid him by hiding in the many shrubs and bushes on this property.

It is a joy to see our friends on these cold days, but beware of the thieves!  The gray squirrels love the feeders, too.

Gary has an ongoing war against those fat furry squirrels.  He hangs the feeders away from trees and buildings because they can launch themselves from any high point.  He greases the poles the feeders hang from so the squirrels will slide down if they try to climb.

All of this is the theory.  This however, is the way things looked today.

This morning, our gray friend was seated on top of the feeder warning off the rest of the squirrels and any birds. As we ate our lunch, we watched as six squirrels lined up for their chance at the feeders.

I tell Gary that we are keeping those squirrels nice and plump and should the economy worsen, we can always eat squirrel stew.  He thinks that is not a bad idea.