Squirrels are Determined Little Critters!

August 3rd, 2010

southeast US

My squirrels are determined little critters.  The greedy rodents aren’t hungry and are quite chubby because I feed everything that comes into the yard.   My squirrels have squirrel feed tossed on the ground near the fence a couple times a week and two large trees sport wooden squirrel feeders with a metal spike that holds an ear of dried corn.  

Considering how often I have to replace ears totally stripped of kernels, I can’t imagine why the squirrels still insist on raiding the bird feeders.   I’ve tried several feeders that promise to be squirrel proof and a few of them have worked fairly well.   However, others have been dismantled or had holes chewed in them to allow squirrels access to the bird seed.  We humans could perhaps learn something by studying the determination and inventiveness of a hungry squirrel.

This year I’m taking a new approach.   Armed with Critter Ridder from Havahart I’m out to retrain my squirrels!  I clean the bird feeders every two weeks (I know you are supposed to do weekly, but I know my limits).  This year I’m adding a spray of Critter Ridder on the outside of the feeder.   I’m also spraying the branch the feeder hangs from and for feeders mounted on posts I’m spraying both the post and a circle of lawn around the base.

I don’t want to get rid of the squirrels – there’s room for every species here as long as they eat from their own table.  I’ll add a bit of the black oil sunflower seeds to the squirrel food cast near the fence as I think they’ll prefer that to trying brave a feeder with an application of Critter Ridder.