Dear Reader Column 10-28-04

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Dear Reader,

I used to think the squirrels in my yard were cute. But now we're at war. I didn't start it. Okay, I'm sure if you asked them they'd put the blame on me--but you know how squirrels are.

Last week when I was planting flowers and mulching in my garden, there was a squirrel that seemed to be keeping a pretty careful eye on me. Every time I'd put my spade into the ground, he started squeaking and jumping up and down on the tree limb above me. He was more than persistent, so I assumed he'd buried his food stash in my garden, and I was making him nervous.

I didn't think anything more about it until I sat down to take a break and something hit me hard on the top of my head. When I looked up, I saw the squirrel. He now had a partner in crime, and they each pitched another acorn at me. Amused, but rubbing the top of my head because those acorns smart, I asked them nicely to stop. They didn't. In fact, they kept running through the maze of tree limbs, following me around the yard all day and they wouldn't quit throwing stuff at me.

I'm no longer amused.

I could understand the need for a squirrel to be concerned about his winter food supply, but these squirrels are Floridians. Yeah, yeah, it's been passed down through the generations to store up food for the winter months, and these squirrels could be Wisconsin transplants, and they just can't help themselves, blah...blah...blah. My husband's explained all the possibilities to me. And anyway, he's sympathetic to those warriors only because they haven't thrown one single thing at him. As far as I'm concerned those squirrels need therapy.

There seems to be a shortage of Squirrel Psychoanalysts in the Yellow Pages, so I've decided to try my own brand of squirrel psychology. Tonight I'm setting a huge roaster pan--full of nuts--out in my garden. Maybe if I can convince those yeahoots that there's no shortage of nuts, we could call a truce.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
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www.DearReader.com

Comments

[Angela Hurlbut]

Suzanne,

I had to laugh while reading your account. While I have yet to be bombarded by acorns, I have my own squirrel story to tell.

When we first moved into our condo 2 1/2 years ago, I put a bird feeder out in our backyard. It promptly started gathering birds of all sorts, cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, doves. By winter, we'd had tons of different birds out there visiting regularly (I'm in Michigan). However, we soon had squirrels. I didn't mind, really. Squirrels have to eat, too, right?

So, last year for Christmas, my boyfriend's parents bought me a new bird feeder. It was a nice lantern shape, made of metal, with decorative metal ivy on the sides. There were four sides that the seed could come down on and it had clear plastic "windows".

Well, it wasn't too long that I noticed the squirrels doing amazing acrobatics to be able to get to the seed, and bending the metal ivy to do it! So, we packed that one up and tried to find a sturdier feeder. We found one made of cedar that was more typical of bird feeders.

It's been holding up really good, the birds like it, the squirrels like it, everybody was happy. I look out last week, there's a squirrel inside the feeder! Somehow, they had pried off one of the plastic panes, dumped the majority of the seed on the ground, and were using the feeder as a shelter from the rain. Crafty little guys!!

I'm in the process of fixing the feeder again, but I'm starting to wonder about these squirrels. I think if I don't get it back up there soon there'll be a revolt on my hands!

Angie