Squirrels

[Veronica]

Why do people who feed birds get bothered by squirrels? And sometimes even start killing the squirrels. I don't get it.

I feed feral cats (and I've had them all neutered). I also "feed" skunks, blue jays, raccoons and the occasional possum. I see it as one of the hazards of choosing to take care of the ferals in my neighborhood. Yeah, I'll go out and scare off the wild beasties, but killing them... some other beastie will just take their place.

I guess if they used them for squirrel stew or if the squirrels were somehow damaging the house, I'd "get" it. But just to keep them out of the bird food...


Veronica

[sarahspins]

This has always baffled me too.. I just don't get it either.

[PamNY]

Is that common? Most of my birdwatching friends love squirrels. The interaction between squirrels and hawks is fascinating -- we are all thrilled when the squirrels taunt the hawks.

We are in parks, though. It's not a situation where squirrels are raiding the backyard birdfeeders.

[Crankin]

I don't love squirrels and wouldn't fed them, but I wouldn't kill them, either. We had a squirrel proof bird feeder (2 actually), that really worked. They cost a bit more, but was worth it. Unfortunately, we left them at the old house and after 5 years, it's too late to go back and get them.
A squirrel did break my DH's fork on his bike when it collided with him, descending a hill at 40 mph. Well, it broke one side of the fork, right off.

[ny biker]

My experience with squirrels is that they are either really devious or really stupid. They run halfway across the road, stop, then run back so that they are right in front of you as you approach going fast downhill. Why not just keep going?? Why come back at me???

I shake my fist at them.

[7rider]

We feed the birds. We have a baffle to keep squirrels from climbing up the pole that holds the feeder (they don't need to anyway - the sparrows are such messy eaters, they fling more food to the ground than they consume!), but we'd never, ever, resort to killing them.
We do try to scare away the large flocks of grackles and starlings that will drain our feeder in a matter of moments, and we're no fan of mourning doves.
Our issue is purely economical - they are voracious eaters and will drain a feeder faster than our wallets allow us to refill it. (we go for shell-less seed, which is about 3x's the price of regular, but much cleaner and with less waste).
Opening the window. Shouting. Rapping on the window. These we would do (although we recognize that it's like spitting into the wind).
But never kill.

[Possegal]

I had to draw the line when the squirrels took up residence in my house. Pay rent or get out!

[GLC1968]

We got used to feeding both squirrels and birds in our backyard in NC. It was a pain to have to keep filling the feeders, but shooing the squirrels away was a losing battle.

I did contemplate squirrel murder when we discovered that they were stealing all our tomatoes. Yes, you read that right. Squirrels. They waited until they started to turn red and then picked them using our fence as a ladder. It was amazing that they barely disturbed the plants. We humans didn't get a single tomato that year!

[SpinSpinSugar]

You gals aren't going to like this but....

Last summer my BF bought a small animal trap. He managed to catch a couple of squirrels with it and... well... took them out to the park next to our house with our dogs and turned them loose. One squirrel got away... but the other ended up as doggie dessert.

SpinSpinSugar

[Selkie]

You gals aren't going to like this but....

Last summer my BF bought a small animal trap. He managed to catch a couple of squirrels with it and... well... took them out to the park next to our house with our dogs and turned them loose. One squirrel got away... but the other ended up as doggie dessert.

SpinSpinSugar

Charming.

[crazycanuck]

I think Squirrels, Chipmunks & those types of creatures are kinda cool ,. I know i spent quite a bit of time following one whilst in a NYC park..just because..

I wish we had bandicoots and kookaburras in our yard. They're cool

It's a shame that the cool Australian wildlife will either eat you or scare the sheepies out of you whilst driving...

[badger]

You gals aren't going to like this but....

Last summer my BF bought a small animal trap. He managed to catch a couple of squirrels with it and... well... took them out to the park next to our house with our dogs and turned them loose. One squirrel got away... but the other ended up as doggie dessert.

SpinSpinSugar

wow... how unspeakably cruel. At least shooting is instant and humane. I can say more, but I'll keep them to myself.

[PamNY]

Photos of my all-time favorite squirrel behavior: taunting hawks. There's nothing the hawk can do about it; they usually make a few threatening gestures, then fly away. Scroll down a couple of frames to see the brave squirrel.

Here's a very interesting article about squirrels, including how they are similar to primates in some ways. BTW, it's not true that Manhattanites hate squirrels.

[bmccasland]

Photos of my all-time favorite squirrel behavior: taunting hawks. There's nothing the hawk can do about it; they usually make a few threatening gestures, then fly away. Scroll down a couple of frames to see the brave squirrel.

Really cool photos! And the person who posted them had a sense of humor too. Love some of the captions!

[NbyNW]

You gals aren't going to like this but....

Last summer my BF bought a small animal trap. He managed to catch a couple of squirrels with it and... well... took them out to the park next to our house with our dogs and turned them loose. One squirrel got away... but the other ended up as doggie dessert.

Yeah, I don't like this and I'll even go so far as to say I think it's a little sick.

I know that hunting is in their nature, but I also feel that's the difference between a wild animal and a pet.

Our dog has a strong prey instinct but we would NEVER encourage him to kill another animal.

Even hunting breeds are trained to stop at a certain point. Their job is to flush out prey or to locate it, not to make the kill.