Thursday, January 06, 2011

Persistent Little Pest

At the start of this post, and hoping not to offend animal lovers everywhere, I want to write that I consider squirrels forest rats with bushy tails.  I do not like their 'soft brown eyes' and their 'perky' little ears, but instead, see them as persistent, annoying, greedy, self-indulgent hair balls that most closely resemble those opportunists that live in dirty city alleys.  They are home wreakers and smart enough to open garbage bins.  (I guess I have made myself clear.)  I actually keep one of those large squirt gun blasters on my drain board just to shoot this flying, leaping bedlam that tries to crawl through the wire protecting the hanging feeder, tries to remove the lid that is secured to the other hanging feeder and persistently tries to come up on the back deck and eat out of the Special Bird Dish I have set up for taking pictures of birds.  (If they are drinking out of the bird bath, which happens ever so rarely, I leave them alone.)  They have plenty to eat that falls to the ground and our acorn fall this year was phenomenal.  That is why I enjoyed with a chuckle watching these acrobatics the other day.

"Doesn't look that far away...wish this branch was stronger!  I know I do not need to lose weight!"

"Ooooo, I can smell those sunflower seeds.  Just a little closer...hang on."

"Ah Ha!  Success!  Now just need to get to those seeds."

!!

19 comments:

  1. hahaha...actually i love squirrels they are so fun to watch...

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  2. They can be annoying, but you gotta love their persistence and ingenuity! Not to mention the itsy bitsy suction cups that must be on their toes.

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  3. I can fully understand your animosity toward them but it really is very entertaining to watch their ingenuity :) We hardly ever see them, so when one does show up I have a ball with the camera.
    You got some great shots!

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  4. I count myself an animal lover, but I know where you're coming from: a cousin of mine was plagued by squirrels seemingly intent on trashing his garden. he used to catch them, fill his boot with them and drive out to a nearby forest, where he would release them.

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  5. Ha! Ha! Ha!! Loved the pics!! Squirrels can be fun to watch. And I think they are cute! Sorry!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  6. I feel exactly the same way - marauding little buggers! I am thinking of investing a wild bit of cash on a feeder that whirls the squirrels into the air but have had to settle in the meantime for the wrong end of the broom.

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  7. also an animal lover - but the squirrels irritate me - getting into the bird feeders :)

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  8. Oh My... I SO totally agree. I despise those things... We have one of those long squirt guns also... I constantly run them off of our deck. We also have trapped them and taken them deep into the woods... We fight them constantly... (along with Chipmunks --which aren't quite as bad, but another nemisis of mine)...

    YES---many people think they are just as cute as can be... NOT ME!!!!! ha ha .....

    We are on the same page on this one, Tabor.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  9. This makes me laugh. You captures some hilarious shots.

    I do love the little brats even though one of them has taken to ripping pieces of wood from my window frame. It's making piles of wood on each corner of the window ledge. In hopes of dettering it, I've taken to spraying Tabasco sauce laced water at it. The wood.. not the squirrel.

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  10. Man, I wish I could have seen that in person....The squirrels try to get on my birdfeeder, but, it slides close so he cannot get any seeds. I am so bad, because I would love to see him spin.....I know they are hungry too, but, I had 1,000,000 acorns for them this fall!!!

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  11. swinging back through to say congrats on the potw!

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  12. I just buy more seed, and let my dog have a run with them.

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  13. Anonymous11:41 AM

    You and I feel the same way about those rats dressed in fur.
    Delightful! No wonder Hilary awarded you a POTW. :)

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  14. They are cute, but they belong in the woods, not your backyard. Great shots and congrats on the POTW

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  15. Squirrels are so much fun to watch. Love the photos. Congrats on the POTW.

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  16. Even though I know they're just cuter version of their rodent cousins, I love the little critters. A couple of years ago, when we had a killer frost in the spring followed by summer drought, there were no berries or acorns to be found here in middle Tennessee. What did I do? I brought home a huge bag of acorns and hickory nuts from our Disney hotel and tossed them about the yard for our own squirrels! Word apparently got out, because we had squirrels all over gathering those things!

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  17. Anonymous4:21 PM

    Love the play by play. Congrats on POTW

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  18. Oh, those are great shots! Congrats on POTW!

    I must say that I share your dislike of squirrels. I'm scared to death of any kind of rodent. Ick.

    I totally agree with your description of them. If I see them on our bird feeder I bang on the window to get them to leave.

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  19. Anonymous12:26 PM

    The squirrels on our yard would make such a mess of the seeds in our feeder, so we place the feeder out in the middle of the yard away from all trees and my husband attached a metal flange to the bottom so now they can't climb the pole either... nya nya nya you silly squirrels.

    Di
    Congrats on POTW!!

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