Poppy and CC's Corner: Squirrel Wars (Diablo Ardillas) Episode One

There is nothing cuter than frisky little squirrels running and jumping and chasing each other. In early spring they are seriously chasing each other in the mating game, but year round they are playful little buggers that are fun to watch. They take long running jumps and then catapult through the air, seeming to glide magically like a trapeze performer on the high bars in the big top. They are comical as a pack of clowns at a circus and simultaneously they are graceful as a gazelle as they display their amazing dexterity. They have remarkable agility and they are cunningly ingenious. Without a doubt one of the shrewdest critters that exist on this planet. Couple that with incredibly sharp teeth and claws, a relentless attitude, and a totally intrepid spirit and you have the makings of a diabolical genius.
As my friend Delmar in Texas says, "A good squirrel is the one that is cooking on the stove".(Not really, but I can imagine him saying that). He is from Arkansas and like my east Texas family, they believe that squirrels are good for eating. I have eaten squirrel that my Dad fried in a skillet, but I never really hunted them with any success on my own. And I would quickly add that I never really liked the taste of squirrel. (I would probably have starved to death on the frontier because I don't like venison either). However I do like catfish and crappie so maybe I would have survived. Back to the squirrels. As cute as they are, they have another side that is quite irritating and vexing to folks like us.

We have a pond and wooded area directly behind us so we enjoy feeding wildlife in our backyard. We especially like the birds that fill our lives with their beauty and their enchanting calls. From the squeaky little finches to the chit-chit of the cardinals, to the fierce warbling of the Carolina wren, we sit on our deck and enjoy all the sounds that nature provides. In spring and summer and early fall, we park in the deck chairs and soak it all in as the evening approaches. It is most relaxing to turn off the world and tune in to God's little side show that takes you away from all the problems of this crazy place we live.
We have put up bird feeders for most songbirds, filled with sunflower, milo, safflower, and peanuts, at two different stations in the yard. In another spot we have meal worm feeders for those birds who don't like the birdseed, like bluebirds. One of the feeders is filled with thistle (Nyger) seed that appeals primarily to the goldfinches and we have suet blocks on one of the shepherd hooks.. We have a couple of birdbaths on the deck rail and another centrally located in the yard because we discovered that many birds like to bath daily and they all take a sip each day.. Our yard slopes from front to back and creates a deck area that is eleven feet off the ground on the backside. This creates a perfect platform for hanging birdfeeders off the toprail so that we can observe them while they are eating. And this is where the problems with the squirrels has manifested itself. For squirrels not only like nuts, they also love sunflower seed.
   In the yard we have installed metal baffles on the support poles that deflect the squirrels efforts to get at the feeders. One of them was four feet off the ground originally. I had to raise it to five feet because I witnessed a squirrel leaping five feet from a standing stop and landing on the metal pole above the baffle. He totally cleared the obstacle and scampered onto the closest feeder. Of course I immediately ran him off and he indignantly escaped across the yard and through the fence. He was back an hour later contemplating how high he would have to jump this time. He never did so I adjusted the baffle on the other ground feeder to a similar height. We don't know when they will try again, but we know they will. They are relentless.
   At one time, during the past several years, we had two small feeders on plant hangers at the bay window in the den. Squirrels would leap from the maple limbs nearby until I sawed off the close hanging branches. Then they would crouch at the end of the deck toprail and leap laterally seven feet and then desperately cling to the hanger. I fixed this approach by installing a wide piece of flashing at the end of the toprail so they couldn't coil up for the jump. I saw them leap from a maple limb ten feet away and land on the copper covering of the bay window, but they would always slide off and into the lilac bush below. Though it was eventually squirrel-proof, we abandoned it because it requires climbing a thirteen foot ladder every time you refill it. At my age I try to stay off ladders and besides, Cheryl fusses at me when I do.
   We decided that we would buy a couple of four foot deck planter hooks and hang feeders off the back of the deck. We filled them with the popular songbird mix and were delighted that the birds flocked to it. They were hanging four feet out in the air and twelve feet above the ground. They obviously felt very safe and secure and we were treated to a grand display of ornithology from fifteen feet away. Then the squirrels discovered them and invaded their privacy. The squirrels would drop off a nearby tree and land on the top rail or climb up the deck from the ground. Without a shred of fear they would climb out on the hook and jump down onto the feeder. With a rodent hanging upside down on their food source, the birds stayed away. And by the way, when they eat they gorge on the seed and scoop away the smaller seeds they don't eat. Sometimes when we were away they would empty a feeder in a day. So we began to try and find a way to keep them off the feeders.

I had an extra baffle so I attached it to one of the hooks about three feet away from the top rail. At first I witnessed a 'diablo ardilla' simply walk up the hook and pull himself onto the baffle and climb over. I watched another sit on the top rail for several seconds and then suddenly leap from the top rail completely over the baffle and land on the hook. I always watched them perform their feats before I would shoo them off. This obviously wasn't working so Cheryl bought a loose hanging baffle that acted like an umbrella over the top of the feeder. This was more effective until they discovered that they could push the baffle sideways enough to allow them to get a grip on the feeder underneath. Not all could do this but several could. In the past two weeks I have scared not less than nine arillas off the feeder who have lept to the ground 12 feet below. All have scampered away and escaped up the closest tree. I think they are practicing to be flying squirrels.