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I never understood why people think it's so great to feed birds that are perfectly capable of feeding themselves without someone putting food out for them, and then act like any other animal looking for food is somehow a nuisance and a squatter. Squirrels and other animals like to eat as much as birds do.
Well we buy large bags of peanuts and sacks of quality bird seed and also sacks of black oil sunflower seed and more and our birds AND squirrels get their bellies full every single day of the week. They are welcome here. All sorts of creatures come to my home. The lizards (Knight anoles, smaller anoles, curlytails, and a very awesome and much larger Green Iguana) actually come to us for feeding as well as forage in our yard to eat all they wish. Water is provided for all and it is changed very frequently, as well as having the water bowls and clam shells cleaned well and filled with water.
I think people that don't like the animals are stupid...and, yes, I am very well educated on wildlife.
My kind of people! I love all animals too except when the rats showed up at our old house because of the black sunflower seeds, and I ended up with one in my sunroom. The little critter ran behind me (I wasn't sure that he'd gotten in, but he did) when I opened the sliding glass doors and into our sunroom.
Our little dog alerted me that he was in our sauna. I just closed the door and kept the dogs out of there. Hubby dealt with it when he got home.
I put a squirrel baffle on the feeder nearest to our living room window three weeks ago. Squirrels have given up on trying to defeat it. I put food out for them in an old wooden feeder in the back part of the yard. Everybody eats and the bird feeder by the window doesn't get depleted so quickly.
I never understood why people think it's so great to feed birds that are perfectly capable of feeding themselves without someone putting food out for them, and then act like any other animal looking for food is somehow a nuisance and a squatter. Squirrels and other animals like to eat as much as birds do.
I've always had several bird feeders, and the squirrels would eat also.
My main issue with squirrels is how destructive they are to gardens. I have Jays, Cardinals, Crows, and other similar birds in my yard, and while they do feed off of my garden at times, they never destroy whole plants. They seem to understand the concept of plant growth, and that if they just destroy everything, it won't grow back. For example, I've observed 2 particular birds feeding off of the same tomato for days until it was fully eaten without ever touching the other ones. And if I picked some and there was only, say, one left, they would leave it alone until more grew from it.
Squirrels on the other hand just do not seem to care. They will eat the entire plant, fruits and all, all the way down to the roots.
So yes, squirrels are cute, and fun to have around just like birds, as they are otherwise harmless, and it's fun to watch them interact with each other, but they can be pests also.
Oh, and birds plant seeds in gardens. I actually have a few watermelon plants thanks to them coming to eat some tomatoes.
I made a squirrel proof feeder.
3/8 inch threaded rod, 8 ft long; bicycle wheel; feeder; post.
The rod works as the axle for my wheel. So I thread the axle into my post. Then place the wheel 1 foot from the post and set up the wheel bearings just like I was going to ride it. Then hang the feeder on the end.
The squirrels have given up. They went the obvious route - up the post out the rod and over the wheel which rotated and dumped most of them off. Some hung on for dear life but could not climb up the spokes; every time they tried the wheel just dumped them again.
A few of them sat for a long time just staring through those spokes at my bird food. So near, yet......
Can you post a pic? I love the squirrels and do feed them but I hate when they wipe out the more expensive bird food
Even in nature, some bad habits interfere. Some squirrels pulled wires and nested in my car engine during the winter. It was not fun or 'cute' to replace the wirs and clean out the nest spots in the engine.
There are plenty of oak trees ..so no I don't make them dependent on food by feeding them.
I'm actually concerned as this is the first year that no butterflies have been near the garden. Just as bees are scarce and needed in plant life...so too are butterflies...
Your squirrels might just give up on the twirly-gig and turn to eating your birds. Squirrels are omnivores like humans and are known to eat small birds when they can catch them.
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I love all animals too except when the rats showed up at our old house because of the black sunflower seeds, and I ended up with one in my sunroom. The little critter ran behind me (I wasn't sure that he'd gotten in, but he did) when I opened the sliding glass doors and into our sunroom. 
