An Arms Race with Squirrels
It’s an odd thing to respect an enemy.
But that’s exactly how I feel about the squirrels that regularly ransack our backyard bird feeders. Tenacious, acrobatic little mammals they are. We’ve only had a backyard for two weeks or so, but already these squirrels have proven to be worthy adversaries.
For now, we have two methods of feeding birds. One is a classic, house-shaped wooden bird feeder hanging about 4 feet off the ground. This one needs regularly refilling, required all the more often now because of the squirrels.
They took no time at all getting to this one for the first time. Paw over paw they climb the vertical metal poll the bird feeder hangs from, then scramble American-Ninja-Warrior-style over to the feeder itself. Seeing a squirrel hang by its front legs while it eats from the feeder is quite a sight to be behold.
The squirrels have not yet cracked our second bird feeding method. This one consists of a bunch of bird feed pressed into a bell shape, about the size of a small cantaloupe. The seed bell, as its called, hangs from the biggest tree in our yard by a length of rope tied around the trunk and slung over a branch.
We’ve got two squirrel countermeasures set up with the seed bell. For one, it’s hung about 6 feet off the ground and far enough away from the tree itself to discourage squirrel flying leaps. Two, the bell itself is hung beneath a flying-saucer-shaped bit of medal, roughly the diameter of a medium pizza. The saucer keeps squirrels from attacking the bell from above.
For now, the seed bell is safe. It’s only been frequented by welcome visitors, which have included a number of black-capped chickadees, a red-breasted nuthatch, and a Steller’s jay.
But the squirrels continue to test and experiment with ways to get at it. Just this morning I saw one squirrel climbing along a branch parallel to the bell, reaching as far its little arms could for it. Fortunately, the tree limb was two flimsy to hold the full wait of the reaching squirrel.
Who will ultimately win this squirrel arms race? Only time will tell.
