Yesterday I saw something furry scurry behind the shelves in the garage.
When M came home he discovered it was a very frightened Squirrel.
He tried to maneuver it out of the garage, but nothing doin' - The little guy refused to be evicted.
This morning I stepped outside to feed the birds and found this.
Do you think the Squirrel did this?
It's the Rubbermaid tote that we keep the birdseed in.
Speaking of squirrels...
I feel so bad for the wildlife in our area.
There is so much building going on, that acres and acres of their habitats are being destroyed.
I don't want to hurt the little guy, but if you have any tips on how to get him out of our garage, I'd appreciate it.
Dove
First answer - yes, the squirrel probably ate your plastic. This is why they're not recommended for those who like the thought of having a 'wild' animal as a pet - they can VERY destructive.
Second - just leave the door open and remove any food sources. He won't stay in there if there's nothing to eat. If you try to scare him out, he'll likely just hide.
Wow... That's amazing.
Do they eat alfalfa pellets? That's the only thing I store in the garage.
(The sunflower seeds are in the back garden.)
they LOVE alfalfa pellets.
They certainly are destructive little critters. They've done a lot of chewing damage around me too and seed bins are a favorite. I'd raise your garage door and lower it to about 6" from the ground. I'm sure he'll take off for the wild blue yonder on his own if you remove all possible food sources just like BackyarZoo said.
EQUI,
Better yet, raise the garage door w/in six inches, then DROP it on the little bugger when he tries to get OUT!! THAT will solve the problem, hehehe.
Also, the teeth marks look a little small to be squirrel, but it might have been a small one.
Best;
bluelytes
Hiya Debi & Equilib,
Well Shoot... A 50 LB bag of alfalfa pellets can go a long way for one little squirrel.
I guess I better get them outta there before he gets to fat to out the 6" opening Equilibrium suggested.
*S*
I feel like such a city dork.
I'm not really in the country, but it's a far cry from San Diego.
bluelytes
It was/is just a babe...
I know that squirrels can a lot of grief for many backyard habitats.
I don't have that problem here. In fact the growth around us is sadly destroying areas that shelter rabbits, squirrels and a host of other varmints that feed the hawks, owls and coyotes.
I wouldn't kill a rabbit or squirrel if I could help it... but an aphid, a horn-worm or caterpillar... they're history! *L*
Cheers
Dove
hi again dove. i keep my pellets in the garage too. so far they haven't found them but it's only a matter of time. lol
Dovey, it's amazing how destructive those critters can be. My husband invested in a very nice automatic deer feeder that hangs from a very tall tripod. Those little boogers somehow chewed a large hole through the thick plastic side of the barrel shaped feeder. Thought my eyes were tricking me when I looked out and saw a squirrel looking OUT of the feeder from that hole!
Many years ago a friend lived in an old rent house that was not well maintained. The squirrels ran rampant in the attic. Due to a large chest of drawers hiding the work in progress, my friend did not know a squirrel had been gnawing a hole in the sheetrock from the space between the interior/exterior walls. Not until he chewed his way all the way through the wall and had access to his bedroom!
They may look cute, but they are evil little tree rats.....
Debra
raise the garage door w/in six inches, then DROP it on the little bugger when he tries to get OUT!! THAT will solve the problem, hehehe.
Ditto, ditto, ditto. You really don't want to make them feel "at home".
And yes, the squirrel did gnaw that. (In my former life - before reitrement - I was a forensic scientist and animal bites, I know...) Sometimes the teeth marks look narrower than you would expect but that is because they gnaw over the same area repeatedly. But that scalloping type border screams "squirrel".
All squirrels are, are rats with busy tails .. you wouldn't have any qualms about killing a rat would you?
X
Barring the fact that it is illegal to kill them here... I truly do enjoy them. They are extremely animated and their presence does fill a niche. The raptors around here use them as a dietary staple. No squirrels- No birds of prey.
Now Norway Rats- bye bye to those. We keep ratzapper2000's going to take care of them. Pet rats such as those we have had in the past... what can I say but we loved them to death. They are so darn affectionate and intelligent.
Back to good clean family entertainment- does anyone have a Droll Yankee Flipper? If you have a spare moment, watch the video at this site-
http://www.yankeeflipper.com/droll/index.cfm
If you think this is just a hyped up video flick, it isn't. We have one of these Flippers or maybe it was the Tipper model or the Whipper model of one of those and it really sends them flying. The first week we had it up we were watching squirrels flying projectile through space like there was no tomorrow. Thie Flipper sends them off in all different directions and lands their happy squirrel butts right in the lawn about 5-6 feet away from it. We had to move our concrete birdbath because we didn't want to knock them unconscious. The adults don't fall for the device but the new babies can't resist trying to give it a whirl and when they do it is the funniest thing you've ever seen.
I agree with XERA re: make the squirrel the STAR of a snuff film, lol.
EQUI,
Remember, a friend will help you move. A GOOD friend will help you move the BODY, and a squirrel is no exception, hehhehehe.
Regards;
bluelytes
I used to have bunches of squirrels, but this year, even though I feed in open trays, I have much fewer.
I attribute that to chipmunks (I've heard that they chase squirrels away?), and our local population of owls and hawks. We may be within the city limits, but we have enough woods in our area to have a good owl and hawk population.
And you feed the deer, fleurs?!? The deer and me were through as soon as they ate almost all of my tomato seedlings one year that I had spent almost 3 months growing - there were about 20 different varieties and sadly it was the last year that I was successfully able to grow seedlings (I'd brought them from our apartment when we moved in. Our house now has overhangs with not enough direct sunlight in winter to grow seedllings. My few attempts with grow lights failed miserably. I now plant only transplants for the tomatoes.) I had spent weeks digging the garden up by hand with a pick axe (that Georgia clay is tough and we also had lots of rocks - now that most of the rocks are gone, I can use a rottotiller), removing the rougue English ivy the previous homeowners left there, amending the soil, and planting my two foot high and larger transplants. We moved in in June, so it was too late for most crops except the tomatoes and some peppers. They were growing wonderfully, with some almost 3 feet high, but then the deer ate all of my tomatoes but 3 or 4 to the ground. The others they munched most of the leaves. They even ate the ones I hadn't even planted yet that were stting out ready to plant! Of course it was too late to start new tomatoes by then - stupid deer.
My hubby said - oh it can't be deer, but I saw the hoofprints in my garden, so I knew it was them. I didn't even think they could eat tomatoes. I lthought the leaves were toxic or at least tasted badly. Fortunately that was the last year we had deer, because if they ever came back, I'd have hubby shoot 'em in the butt with a BB gun or something. Too bad there's no hunting within city limits. Vennison tenderloin is delicious.
NIGHT,
Ummm, its NOT hunting. Its self defense, hehehe. Here, you can kill deer that are destroying your property.
Best;
bluelytes
Night_Bloom,
Well, yes, we do feed them. The feeders are about 100 yds away around our pond. We can see them every morning when we wake up. It's really fun to see newborns kicking and frolicking. If you've read my "Do you have a funny gardening story?" thread in the Garden Life forum you would really question my sanity.
Debra
The squirrel on that Yankee Flipper doesn't seem to give up........lol. How many times does he have to go up there to be flinged before he gets the hint.......lol.
The younger they are, the more times they try to get up. I told you it was hysterical.
I had a squirrel feeder that was great fun and a great deterrent too. Blue - somehow I think that you'll love this. You too, X. It was battery operated and when the squirrels would get on the feeder and touch two areas (which of course they did) they would get a shock and then they would go flying off the feeder. One day, my grown son was visiting from out of state, and I was standing with my back to the window - he was facing the window and could see the area where the feeder was. All of a sudden he exclaimed "Mom! I just saw a squirrel flying through the air!!" So I explained the delightful way in which we were now feeding birds, instead of squirrels. They would recover and cuss that thing, then try again. They quickly learned that they wanted nothing to do with it. Even taught their babies. After the battery went dead, we were still squirrel free for over a year. I tend to think that the squirrels that started using it again were new guys on the block. Probably transported by cage from another area and released. You just had to be very, very careful to make sure that it was turned off when you refilled the feeder. We only forgot once...
We took it down, and all the other bird feeders, when we started getting roof rats and other varmin that made me in-home bound at night. Have you ever stepped outside at night and heard a rustling in your bushes after seeing a family of skunks under the feeder a couple of nights before? A very scary sound indeed....
CJ
Oh! Years ago we had one of those feeders on a pole that was supposed to keep the squirrels from reaching the feeder. Theory was they would climb the pole and then encounter this larger pipe on a pully that was like a jacket to the main pole. When they climbed on it, their weight would cause it to lower to the ground. Simple to figure out for a squirrel. They just had a certain speed at which they ran up the pole and grabbed the feeder before the pole had time to lower. So we greased the pole. My father and mother-in-law were visting and we sat and watched the squirrels run up the pole and s..l..i..d..e back down. Swear at the pole. Try again. We were laughing so hard we were crying. Jeeze, that was fun!! Gotta admit - they are an entertaining fuzzy tailed rat!
