I know a lot of people consider squirrels to be annoying pests, but I find them entertaining.
When we first moved into this house, I was thrilled to discover resident families of squirrels in the trees on either side of us who regularly visited our garden.
Actually it was a short battle because I didn't use actual feeders for very long. I discovered in our first summer here that, no matter where I put the feeders, they got soaked every time the sprinklers ran.
It got to be a chore to bring them all down the night before the sprinklers ran, and I was always forgetting, so in the end I did away with feeders, for the most part.
I took to sprinkling seed along the top support rail of the fence and the top of the back wall and, as you can see here, the birds and the squirrels were happy to share.
I also gave the squirrels a feeder of their own and I love watching them lift the lid and reach inside for their goodies. It was amusing watching the birds around it too. One day I watched as a woodpecker perched by it and picked out corn, piece by piece, and toss it to the ground!
It's rather sad to say that we rarely see squirrels here anymore. We used to have trees on either side, and a row of trees along the road behind us, so the squirrels had plenty of habitat. That's all gone now, except for the trees in our garden.
But I still keep the squirrel feeder filled and occasionally one will come to visit. I hope they know they are welcome here.
7 Ways to Celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day from the National Wildlife Federation.
Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.
5 comments:
I'm glad to know that you are a fellow squirrel appreciator!
I don't appreciate squirrels at all. They eat everything in my garden. All of my grapes and peaches. Annoying critters.
I enjoy the squirrels also, Jayne. My feeders and birdbath are right outside my dining room so we get dinner and a show every day! I just keep the feeders full and scatter extra corn and everyone seems happy. The squirrels are very funny getting into the feeders-hanging upside down etc. I knew I couldn't beat them so we decidded to just embrace them! Carol
We lost our grapes last year too meemsnyc, but we assumed the culprit was a raccoon. We'll see how the grapes and the Sam Houston Peach tree do this year.
Thanks for stopping by Carol. Our squirrel entertainment has almost dried up. We've seen very few over the winter. I hope we see more this year -- my cats and I miss them!
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