Squirrel from nowhere

[~T~]

The other morning when I got up for work I looked out bleary eyed at what looked like a cat nailed to my back fence. It then dawned on me that what I was looking at was a very fat grey squirrel wrapped round my peanut feeder happily munching away Now this wont seem unusual to most people but I've never seen grey squirrels in my village or anywhere near it. Well not for at least 3 or 4 miles. I do have some quite thick pine woodland a couple of minutes away from me where I suppose they could be hiding without me realising. Now I've obviously attracted it but should I be worried about it wrecking my feeders. It didn't seem to do any damage to the nut feeder and I don't think it's been back since.

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by ~T~

......... Now I've obviously attracted it but should I be worried about it wrecking my feeders. It didn't seem to do any damage to the nut feeder and I don't think it's been back since.

They don't usually damage metal feeders but will gnaw through plastic - particularly at the nut-delivery point! If you have any of these types then enclose them in mesh or replace them .... or get up early with a gun!

[~T~]

Well looks like I was wrong, there are more greys around my little village than i thought. Yesterday I had been out with my mate who lives on the other side of the village and walked back to mine a way I rarely go these days. One row of houses has a row of quite large pine trees along their back gardens and I was just thinking they would enough to support a a family of squirrels or so when as if on cue one ran along the wall in front of me then another ran across the road to join it. This is only a few minutes walk away from my own garden so looks like I might be getting more visits from them

[Farplace]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

They don't usually damage metal feeders but will gnaw through plastic - particularly at the nut-delivery point! If you have any of these types then enclose them in mesh or replace them .... or get up early with a gun!

Grey squirrels can totally wreck metal feeders. I have replaced several due to squirrel damage.

[werdnal]

We have had to wire the tops shut on ours, as they learned to open them and tip all the peanuts out!

They do gnaw both plastic and wire ones, but not done too much damage here so far. Our neighbour hangs his feeders on his washing line (elderly gent who uses his tumble drier instead of hanging washing outside). Squirrels will still shin along the rope, but it does make it more difficult, and being in the open in the middle of the garden, instead of near cover, makes them more nervous, so they don't stick around for long.

We also saw a garden nearby, who have a couple of pole mounted feeders, and they have fitted a 2 litre drink bottle over each pole, about halfway up. With the bottom cut off and facing downwards, it forms a sort of funnel, which stops the squirrel climbing up the pole. This only works though, if it is far enough from any other high structures, as otherwise they will jump across.

If they start being a nuisance, you might have to try moving feeders around to outwhit them, but the way we look at it is they are wildlife too, so we let them get on with it.

[~T~]

Yeh for now im not hugely bothered with the odd visit, I do quite like them

[vole-woman]

We've had squirrels in the garden for years and they've never bothered the birds or the feeders.

Perhaps we have a more genteel class of squirrel round here.

[Juliet66]

I have a cemetery of wrecked bird feeders in my garden. The ones they don't chew into, they simply knock off the tree and roll down the path until they break open!