Backyard bird watching

[2na]

so...how many of you guys blast squirrels?? Nothing pisses me off more than seeing one on the feeder shoveling out the seed and scaring off all the birds. Anti-squirrel devices simply do not work - they figure them out eventually. I had a red squirrel the would just chew through the line leading to the feeder so I had to start using a picture wire leader. They are like the Terminator.

I have a friendly neighborhood fox that collects them at nite, and as another benefit I have found far fewer mice in my sheds. Additionally, my accuracy has improved tremendously over the last 4 years.

[Raven]

I'd like make a simple blow gun with a curtain rod ,
a piece of yarn and a large sewing needle.....
have the compressor sitting there attached with 80 lbs of air..
the rod goes out right next to the feeder...


sitten there with finger on the trigger....

but....then,
the sk-wirl -dog would have nuthin to do or to get excited about

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by 2na

so...how many of you guys blast squirrels??

The same one or two squirrels have woken me up every morning going after the feeders I have hanging from my front windows. Grabbed my pellet gun last night from storage. This morning was the first morning in a week that I haven't seen them out there. It's like they know.

[Raven]

no pellet gun here

so the hav -a- Heart with a full piece of bread covered in old peanut butter topped off with black sunflower seed proves out to be an irresistible bait that works every time! I use half the size for chippy's

had a red squirell coming over this morning which i thought odd

Dave the squirell's know their home turf by sound
not by internal compass

they remember things like sirens from the local fire station
church bells
a particular dog's bark
the sound of a dump truck squealing

so if the wind carry's that sound to them
they'll know which way is home

[Chris in Mass]

Is there enough ground swell (15 pages) here for an "Outdoors" Forum... Or maybe a combined "Outdoors/Sportsman" forum. Scuppers doesn't seem right. Maybe I'm being too anal

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Raven

no pellet gun here

so the hav -a- Heart with a full piece of bread covered in old peanut butter topped off with black sunflower seed proves out to be an irresistible bait that works every time! I use half the size for chippy's

had a red squirell coming over this morning which i thought odd

Dave the squirell's know their home turf by sound
not by internal compass

they remember things like sirens from the local fire station
church bells
a particular dog's bark
the sound of a dump truck squealing

so if the wind carry's that sound to them
they'll know which way is home

Interesting stuff, Rav, I had no idea. I know they have a great sense of smell
too as they keep trying to pry the lid off my metal garbage pail where
I keep my sunflower seed.

If they hear the sounds of the old neighborhood they'll have to swim
a 1/2 mile over the resivoir, then find the bridge over the river to
get back here. When everything is frozen they betta think twice
about running over the resivoir with the pair of Bald Eagles we have
wintering there.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by justplugit

Interesting stuff, Rav, I had no idea. I know they have a great sense of smell
too as they keep trying to pry the lid off my metal garbage pail where
I keep my sunflower seed.

If they hear the sounds of the old neighborhood they'll have to swim
a 1/2 mile over the resivoir, then find the bridge over the river to
get back here. When everything is frozen they betta think twice
about running over the resivoir with the pair of Bald Eagles we have
wintering there.

~
i used to cross the Charles river over a bridge and walk another half mile.But, Before i opened the hav-a-heart i sprayed a small amount of paint on the tip of their tail so if they returned i'd know it.

One day, i happened to be there on a Sunday just before ten oclock
and the air was as still as can be,,,, then i heard the Church bells sounding off and i counted to ten. 2 weeks later that squirell was back and i figured he heard the bells and went closer tree by tree.

[Raven]

isn't always necessary..........

because some play nice and eat the seed that the birds flick on to the ground inadvertently when looking for that perfect "one" seed to fly off with.

others fill their mouth pouches and run back and forth filling up a cache
in a hollow tree until the feed is gone and can empty a feeder in a single day.

they will chew up the plastic and wood feeders and destroy them or get them to drop onto the ground and smash spilling all the seed in a single act. I have watched them do this.

the only ones i'd shoot were the ones that had already been caught in the trap once and would have nothing to do with it ever again.
these were the very destructive squirells that caused the most havoc.

[striperman36]

I have the Audubon Squirrel Guard mounted 4' up the pipe, an H spread at the top for 6 feeders , 8' high ,8' from the deck
and I have never had any squirrels up top, they gave up years ago.

The one feed I have closer to the house is a suet feeder on the hummingbird stand over the water dish. squirrels don't bother with that.

They can have the stuff on the ground, friggin dogs try to eat it too.

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Raven

~
i used to cross the Charles river over a bridge and walk another half mile.But, Before i opened the hav-a-heart i sprayed a small amount of paint on the tip of their tail so if they returned i'd know it.

One day, i happened to be there on a Sunday just before ten oclock
and the air was as still as can be,,,, then i heard the Church bells sounding off and i counted to ten. 2 weeks later that squirell was back and i figured he heard the bells and went closer tree by tree.

LOL Rav, maybe he just missed going to church,