Scavenging Squirrels

I really enjoy watching the variety of birds that come to our many feeders every day.  We feed them black oil sunflower seeds, which they love.  So do these little scoundrels...but they're cute, right?  Especially this little one, which I believe is a Red Squirrel.

Cute as they may be, the eat far more seeds than the birds do, are very quick, scavenge all around the cabin for other tidbits they might like, and chatter loudly when I chase them off.

I've done some research about options to keep all squirrels from the feeders.  My friend Patti said they make great stew...and though I am not opposed to trying it, the cleaning part of hunting is something I have not taken a shine to yet.  I did discover though, that squirrels do not like spicy flavors and birds don't care about it; adding cayenne pepper to the seeds could deter the scavenging squirrels!

Guess what, it works in the morning when the cayenne pepper is fresh, but it does seem that as the day progresses, the potency wears off.  It is especially effective with the large grey squirrels we have but the little red squirrels are stubbornly tenacious!  And shrewd!  This little one was pushing my limits...almost daring me to try to shoo it away.

It slyly jumped down between 2 posts and acted like it didn't think I could see it.

Then it climbed up...

...and crawled to a piece of wood holding a small garden statue and started nibbling on the wood!  This was actually pleasing to me, I'd rather have it eating wood than my bird seed!  These little squirrels are fascinating though...look how it's little claws are holding on...stupendous!

It got tired of the wood, and went for one of the feeders.  It hid behind this post, decided it wasn't going to jump to the feeder (I'm hoping it's because of the cayenne pepper)...

...and decided it was better to eat what the birds kicked to the floor (which makes me wonder if the cayenne pepper has anything to do with anything).

Then it slyly jumped back up on the railing, freezing stiff, as if it were no longer a suspicious threat...as if this statuesque stance would get me to go away!

I don't speak squirrel, but it sure did bark at me when I shooed it away...these little scavenging squirrel scoundrels are tough!

Visit ABCWednesday for more blogs highlighting the letter S.  Many thanks to the founder, Mrs. Denise Nesbitt, and to Roger for taking over from her.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise