Hungry Squirrel

This area of the city is fortunate to have a large treed park adjacent to our street and our yards become home to many animals. The most numerous and visible are the large gray and black squirrels.During the recent ice storm these little creatures became very aggressive in attacking the bird feeders. We attempt to place our feeders away from these robbers but they are so clever.

I placed one feeder on a wire with a closed top and thought that it was impossible for it to be reached by a squirrel. One afternoon this animal studied the problem and within an hour solved the problem. He attacked the wire and hanging upside down , holding on by his two hind legs worked the top off the feeder. He then slid down the wire and placed half of it's body in the feeder. The head, front legs were completely inside the feeder and it was a tight squeeze. To get out he had to pull his entire body straight up with his mouth stuffed with birdseed.

This system which he perfected on each visit to the feeder was amusing but also gave me a respect for the degree of problem solving ability of this creature.