Bird feeder snobbery: some people go nuts if a squirrel shows up.

[hedgehog]

Others complain if the wrong birds show up.

[Kaleva]

1. There are elitists amongst us bird feeders.

A dirty little fact that few are aware of.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. If you're mean to the squirrels,

you may not get any bunny action during the day.

I've noticed that about squirrels and rabbits. Though they may challenge each other territorially, (I've seen two ninja fights already), mostly, rabbits who are solitary love to come out during the day when squirrels are about because squirrels have a pack vigil system.

[hedgehog]

7. I think it applies to ground hogs as well!

[hlthe2b]

2. I have the same issue with neighbors and rabbits... I love my neighborhood bunnies...

But they get pissed that they eat the new grass or what they throw out for the birds.

At least they don't harm them though.... And given the coyotes not far away, those bunnies are not about to leave the safety of the neighborhood and the family dogs that tend to protect them.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. I love bunnies.

This is the time of the year where babies may be underfoot.

I was even thinking of putting in some new holes for them because I destroyed some of their habitat.

Yes, I'm that crazy.

[siligut]

3. Obviously they don't understand the concept of . . .

You pays your money and you takes your chances. Assholes.

[charlie and algernon]

4. heh, then I guess I'm a populist when it comes to bird feeders

When I was still living with my parents and maintaining a bird feeder there, I'd purposefully allow a bunch of seed to fall on the ground so whoever wanted it could have it. We got some mighty fat squirrels hanging around.

[MiddleFingerMom]

8. I set out water and dry catfood for the neighborhood ferals (there's just 2 or 3...

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... the others feeding there are just wandering fat n sassy opportunistic housecats).
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I bet the birds scarf up half or more of the catfood. They're ALL hungry li'l critters.
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Our collie Sandy... if you hush-whispered the word "squirrel" when you and she
were at the far end of the second floor, I still swear to this day that she INSTANTLY
teleported to the back sliding-glass door and barked her sweet fool head off.
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She cornered a rabbit in a neighbor's garage once (turned out to be someone's
runaway pet -- not a REAL wildlife challenge). She wouldn't go closer to it than
two feet or so -- freaked out and really unsure of what to do with it now that she
had it. FUNNY!!!!!
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We have wild bunnies in our yard here in Tucson. I wonder if THEY'RE eating some
of it. I didn't think of our yard being somewhat of a sanctuary for them against the
occasional urban coyote that we get.
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[Baitball Blogger]

10. Good news for the bunnies.

We don't get too many. I think the cats killed last summer's brood over winter.

[quakerboy]

23. I think you are wrong about one thing

The birds dont eat it because they are hungry. The birds eat it because they are greedy lil bastids. Ive watched several species of bird eat rocks, empty shells or whole peanuts, trash, etc, just to keep another bird from getting it.

[hedgehog]

9. Just to get some other opinions on the matter -

my husband maintains that the barn cat population ( ferals who reside in our barn and sheds) will self-limit as long as we don't feed them - that they won't breed past the ability of the background rodents to maintain them .

[stuntcat]

11. I love squirrels!

I've seen so many different kinds of squirrel-proof feeders for sale. I just feed anyone who wants to come get it.

Early in the morning I fill the cup outside and all kinds of critters come.

[Bertha Venation]

12. I'm a little of both, kinda

1. I don't mind the squirrels, but we shoot BBs (badly) at the raccoons if we forget to bring the feeders in early enough.

2. We resent the starlings and cowbirds, but don't chase them away.

But I'm totally a snob, in a whole lot of ways.

[hedgehog]

19. My daughter had to take down her bird feeder in the city because

the spilled seed attracts rats - and not the furry tailed kind!

[Archae]

13. There's a couple squirrels living up on my Mom's property that are nearly black.

Really dark fur.

[hedgehog]

18. The genes for black fur are actually dominent. It was the pressure of hunting

that allowed gray squirrels to survive and become the most common examples. Folks at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry are studying the return of the black squirrels:


http://squirrelmapper.org/geography

[mwdem]

14. We have both

a bird feeder and a squirrel feeder. I love how my young, male squirrel will sit on the bush beside the bird feeder and lower himself to the feeder. He's mastered the squirrel feeder, so it's not a challenge, I think!

[jp11]

15. A squirrel killed ma corn, thats whats I gets for feedin' 'em.

[Scuba]

16. Rescued another half-dozen baby turtles from the lawn before I mowed today....

.... almost that many last week. They sure are cute.

[Hayabusa]

17. My family's problem with squirrels are

that they have a tendency to break the feeder. We don't allow them to climb up the pole and eat from the feeder, but we don't shoo them away if they're just eating what has spilled or has been placed on the ground (we have a lot of doves that eat on the ground).

[Arugula Latte]

20. I like the squirrels better than the birds.

I'm a mammalist, I guess. The winged dinosaurs aren't nearly as cute 'n' fuzzy as my friends Scruffy, Bushytail and the gang.

[benld74]

21. 4 inch diameter PVC surrounding feeder pole STOPPED our squirrels!!

[Raven]

22. Except for the bears, I'm not

the least bit snobby about who eats from my bird feeders.

[backwoodsbob]

24. same here

had 7 squirrels this morning.

They has to eat too so who am I to judge

[a kennedy]

25. We put out grape jelly for the orioles and all the other birds eat it too!!

Robins, sparrows, catbirds, and wrens. It's pretty funny to see the baby robins lined up for their little snack from mom's mouth to their mouth. They're just flapping and squeaking.....very fun to watch. My husband gets upset that all the birds eat the jelly so fast and that he has to fill the bowl twice a day. I enjoy watching the pecking order. Robins really rule the bowl...they fight with other birds to eat while the orioles just watch until the robins have gone. Then the orioles will fight with the sparrows or wrens. Sometimes it's not even size that matters.....as I've seen baby sparrows fight with the baby robins.

[MadrasT]

26. Shoot... when I put food outside for the critters,

Whoever's hungry is welcome to it.