Garden

[drizzellla]

The squirrel population has decreased quite a bit in the last year. At least one fox has moved into the neighborhood and we have hawks flying around.

We have one squirrel that hangs around our bird feeder. There used to be about 5 squirrels that hung around but it is now reduced to one. The birds all seem to be gone but we continue to feed the squirrel peanut suet.  I opened a container of peanuts so I decided to sprinkle about 50 peanuts around the bird feeder. 

Just went outside, all the peanuts are gone. So in less than an hour that one squirrel ate 50 peanuts? Did I just make that squirrel sick? 

[moonandthestars]

Well, I don't know for sure in this case, but if this was the work of one squirrel - he may have eaten some and taken the rest to save for another time.  They do store food (smart!).  I do the same thing around my bird feeder, I sprinkle enough for the chipmunks and squirrels on the ground around it.  Birds like it there too

@drizzellla 

[fthunt]

If he has a belly ache - that's his problem!

I see squirrel here burying most of them.

Odd that you also notice a decrease in the bird world.  Squirrel too. This is very strange - I put  out top-notch seeds/peanuts - and refresh the supply often.  Chickadees are around but not in large numbers - few nuthatches too.

[RedTop]

@drizzellla 

Just because the peanuts are gone does not mean the squirrel ate them.   A squirrel will carry them off to their nest or hiding place.  A ground squirrel will carry them off to their tunnel storage area.  A bird or rat will carry them off to a safe place to eat them, instead of out in the open.   

[KingstonsMom]

@drizzellla 

I've lived with lots of squirrels year round, and it's highly unlikely that you made him sick.

Some birds (here it's Blue Jays) love peanuts in the shell and may dive down to the ground and fly off with them.

Crows (if you have those) here will eat ANYTHING in a split second!

Squirrels are definitely 'save for later' eaters. I bet if you look around, you'll see some areas of freshly dug dirt, where he buried some of them.

Ease your mind and thank you for remembering our feathered friends, during winter especially!

[drizzellla]

We were buying a bag a week of Thistle seed, meal worms and cardinal seed through the summer. And suddenly most of the birds disappeared. On occasion one bird will show up. And we changed the food on Saturday. But we only see a bird on the ground. They don't use the feeders anymore.  My husband bought a new feeder for the thistle and not one bird has tried it.

We were spending over $40 a week in bird food during the summer. The bird feeder was quite a popular place. Then nothing. We haven't bought any bird food in maybe 2 months. We still have bags of stuff.

[KingstonsMom]

@drizzellla 

We've never had much luck with bird feeders, as the squirrels are way too smart and always managed to find a way to reach them, LOL!

We had to put a wood platform on top of a tall metal pole in the middle of our huge back yard to put the seed and meal worms (for our nesting bluebird families) on.

Sometimes we have to grease the pole to keep the squirrels at bay from the bird food.....hey, they have their own feeders, whole dried corn on the cob and peanuts in the shell feeders, LOL!

[drizzellla]

@KingstonsMom  Our bird feeders and suet holders are all hanging from a pole. We do have a special suet holder that is about 2.5 feet off the ground and also hanging from the pole. It is for the squirrels.

They climb up the pole and have no trouble eating the suet. We used to buy food just for squirrels. The food was on the ground. We ended up getting skunks and ground hogs. So all the food is now kept up. 

PS -  We had 2 dogs get skunked and don't want to go through that again. And to be honest I think if given the chance, the dogs would react the same way. Both dogs used their noses and lead with their nose.

[Sooner]

We gave up on feeding anything at this house.  We used to love the chickadees, orioles and purple martins, and most the silly two jaybirds that would jump on the swing, get it rocking then jump on top for a ride!

Bird feeders here encouraged squirrels to hang around, and in a really cold winter they did $2,000 worth of damage around the upstairs windows.

By not feeding we have reduced the rabbit, opossum and skunk and raccoon population by a lot.  We have foxes and I am sure they get some, but not enough, of the rabbits.  

[geezerette]

@drizzellla 

Interesting you should mention lack of birds.  I've noticed the same thing over the last year or so.  Not only do I have less than half the number of birds coming to my feeders, but I've also noticed fewer kinds of birds.

I live rural with lots of surrounding woods.  In addition to fewer birds and squirrels at my feeders, there are a lot fewer everywhere.  The woods are almost silent much of the time now.  

The birds have always been one of the things I've enjoyed most about living here.☹️