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Squirrels and Bluebirds (Part 2)Also see Flying Squirrels In addition to Messages that have appeared in the Bluebird Mailing Lists on this topic, the following are on the Audubon Society of Omaha website: Predators and Problems On The Bluebird Trail From: Jgandy8580"at"aol.com After disappearing for 11 days, the first batch of fledglings is constantly in the yard and I may see a bluebird anywhere, at any time. 3 eggs as of yesterday in the box. Very hot and humid now, but I am such a lousy carpenter my boxes need no extra holes for ventilation. After such a rocky start (3 eggs lost to house wren, and 3 male house sparrows done away with) all is turning out beautifully. Have trapped and removed 23 squirrels in 23 days and am working continuously on vole extermination. These two critters have wreaked havoc with everything I have tried to plant for other wildlife. Like the HOSP, they will have to learn to get along with others, including me, or get out. Subject: RE: trapping squirrels It is pretty much a given that when you relocate squirrels (and other mammals) you create a vacuum that is eventually filled by other squirrels. Habitats have a holding capacity and humans seem to interfere with this as they please. In addition when you relocate creatures you upset several conditions that create undo hardship for animals (not just mammals). You could be removing a squirrel from a family- that family may be young and totally dependant on their parents and will starve to death. You may be dumping squirrels in a habitat already full of squirrels and this make survival hard for the existing squirrels and the dumped one. You may be introducing disease into the area. Catching a relocating mammals is not a good idea in most cases. There are ways to baffle squirrels. Try making birdfeeders and birdhouses more resistant to squirrels and other predators. Don't relocate them. Create habitats that support wildlife, talk your neighbors into creating habitats. Alicia Craig Visit a list of the wonderful organizations we support http://www.wbu.com/alliances/ Be a Citizen Scientist, visit
http://birds.cornell.edu/citsci/ -----Original Message----- ... From: "Larry A Broadbent" rockets"at"mnsi.net Larry Broadbent - Chatham Ontario I'm not surprised by Alicia Craig's / (Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc.) response to trapping and relocating squirrels. Of course she is against trapping and removing squirrels! After all, Wildbirds Unlimited will sell you the both food and feeders for squirrels. They will also sell you Squirrel guards for your feeders. The bottom is just that. Their bottom line! I've never seen any traps for squirrels of for House Sparrows or Starlings sold in a Wild Birds Unlimited store. That sort of thing would go deeply against their thinking of feeding everything, and would cut into their bottom line. It's time for Nature and Wildlife stores ( like Wild Birds Unlimited) to
start addressing the problems they are creating with Feeding Everything
including House Sparrows, Starlings & Squirrels. It's a wonder they don't sell a
special blend of seed / feed for rats and mice. ----- Original Message ----- ... From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net Larry, I agree with most of what you said. I can also find some common ground with her on relocation. A tract of timberland consisting of about 11,000 acres borders my backyard, so I know about squirrels! Back in the 80's, I just about gave up on feeding because of them. Can't remember where the idea came from, but I started mounting my feeders on 4" PVC pipes, 5' tall, and presto, no more squirrel or any other climber problems! Just make sure it is far enough away from limbs, etc., so they can't jump to it. Oh yes, I have a great recipe for squirrel dumplings which is much better than relocation! :-) Bill Larry Broadbent - Chatham Ontario ... From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net Bill Darnell, et al, I applaud not only your suggestion for a way to cook them, but also the wider implication of your suggestion, involving the fact that before one cooks them one must first render them dead. I am repelled by the idea of 'relocating' squirrels or any other pests. That's sort of like 'relocating' your trash to someone else's property. Do you live-trap mice and rats and 'relocate' them? Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net Alicia Craig craiga"at"wbu.com Said: I am totally at loss as to how my post was "Mean spirited," but if that is the way you took it, my apologies. However, I do agree with Bruce and others, that dumping our problem pests on others is not in the best interest of anyone. Bill Darnell From: "Larry A Broadbent" rockets"at"mnsi.net Larry Broadbent - Chatham Ontario Alicia Craig said " Your comment was mean and uncalled for. Our stores do a lot in their communities locally and nationally. We donate to the North American Bluebird Society and other organizations that help birds- this is not a retail group that just sees the bottom line- you know not what you speak!" Reply: I myself have a background in scientific bird study and bird biology from Cornell Lab of Ornithology as well as a background in raising and training Raptors, as well as Raptor rehabilitation. I have also worked for the Alberta Game Farm in Alberta Canada in charge of all the birds. The owner of the Alberta Game farm is a Naturalist Biologist who has one of the best collections of Cranes in the world. The Alberta Game Farm are the people who did work with the Canadian & US Governments on the Whooping Crane increase population program. Yes, I was in charge of some extremely beautiful and valuable birds from all over the world. The National Geographic Society also did a feature film on Al Owming the owner of the Alberta Game Farm entitled Journey To The High Artic. My dad was a bush pilot when we lived in Alberta, and he use to fly various animals from Northern Canada down to the Alberta Game Farm just out of Edmonton Alberta. Personally I never said anything about relocating trapped squirrels. My suggestion is to take the trapped squirrels from problem squirrel areas, and donate them to their local Raptor Rehabilitation Center. The should be welcomed there, if you know what I mean. My comments were not meant to be mean. Just the Truth / Facts mam . ----- Original Message ----- ... Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 13:04:05 -0500 All this educated talk about Squirrel has made me hungry for Squirrel Gravy.
Do any of you have a good receipt for Fox Squirrel Gravy. My receipts are for
Gray Squirrel,Tree Squirrel, Chipmunk, Flying Squirrel, Tree Rats, Moles, Voles
and Northeastern Lemming. None call for enough hot spicy mix needed for a big
fat Fox Squirrel. Anyone having a blue ribbon winning receipt especially
designed for the Midwestern Fox Squirrel would provide a valuable and much
needed service if such person would post a receipt for all to read. I am sure it
will be most appreciated and useful. Thank you for your attention. From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net Hi, Wendell! Nice to hear fingers tapping from your way again! I am not much on the gravy, but I can give you some tips on the dumplings! Most meat type dumplings can be made this way. First, you gotta skin and clean out the insides of three or four squirrel. I don't use the head, but some do. The tail has to go, also. Use a large, say, four quart stewer. Put about a quart and a half of water in it, quarter a large onion, cut three or four stalks of celery into large pieces Don't forget to add the squirrel. Boil for however long it takes to get the squirrel "falling off the bone" tender, then remove all the vegetable matter. If you like, pick all the meat off the bones and discard them. Also add salt and pepper at this point. I have found the way to make the dumplings is easiest when you buy frozen Pillsbury's biscuits, tear them into little chunks, and drop them into the gently boiling water with the squirrels. Boil until the stuff gets sort of thick. It is really hard to get this wrong! You can make Chicken and Dumplings the same way. Before anyone get a knee-jerk and asks, "What's this got to do with cavity nesters?" Well, nothing, really. But it is good eating. Bill Subject: Squirrel Gravy All this educated talk about Squirrel has made me hungry for ... Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 20:56:22 EDT Do you live-trap mice and rats and 'relocate' them? I'm afraid that's not as far-fetched as you might be pardoned for thinking. It's come up on one of the AR-watch lists before. The fact that some of the bleeding-heart AR's *do* relocate mice/rats made sense, too--there were a couple of years when we had sudden huge influxes of rodents in our barn. The horses actually had their hooves gnawed--one (bless his heart, he never *would* step on anything alive) actually to the point that he had blood running from the coronary band at the top of the hoof. g The feisty Shetland never got a nibble, though... And I found a rat-pizza in *his* stall! Sure would have liked to get my hands on the one who let I actually don't mind the squirrels around the feeders too much; it can be rather fun to outwit them (I've had good luck thus far). But I do wish they'd stay out of the hayloft--major nuisance there. Rhonda Watts From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net Re: Relocating squirrels, The best way to 'relocate' a squirrel is to send him to join the Great Squirrel in the Sky. Bruce Burdett Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 23:58:57 -0500 in the squirrel world receipt = recipe, thanks Linda ;-) and thanks Bill. Wendell From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas EVERY cavity nester, whether bird, reptile or mammal that we can attract to our nestboxes or feeders is probably going to die in the claws or fangs of a predator in normal circumstances! Rats and mice often satisfy the hunger of predators or give a cat something to play with instead of a bird! My personal opinion about "bird feeding" or putting up "birdhouses" is to get people involved in their backyard wildlife and open their eyes to a whole world of creatures most of us take for granted! Once you learn to love seeing birds/squirrels eating your food or nesting in your houses THEN you can teach them to be more selective and MAYBE limit the House Sparrows or keep the squirrels from eating at EVERY feeder. Please remember that the real issue here is MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR TOMORROW! Remember to debate the issues till you are blue in the face and remember there are caring people, very SPECIAL people sitting behind every computer screen even though we don't agree with every idea they have or share with us! The list gets better every debate that is aired no matter what any of us believe or who we work for! Keith Kridler Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 10:19:53 -0500 Haleya Priest Amherst MA From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net H., my short answer is this: A squirrel will gnaw into anything made of wood or other chewable substance, if he wants in it, or at what is in it! I mentioned earlier about using the PVC pipes to mount bird feeders on, which has effectively squirrel proofed them; however, there is more to the story. I absent-mindedly bought a heavy duty 30 gallon plastic trash can to store sunflower seed in and left it on the patio. I came home from work one day, only to find a hole about 3 inches in diameter, made by squirrels on the lower side of the can, with a large pile of sunflower seed outside. They can do anything a rat can do, plus some. I also heard a story about a couple who loved to feed squirrels. They kept feeding them closer and closer to the house, until one day, they decided to see if they could lure them inside. After some time, they left for a short vacation, only to return to a demolished kitchen. I don't know if this is actually true, but sometimes, we can get too close to nature. Bill Haleya Priest Amherst MA ... Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2002 11:14:00 -0800 Dear Rhonda. Sounds like you need a Barn Owl nest box (or 2 or 3) around your property to knock off these pests. Remember that the word "PEST" is in fact, a FOUR LETTER WORD! This squirrel feeding frenzy makes me hunger too. I'll post more later after I complete some raptor perches (Larry shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you some plans.) Happy Bluebird Trails To You, Rwatts wrote: Do you live-trap mice and rats and 'relocate' them? ... Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2002 17:57:02 EDT Sounds like you need a Barn Owl nest box (or 2 or 3) around your property to knock off these pests. That's on my long-term planning list. (I didn't hear a single one this year, though, after last year's constant presence.) Unfortunately, the barn owls probably wouldn't get the ones *in* the barn. The squirrels come in through the cracks in the boards and go under/between bales. Fortunately, we *do* have fishers around. Rhonda Watts From: "Gary Springer" springer"at"alltel.net I've enjoyed the exchange about what to do with squirrels. After having red-tail hawks and too many squirrels sharing the property for about 9 years and witnessing the interaction between them, I had come to the conclusion that these hawks seldom messed with them. But, one of the red-tail hawks has decided that squirrels are a delicacy and squirrels have gone from a nuisance to scarce. Gary Springer Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 23:55:15 -0600 (Central Standard Time) Hi birders Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 06:47:58 -0800 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Quite a while ago, some of us on the List who are seeking passive alternatives to birding took the topic off-List under a group hosted by Fawzi. This allowed us to exchange ideas while not clogging the List. Nothing was taken away from the pool of collective information because Jim McLochlin was permitted to archive our informal off-list "brainstorming" so that anyone can access those notes. Similar consideration would be appreciated from the other side of the spectrum. Surely, a group could be formed (a counterpart to our off-list passive group) for the trapping/killing topics. From: sbassie"at"bellsouth.net Hi, Bill, Around here, the dreaded squirrel invasion is a homeowners' nightmare. While I've never, thankfully, had to deal with the aftermath of an invasion, I know several people who have. It was not pretty! One thing I have had to deal with is power outages caused by the little buggers chewing their way into transformers. This is a very common occurrence around here. I'm with you on the best thing to do with squirrels. Fried, smothered, or in gumbo! By the way, flour tortillas make great dumplings, too. Sheryl Bassi ... From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Squirrels are very much like rats in their choice of diet and will eat a meal of baby or adult birds. They gnaw on bones and antlers for calcium and also eat egg shells. They routinely enlarge the entrance holes of natural or manmade cavities in this area to around 3" in diameter and this allows kestrels and screech owls to enter the cavity. (We also have several other small species of owls in our area.) Good for their nesting but larger holes will also provide a meal if smaller birds are roosting or nesting when the predators enter the cavity! I believe that rodents are a far larger predator of nesting birds than we give them credit for! It has been known for years that even the shy White Footed and Deer Mouse can and do eat young bluebirds. Flying Squirrels can be a huge predator of bluebirds and small cavity nesting birds if nestboxes are mounted incorrectly. I believe the reason we don't hear much about rats raiding nestboxes is that they normally roam and feed at night and seldom ever use a nestbox to sleep in. I believe we incorrectly blame a lot of losses on snakes when nest contents simply vanish but rats routinely live off young chicks or eggs in commercial chicken houses. Most young rats can enter a 1&1/2" entrance hole and flying squirrels enter 1&1/4" round holes easily. Squirrels are one of the few animals that will voluntarily limit their breeding during times of food shortages and basically limit their numbers to their habitats least denominator of food, water or shelter. During abundant supplies of all three they will breed and multiply in the south 12 months out of the year! For this reason trapping and relocating is only a temporarily helpful option until the next squirrel moves into the area. :-(( Transplanting/moving almost any abundant species into new territory that already contains the maximum number of that species leads to severe sometimes fatal "pecking order" fighting. Take a dominant animal from one farm and place it in a herd at another farm and you will see it has to start at the very bottom and fight it's way back to the top. This applies to chickens, rabbits, mink and all of the larger common farm animals. In urban areas I will bet that squirrels worst predators are; cars/people then cats followed by dogs. I would rather see urban squirrels be trapped and moved to forests where they could become prey for more "normal" predators even if it means they will probably not last very long at all. Existence in a "natural" world is brutal and even bluebirds who nurtured their young all winter will drive them off to increase their own chances at survival and raising more young the following spring! Any species that increases in numbers has to move to establish new territories and this is why few young of any species survive to breeding age. They normally have to displace a more mature member of their species or fill a gap left where one or more have died or be lucky enough to find expanding habitat. KK Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2002 15:09:45 EDT Flying Squirrels can be a huge predator of bluebirds and small cavity
nesting birds if nestboxes are mounted incorrectly.flying squirrels enter
1&1/4" round holes easily. Given this information, how *do* you correctly mount boxes Rhonda Watts From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net A flying squirrel which makes it to the middle of a large field, probably
made a one way trip and won't make it back, since it won't have anything to take
off from. (Owls, snakes, skunks, etc. will probable catch it on the Subject: Re:Squirrels as predators/:-((transplanting moving Flying Squirrels can be a huge predator of bluebirds and small ... Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2002 23:14:29 EDT A flying squirrel which makes it to the middle of a large field, probably made a one way trip and won't make it back, since it won't have anything to take off from. (Owls, snakes, skunks, etc. will probable catch it on the ground.) True--but if it's possible that they can get there even one-way, and destroy a clutch of bluebirds (or other) before becoming part of the great food-chain, it's small comfort to us... Try as I can, I haven't yet thought how to set up a box so Rhonda Watts From: "Gary Springer" springer"at"alltel.net Gary Springer Carnesville, Georgia December 9, 2002 When a flying squirrel launches, it does so from a high position and begins with a near vertical dive so that it can generate a lot of speed. When it reaches the speed needed to get to the next landing point, which is very often only a few foot before it reaches the ground, it spreads the folds of skin between its legs and sails up and outward. It is impossible for the flying squirrel to generate enough speed on a dive off of a 6 to 8 foot high nest box to make it very far. Because the flying squirrel knows its limitations and because as Bill said, it is in a whole lot of trouble if it has to travel on foot, it will not normally go to a pole mounted nest box in the first place. But, mount nest boxes on a wooden utility pole within 80 feet of taller trees and you create the perfect home for a flying squirrel. They will exit the box under the cover of darkness, run to the top of the utility pole, then dive nearly straight down towards the ground until at the last minute they open their folds and glide distances of more than 100 feet to the trunk or branches of other trees to repeat the process of climbing, diving, then sailing. This is how flying squirrels get around. I have a three tier nest box mounted on a utility pole with entrance holes on the top and bottom compartments. The intent was to provide housing for flying squirrels. There are two entrance holes to decrease the odds that a snake will be able to catch all of them. I'm quite aware there is first hand evidence of flying squirrels eating bluebird eggs and chicks. But my experience is that these animals do not normally go out of their way to make eggs and chicks part of their diet. It is possible that an individual flying squirrel has developed a taste for bird eggs or chicks. But, I doubt this very much. These animals are experiencing the same type of cavity shortages as are bluebirds. Bluebirds will destroy chickadee chicks and I would not be a bit surprised if bluebirds occasionally eat them as well. Bluebirds will eat salamanders so why not far smaller half inch long newly hatched chickadee chicks? But, I do not believe bluebirds go out of their way looking for baby chicks to carry long distances just to watch them drop or to get a meal. The reason bluebirds destroy chickadee nests is to secure nesting sites for themselves. And, I believe flying squirrels are observed destroying bluebird eggs and chicks while in the process of securing nesting and living sites in areas where there is a shortage of quality nesting sites for flying squirrels. If flying squirrels ever become a problem at your nest boxes, mount a few nestboxes on nearby trees and utility poles and see if the problem isn't solved. It worked here and these animals are every bit as important as bluebirds. Should we not assist these animals as well? For the last 9 years flying squirrels have lived in a box mounted on a utility pole simultaneously with bluebird, chickadee, and/or Tufted Titmouse nests in three other separate nest boxes mounted on metal poles and all within 50 feet of the flying squirrel box. And, not once in well over 20 nest attempts have the flying squirrels bothered the birds' eggs or chicks. There are a lot of flying squirrels on the property and they can reach all of the other 30 nest boxes on the property but they have not interfered with any of the hundreds of birds nests in these boxes over the last nine years. Over these last nine years, the flying squirrels have occupied four nest boxes. One on a utility pole, one in a pine tree, one on a locust tree and one mounted 7 feet high on a metal pole in mature forest with several tree trunks within 10 feet of the box. When the squirrels occupy a nest box, I let them have it. If you believe there is a shortage of nesting sites for bluebirds, then you must believe there is a shortage of nesting sites for flying squirrels. And, because bluebird boxes are the perfect cavity for flying squirrels, if there is a nearby forest with a population of these animals, and you put up bluebird boxes on or within ten to fifteen feet of trees or utility poles that can be used by flying squirrels as launching sites to reach other trees, you can expect that sooner or later a flying squirrel will occupy one of your nest boxes. And, if there happens to be an active bluebird nest in the box when the flying squirrel finds itself the perfect home, upon monitoring that box you may well open it to see a flying squirrel with egg on its face. But, that does not mean that the flying squirrel was looking for a meal of bird eggs or that it is any more of a threat to bluebirds than bluebirds are to chickadees. Gary Springer ----- Original Message ----- ... From: "Burnham, Barbara" Barbara.Burnham"at"zzz.zzz Where I once lived, a neighbor enjoyed feeding the squirrels. The even bought a specially built squirrel puzzle feeder; the purpose was to challenge the squirrels to figure out how to get to the corn. The squirrels learned it all too quickly, and this neighbor eventually began hand-feeding the squirrels at their door. I'm sure they thought this was "so cute." Their deck adjoined mine, and sure enough, the now-educated squirrels came begging when the neighbor wasn't there to feed them. They had also learned to tear out the window and door screens to get in. We had to remove all our screens, and could no longer open our doors or windows for fresh air. But, I'm sure the neighbor thought this was cute, too. Barbara Burnham -----Original Message----- ... From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Flying squirrels like nestboxes mounted to trees in areas where they can access hundreds of large mature trees without ever having to touch the ground. Nearly all of my nestboxes are mounted on power poles and they often will nest across a highway from forest land sailing the 50 feet or so to safety. They also use nestboxes that are mounted to wood fences where they can run down the top of the fence between trees. Boxes mounted on metal pipe 100 feet or so away from a tall tree are perfectly safe in my area. A single nestbox makes a very poor target to land on at night. Flying squirrels were very rare to find in nestboxes when we moved to Texas in 1964. Our county had just completed a "big new" 127 acre lake for drinking water to replace the old lake of only 30 acres. By 1972 less than one mile from my original bluebird trail a coal fired power company completed an 1,800 acre lake flooding a lot of mature hardwood and I had to move nestboxes. In 1975 Cypress springs lake of about 1,700 acres was completed to the southwest end of the county. By 1978 another coal fired power company moved in on the east side of the county and completed another 1,900 acre lake flooding another hardwood bottom. Expansion of the original power plant in 1979 forced creation of Lake Bob Sandlin flooding the entire south end of the county for over 27 miles and creating over 130 miles of wooded shore lines. This completely cut my bluebird trail in two and flying squirrels swarmed out of the creek bottoms into nesting boxes. The tax board estimates that building on area lake shores has dropped and is now running $100 million dollars a year since most of the shore land has been sold off (and cleared). Now in 2002 the local coal surface strip mine consists of just under 70,000 acres, most of it in our county moving off countless more squirrels. The mine area cut through my trail on the southwest, west and north. They are drawing up plans and doing the EPA studies to complete a major lake within 15 years cutting off the entire north border of our county and we will donate 40,000+ acres to the 70,000+ acre reservoir for the Dallas Fort Worth water project. This is pretty typical of land being gobbled up by people in East Texas so seeing 10 percent of my nestboxes now being used by flying squirrels and their eating a few bluebirds really doesn't sound very significant....KK From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net Nearly all problems with wildlife are of our own doing. At our place, and millions of others, just substitute "pest" with Deer and you have nailed our worst! Landscaping, gardening, etc., is out, unless you bother to put up an electrified fence, or make provisions to have a trained dog running outside all the time. Some people I know have the buried dog fences, which keep your dog in, but keeps no one else's dog out!:-) They (some wildlife) have learned to live with us, guess we will have to try to manage to live with them! Bill TN Where I once lived, a neighbor enjoyed feeding the squirrels. The even From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Normally flying squirrels use scattered nestboxes along certain trails but this year an explosion of squirrels are appearing in areas not ever used before. I just checked boxes I have up at a doctors farm where I have nestboxes on 7 out of ten power poles in an open field just across the road from a tree lined fence row.. These boxes are about 450 feet apart and I had three brand new nests of flying squirrels that took over two bluebird nests, I had three active nests of bluebirds with eggs or young and a nest containing six chickadee eggs. I am seeing far greater use of nestboxes by chickadees and titmice this year also. I believe that the severe ice storms over the past several years in my area have created the explosion of rats, mice and rabbits in the area since farmers cannot mow areas covered in downed limbs still. We use the Harry Krueger snake trap on some boxes to see how many snakes are raiding nestboxes. While snake numbers seem to be up along with owl and hawk populations I believe all the extra food on the ground is allowing tree nesting squirrels to produce more young and the adults to live longer. IF there are as many flying squirrels taking over natural cavities in the woods as there are taking over my nestboxes then this could be the reason so many chickadees/titmice are moving into my nesting boxes. Severe shortages of nestsites in my area I believe are being caused by something as simple as an explosion in the rodent population. KK From: "ke4fej1" ke4fej1"at"email.msn.com Hi All, Just found out our M 14 Trail in Panther Ridge, has baby Flying Squirrels. Our Rocky now has little Rocketts! The Monitor thought 2-3 babies were in the nest. Will a Flying Squirrel keep using a box......not only to breed in but all the time sleep in? This one has been in there since the Monitor signed on with our Project...a couple of months. Our M 2 in Pomello Ranches, where we had the 4 fledged BBs last week, now
has in the box directly opposite is a 3/4th of a nest of a BB nest. Still Christy Sarasota, FL From: "Larry A Broadbent" rockets"at"mnsi.net Christy, Live cam
http://www.wap.atfreeweb.com/JavaCam/ Regards, ----- Original Message ----- ... From: birdwatcherfc"at"netscape.net Hi Christy, My flying squirrel used the box all year and has been there for three years. Fred in southern PA "ke4fej1" ke4fej1"at"email.msn.com wrote: Hi All, Just found out our M 14 Trail in Panther Ridge, has baby ... From: "Gary Springer" springer"at"alltel.net Hi Christy, You asked: "Will a Flying Squirrel keep using a box......not only to breed in but sleep in all the time? This one has been in there since the Monitor signed on with our Project...a couple of months." Fred's experience in Pennsylvania where they have occupied a box continuously for three years is different than mine here in Georgia where occupancy seems to go in cycles. . I've wondered about the cycles of nestbox occupancy by flying squirrels for several years, if indeed they exist, and I still have questions about this. After about a year or so, they seem to abandon the nest box, most frequently in early summer. When they do, the nest box is typically extremely foul from all the accumulated excrement, and, that may well be the reason they vacate. In all probability the abandonment occurs after the pups mature. They do commonly reoccupy a box in late autumn or sooner after the box is cleaned. But, they will also reoccupy the box without cleaning after a couple of months of vacancy during which time the accumulated manure cures into a hard mass atop which new soft nest material can be added. With the intent of providing better living quarters for these animals I typically clean the box even though they might continue to use it with a crusty and insect ridden box bottom. Several adults will occupy a box during the winter months. Whether these are family members or a small unrelated colony of adults I don't know. I've observed snakes taking up occupancy in boxes after consuming one or more flying squirrels and that too ends its use by these squirrels for several months, even when it is unlikely all fell prey to the snake. I feel confident abandonment occurs even when some squirrels survive because I have one box with three compartments connected by small pazzzge ways and with two exit holes which seems would serve to prevent the loss of all the squirrels, yet complete abandonment of this box for several months has twice followed a snake attack. . I'm also not sure whether or not a female with pups permits other adults to occupy the box. It seems as though they do not but I've never disturbed the box in a manner that would cause all of them to vacate and permit a counting of the squirrels. Such a disturbance would be necessary as they often hide in the nesting material instead of exiting the box when it is opened. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. At least two boxes of them now have pups. If any one has any more information about this please share it with us. I hear Keith is getting more experience with these animals than he would prefer. Gary Springer. ----- Original Message ----- ... From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Nests get polluted with feces and fleas are a major pest at times in their nests. This and predation or disturbances seem to make them leave the area and use other nest sites. Flying squirrels really do need a two entrance hole (or a slot about 1" high) nestbox for when snakes attack and in the south this is the greatest predator of these creatures. My sister found a 48" long black rat snake hanging out of her flying squirrel box and it had seven adult squirrels in it's stomach. It blocked the only entrance and ate them one at a time. In the 80's in my area few people had ever seen a flying squirrel, now more than half of the people coming to cavity nesting programs have seen one in their boxes or a neighbors... I complained a couple weeks ago of the flying squirrels killing five adult bluebirds so far this spring when the birds entered to inspect the nestbox for nesting.......OH THIS IS DUMB!!!! This could have been prevented!!! Even adult flying squirrels can easily enter a nestbox with a 1&3/8" entrance hole and ALL I need to do is install hole restrictors of 1&5/16" to keep the bluebirds out of the boxes.....Geez I have known this for thirty years and it never really clicked until just now! We have been adding more nestboxes further away from the woods or mounted on free standing metal posts instead of the power poles where the flying squirrels prefer to use the nestboxes and this is allowing bluebirds and squirrels to live very close together. KK From: "Jim & Ann" jimnann"at"midwestinfo.net I also have an old nestbox with a fox squirrel in it. I have left her alone
as fox squirrels are good. If you have a red squirrel (which is a much smaller
variety), watch it because this kind is mean like a HOSP & will chase away all
the other squirrels in your yard. Squirrels help a yard by eating grubs & such.
I'm not sure about the red squirrels. ... From: "Paula" PaulaZ"at"columbus.rr.com I was curious as to whether or not any of you have observed eastern bluebirds chasing squirrels. I have a male in my yard this year that does just that and have never seen this before. He swoops down to within an inch or so of squirrel's back and chases them out of my yard. Is he doing this because squirrels could raid his nest? He also chases house sparrows of course and I have often seen this. He tolerates me well though. Paula Z. From: Lynn Ward lWard"at"pmai.org Hi Paula, I have to believe bluebirds chase anything that is a threat. I regularly observe them chasing flying squirrels, house wrens, starlings and of course house sparrows. On the other hand, they'll let other birds even perch on their nest boxes like house finches or song sparrows, etc. Instinct must tell them what is a threat and what is not. Lynn Ward -----Original Message----- I was curious as to whether or not any of you have observed eastern bluebirds chasing squirrels. I have a male in my yard this year that does just that and have never seen this before. He swoops down to within an inch or so of squirrel's back and chases them out of my yard. Is he doing this because squirrels could raid his nest? He also chases house sparrows of course and I have often seen this. He tolerates me well though. Paula Z. From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net RE: Chasing squirrelsLynn is right. Some Bluebirds will chase and attack squirrels and just about anything that threatens them, especially when they're joined by some Tree Swallows living right next door in a paired configuration. Two Bluebirds and two Tree Swallows are a formidable force. I've had them go after me, and I've seen them harass cats unmercifully. On the other hand, some Bluebirds are more wimpy than others, and let themselves get pushed around. Let's hope that those more aggressive genes get passed along. Darwin has suggested that they probably will be. Bruce Burdett, SW NH ----- Original Message ----- Hi Paula, I have to believe bluebirds chase anything that is a threat. I regularly observe them chasing flying squirrels, house wrens, starlings and of course house sparrows. On the other hand, they'll let other birds even perch on their nest boxes like house finches or song sparrows, etc. Instinct must tell them what is a threat and what is not. Lynn Ward -----Original Message----- ... Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 00:06:49 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA Green about FLSQ :-) H -------------------------------------------- The online Bluebird Reference Guide:
http://birds.cornell.edu/bluebirds/ Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 21:22:31 -0700 (PDT) Hayleya, I've had FLSQs in two of my boxes, with babies in one. Since they are nocturnal, they are in the boxes all the time during daylight hours. I've read that they eat birds' eggs. BTW, how do you pronounce your name? (Really OT) Tony Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 23:52:58 -0700 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Haleya, a Flying Squirrel chose to use a hanging nestbox on the mountain trail this year. The entrance hole of the box had been enlarged all the way up to the top of the door during the previous winter and my guess was that it had been done by woodpeckers. Toward the end of May, the nestbox had just been unhooked from the tree limb and was being lowered for monitoring when a disgusting rodent slithered out of the nestbox hole and squeezed itself out the top of the lifter basket. To my surprise, it sailed to the trunk of a nearby tree and hid from view—which instantly transformed the disgusting rodent (my perception!) into a delightful elusive creature and welcomed nestbox guest. Inside the box was twisted/corded fur. With considerable hesitation (rabies came to mind) my curiosity got the upper hand and I located two pups nestled deep within the material. Yes, Flying Squirrels eat eggs and birds—but just about everything eats eggs and birds so I don't hold that against them. Since this was the first instance of Flying Squirrels nesting on my trail, I
did a Google search and learned that Flying Squirrels have a "primary" nest plus
secondary nests if they are disturbed. And, if they are disturbed they *will*
(not may/sometimes) . . . they *will* relocate. Relying on that information and
assuming the FLSQ had moved, I began to take down the box a week later to get a
better look at the nest. But the adult Flying Squirrel bolted from the hole as
soon as the lifter touched the box and I let well enough alone until several
more weeks had passed. It appears some FLSQ stay in a box after being disturbed
twice! Haleya Priest wrote: ... From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net Haleya, et al, (Ha-LÅY-a, right Haleya?) All my experiences with Flying Squirrels have been positive. I have kept them as pets a few times, and they were delightful little creatures. I once put out a floodlight in our back yard in CT, and watched them play and glide and frolic in and around 2 or 3 big oak trees. As pets, they never bit me, they ate from my hand, and they loved to go round and round on a play wheel. They loved to be tossed from person to person acroos a classroom. Our daughter had one at college which used to navigate around her dorm corridor in a hollow clear plastic ball which it quickly learned to 'steer' in and out of people's rooms at will. One got lost in the house for a while and turned out to be inside the grand piano. (It came right out when acorns were offered, and popped back in its cage.) I captured one by hand, - grabbed him by the back of the neck from a platform bird-feeder at night, using a bright flashlight. Another I snagged out of the air with a trout-landing net. Another was caught one night by a student over in the school library. Another we had mail-ordered to us from a breeder down South. I have never seen a Flying Squirrel in or near my Bluebird houses, but I
assume they'd eat birds' eggs if they found some. My pet ones lived on ripe
acorns, of which we had billions. Bruce Burdett, SW NH ----- Original Message ----- ... Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 09:19:36 -0400 Flying Squirrels are THE best and most beautiful of creatures. One usurped an EABL nesting in a box on our Ripley Trail [looked like there were 4 young in the box with the mother]. There was no outward indication of their presence, but I sure found out quickly about their resident status when I opened the box on a regular monitoring visit. Like Puffed Wheat/Puffed Rice....the adult emerged as if "shot from guns." I just went on my way and waited for 3-4 weeks before opening the box again...they were gone. Now Red Squirrels.........well, that's a different matter. I get "squirrely" in Ripley Township, Huron County, Ohio At 08:45 AM 08/02/2003 -0400, Bruce Burdett wrote: ... From: John Schuster ... below is a list of other garden recipes that some folks maybe in interested in ... provided by my friend Bob Tanem, a local gardener, nursery owner for over 35+ years and radio talk show host in San Francisco (where I've been a guest talking about cavity nesting birds.) You can check out Bob's web site at: http://www.bobtanem.com/ ... Squirrel Recipe (to deter Squirrels)
Mix in Spray bottle and spray the soil where squirrels dig. ... John Schuster From: USAjs88"at"aol.com [mailto:USAjs88"at"aol.com] From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder "at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 9:01 AM Subject: Re:Southern Flying squirrels Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas They are nocturnal and live in loose communal colonies when given the choice of nest sites they prefer to be in open woodlands with a minimum of dense ground cover. They often use nestboxes mounted to power poles that cut through forests or woods where the only opening in the forest is the cleared right of way. They do NOT want to run for any distance on the ground, preferring to sail through the tree tops or between the tree tops. The automatic deer feeders located near woodland edges that distribute corn several times a day are a great attraction to these squirrels and raccoons. Since the squirrels sometimes need to climb up to the nestbox from the ground you cannot use baffles on the poles. The best nestbox for these small squirrels is to build a three story bluebird sized nestbox. Picture a nestbox about 5"x5" floor space 36" tall. There will be three nearly equal compartments inside this tall nestbox. The bottom compartment will basically be built to bluebird specs, entrance hole size and height off the floor. The roof of this bottom compartment will be the floor of the middle compartment and have an escape hole connecting the bottom floor to the middle floor that will have no other entrance hole. The roof of the middle compartment will be the floor of the top floor which again has an escape hole drilled in one corner of the floor /roof to allow the squirrels access to all compartments. The top floor again is built just like a bluebird sized compartment with an entrance hole on the opposite side of the box from the bottom entrance. These squirrels prefer to set up a nursery where the newborn baby squirrels are in one compartment, the teen agers from the previous brood are on another floor and the adults prefer to sleep separate from the sub-adults. In a single holed nestbox when a snake enters the box they will block the entrance with their body and I have seen a single snake eat 9 adult flying squirrels wiping out the entire colony. In this multi tiered nestbox, while the snake is eating one squirrel the rest are escaping out the second entrance hole. When four legged predators are reaching into one entrance hole they cannot be blocking the other entrance hole on the other side of the nestbox only 24" away.....(In two holed bluebird nestboxes why do we put both entrance holes just inches apart? Why do people houses and apartments have escapes on separate sides of the buildings!) To build up a flying squirrel colony these nestboxes need to be scattered in pods with 3 to 5 of these nestboxes in about 10 acres of woods. Skip over about 50 to 100 acres and set up another loose pod of nestboxes. When predators locate one nest site the entire squirrel colony will move several acres away to a new location if one is available. KK From: USAjs88"at"aol.com [mailto:USAjs88"at"aol.com] From: Humbirdhill"at"aol.com [mailto:Humbirdhill"at"aol.com] From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 8:45 AM Subject: Checking the bluebird trail Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas I was surprised to find 7 active nests of the southern flying squirrel because I skipped checking the section of road where a large colony was last fall. I cleaned out 4 nests of flying squirrels that were not being used at the moment. In one of these a male bluebird had been killed and eaten. In one of the occupied squirrel nests a freshly killed female bluebird had been killed and then eaten. One nestbox contained about a cup of acorns.... From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 3:03 AM Subject: Re: Checking the bluebird trail Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Keith, you state that a male Bluebird was killed and eaten inside a box in an area of flying squirrels. And that a female Bluebird was freshly killed and eaten in an occupied squirrel nest. Was your post a plea for suggestions to prevent future deaths? Imagine being one of those Bluebirds and entering a box without sufficient
light to clearly see danger; or the horror of seeing the only way in or out I'm guessing that both deaths occurred in boxes with only one hole. Have you tried 2-holed boxes in that squirrel area? If not, I'd recommend you retrofit that leg of your trail with 2-holed boxes and report back to us on how many dead adults you see next fall/winter. From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas There is a LOT of competition for nestboxes that we seldom see in truly wild sections of our trails. After placing the Paul Carrier slant boxes (the one pictured in Birds and Bloom as a sparrow proof bottom entrance hole nestbox) up along my trail for a couple of years and finding the House Sparrows liked this box in my area Shawn mounted three of these boxes I had removed from my trail in our woods on tree trunks at 12 feet off the ground. Last week one contained at least three flying squirrels, one contained a full grown gray squirrel (it enlarged the entrance hole) and one contained a single flying squirrel. I also have up a couple of apartment style nestboxes for flying squirrels that are connected with internal escape doors or pazzzges so a small squirrel cannot be trapped in any compartment. One of these had a full grown Fox Squirrel that had chewed out the entrance holes and eaten through all five of the internal compartments and was nesting in the middle of this apartment house. The second apartment style house had one compartment out of four being used by at least three more flying squirrels. One compartment was filled with half eaten acorns. This was five out of five wood nestboxes that I checked mounted on trees for squirrels that contained these fluffy tailed rodents on about three acres of woods. We also have up about 50 gourds hanging from tree limbs on about 10 acres but these are hard to check but we see chickadees and downy woodpeckers entering at dark to roost. Owls drive the larger squirrels out of the owl/duck nestboxes, large squirrels drive out smaller species in smaller cavities, the flying squirrels drive out or kill the bluebirds. Bluebirds drive out or destroy the eggs of titmice and chickadees, Titmice and chickadees fought over a log box in my yard last year and the chickadee was killed in the box while the titmice were laying eggs. I had five titmice eggs hatch out with five chickadee eggs in another nestbox. I am getting real close to about 100 compartments for cavity nesters on about 20 acres and we are not seeing species killing species over nestboxes as much as we see where I have three or four single nestboxes spread evenly along a mile of "bluebird trail". The bluebird bodies were found in a standard sized nestboxes with a 4.75 Flying Squirrels also are active at night and can prey on female bluebirds that are incubating eggs or brooding young birds. I had a single flying squirrel in a double holed double wide nestbox last year that killed two bluebirds and a male House Sparrow in a two week period. Where we are having problems is where developers are carving up mature hardwood forests converting 500 acre woods into five acre "woodland" lots. We are ending up with five acre checkerboard woods lawns and the poor squirrels and forest birds are fighting tooth and nail to survive to the next century. Did you read that Norway is going to kill five of the last 20 wild wolves in their country because there are too many wolves for the remaining habitat...KK From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas We are just a few minutes short of 11 hours of sunlight a day now in Northeast Texas and this week the family groups of bluebirds dissolved and I am only seeing pairs or singles now. I drove for a couple of hours in a loop north and west of my main trail yesterday and bluebirds were everywhere there were nestboxes or cavities. I saw a lot of timber being cut and hauled and lots of older farms being cut up and new houses going in. It is amazing seeing people build in woods and bulldoze all five acres they have bought or see where they have burned their woods off and the 200 acres next to them while clearing the "brush". Clearing these mature woods, even small sections will put pressure on all of the cavity nesters. Europeans brought mice and rats to the New World and in the 1930's we gave Europe the gray squirrel to keep their native red squirrel company. Seventy five years later they fear the American Gray will exterminate the Red Squirrel in England. It seems the Gray is more aggressive, lives off of a wider variety of foods, is FAR more adaptable to humans, multiplies quicker and where the Red Squirrel seldom grows to a population of more than one squirrel per acre the American Gray is often found in excess of 9 squirrels per acre. This gray will eat acorns and nuts in the green stage where the red squirrel waits until the fruits are ripe and the red plants far more tree nuts that are viable than the gray. The gray squirrel eats far more species of plant buds, blooms and love to "bark" trees girdling limbs or small trunks and killing small trees like a beaver will. Both squirrels utilize cavities during the year and both are omnivores. It seems the sheer numbers of the grays are putting some of the European songbirds in peril. They drive cavity nesters from their homes and eat the eggs and babies of open nesting birds. Humane and PETA type societies have blocked all efforts in England to trap or kill these imported American Gray squirrels on a large scale. Most people in Europe surveyed would rather have our people friendly Gray Squirrel than a "wild" red native squirrel. It seems MOST people living today fell in love with the "American Gray" when they were a child and cannot stand the thought of "bad government workers"wanting to kill them. If in ideal habitat you can have 9 Gray Squirrels per acre of woods then how many nestboxes per acre of woods do you need for all of the cavity nesting birds and mammals and insects? Larger nestboxes for nesting and hiding owls, hawks, ducks, flickers, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, honey bees ETC. are really in short supply in small towns and suburbs. Drive around your area going to and from work or to visit friends and family and try to see cavities large enough to hold some of these species. When there is competition for cavities the predators will win out and their numbers should be controlled. You can help the smaller cavity nesters by providing nestboxes larger species CANNOT enter. It only takes a 1" X 12" board 10 feet long to build a screech owl/kestrel/wood duck/honey bee nestbox. KK From: elaine whittemore [mailto:bluebirdhousing"at"ellijay.com] Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 8:45 AM Subject: Re: gray squirrels and nestboxes Hello Keith, Our Georgia Bluebirds are getting ready for their "honeymoons", They are looking at the real estate choices around these Ga. mts. We also have an abundance of squirrels, so far they haven"t bothered our entrance holes in any of our houses. The log hollowed houses have been out for about 10 years. We have galv. metal "mascks" to protect the entrance holes. The weather is perfect this weekend. Happy birding!!! Elaine From: RBALTRUNAS"at"cs.com [mailto:RBALTRUNAS"at"cs.com] It was just mentioned that the English Sparrow is in decline in England! Squirrels are mentioned as a factor. How serious a problem are they here in the USA? I thought Squirrels ate nuts only. Ron From: Jimmy Dodson [mailto:rocks_and_flies"at"hotmail.com] Nope... squirrels are just "big rats". They'll pretty much eat anything, especially bird eggs if they can find them and get to them. They can be as bad as raccoons and opposums. --J [Note from webmaster: See remainder of discussion under predator ID.] From: Nina Everett [mailto:NINAUT"at"CHARTER.NET] Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2005 3:53 PM Subject: Re: Squirrels vs English Sparrows and others There are a lot of squirrels in my yard. Have baffles on all of my feeder poles and also the bluebird box pole. They have never tried to get to the box even though there are five eggs in the nest. They haven't been able to get to my feeders. From: Sheila Rogers [mailto:sheilarogers"at"charter.net] Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 9:14 PM Subject: Greetings from CA Well Mamma Blue is sitting on her 6 eggs again, can't wait for the hatching Sheila From: bluebirdsnbirdfeeders"at"gmail.com [mailto:bluebirdsnbirdfeeders"at"gmail.com] This morning I saw a male EABL chasing a squirrel on a tree. The bluebird didn't seem to be trying to chase the squirrel anywhere though. It almost looked like a game. The squirrel did seem a little peeved though. Has anyone else ever seen a bluebird doing this? The bluebird has a nest a few hundred feet away out in the open field. ... From: happywebl"at"comcast.net [mailto:happywebl"at"comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 10:20 AM To: bluebirdsnbirdfeeders"at"gmail.com; BLUEBIRD-L Subject: Re: Bluebird chasing squirrel I have seen a pair of bluebirds chase a squirrel, just once (we don't have a lot of squirrels!) It was coming towards the fence at the back of my yard, where the bluebirds were building their nest. The squirrel didn't even get CLOSE when they took off after it and chased it down into the creek bed. It hasn't been around since. Barbara in Cloverdale, CA From: MJ Shearer [mailto:eshearer"at"comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 10:40 AM Subject: Re: Bluebird chasing squirrel It's not unusual for bluebirds to chase squirrels, birds, or any other small animal From: Shawn [mailto:shawnee4"at"charter.net] Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 6:10 PM Subject: Re: Bluebird chasing squirrel Last year "our" EABLs would chase the squirrels away from the sunflower seed feeders! The EABLs didn't use the feeders, but seemed to know the feeders were not intended for squirrels! From: Mary Thomson [mailto:Mary"at"marythomson.net] Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2006 8:34 AM Subject: RE: Bluebird chasing squirrel Yes, Daniel, we had a really comical scenario in my yard two years ago. My BB pair chased the squirrel up a tree which is fairly close to their nestbox. A few minutes later the squirrel crept down the tree ver-r-y slowly and cautiously and attempted (belly to the ground) to sneak out of the yard. Mary From: Valerie Wagner [mailto:bluebird44840"at"bright.net] Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 1:57 PM Subject: Ground Squirrel Greetings to all, From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 3:19 PM Subject: Re: Ground Squirrel Are you using boxes with oval "Peterson" holes? All of the above questions need to answered as the first step toward good advice because box style, mounting and guards are so important. Linda Violett From: Robert Barron [mailto:rebarron"at"gmail.com] Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 6:35 PM Subject: Re: Ground Squirrel Hi Val, Was it a 13-Lined ground Squirrel? They are usually more of a problem for ground nesting birds. I've had big problems with Red Squirrels in NY, they can fit in a 1.5" entrance. Is there any chance it is a flying squirrel? Probably not, they're nocturnal. Did you manage to get a picture? More neverending challenges! Thanks, From: Shari Kastner [mailto:smk"at"teamv.com] Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 1:19 PM Subject: RE: Ground Squirrel Hi Valerie, If you don't want the ground squirrel in your box, I have an idea that I was hoping someone with your problem would try. In a magazine called Garden Gate, I read that you can use a Slinky to prevent squirrels and other climbing animals from raiding your bird feeders. You slide the Slinky over the pole and the animals do not try to climb the pole anymore. It's thought that they do not like the feel of the Slinky. If anyone out there tries the Slinky technique on their feeders or bird boxes, can you let me know the results? I'm very curious if this was beginner's luck or truly a great idea. Shari Kastner From: Shari Kastner [mailto:smk"at"teamv.com] Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 1:59 PM Subject: RE: Ground Squirrel I thought it was interesting enough to try it. So far, it has been on the pole for a month with nothing disturbed since I installed it. My brother mentioned that he was having something eat his suet, so today, he is going to try to put one over his pole. His will be installed with the pole in the center of the Slinky. When he lets me know what happens, I'll send out the results to everyone. Shari Kastner From: Sheila Rogers [mailto:sheilarogers"at"charter.net] Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 2:57 PM Subject: RE: Ground Squirrel I've tried the slinky, worked about 20 mins and now the squirrels just jumps past the slinky and jumps on my suet feeders. Slinky's are on a double shepard hook. Now the squirrels climb on top of my arbor and jumps on top of the shepard hook. Sheila From: Torrey [mailto:torrey_canyon"at"yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 5:53 PM Subject: Re: Ground Squirrel Hi Val, Here in southern Michigan, Kalamazoo Nature Center staff have found flying squirrels, red squirrels, field mice, & even tree frogs in bird houses. No ground squirrels or chipmunks, tho. Chipmunks have predated birds hanging in nets during fall migration banding. Even tho they're vegetarian, free protein must be too good to pass up. (Deer have snacked on birds in the nets too, which is really Chipmunks are more likely to climb up a pole or whatever into the box than a ground squirrel is. Ground squirrels are brown with 7 tan stripes alternating with 6 tan lines of spots (hence the name "13-lined"). When they run, they look kind of like dumplings (they've got chubby rumps) & they hold their tail down along the ground. Relocating any animal is problematic, tho. If it's released too close, it'll just go back to its home territory. If it's released too far away, it'll be in unfamiliar territory & won't know where food or shelter is (& will be easy prey for anything). The best thing to do would be to make your box "squirrel proof" -- Figure out how it's climbing up to get into the box & fix that. Even if you do relocate your guest, he probably has friends in or near your yard & they'd like your nice, safe bird house too. I like chipmunks & i really like 13-lined ground squirrels, but i wouldn't let them take over a nest box. They can dig their own dens just fine. Torrey Wenger |
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