I've decided to name my garden. It's a no-brainer, especially in Fall, when the squirrels start running amok. Yesterday afternoon, I caught a squirrel sitting on a chair at the patio table having a snack. Then there are the peanuts and peanut shells I find in the garden. My neighbor puts the peanuts out for the little rats. The squirrels gnaw on the fence posts and steal the shredded leaves from the leaf-mould pile for their nests. I can't even say anything against the squirrels, as the children have named them! 
There's Beggar, the fox squirrel, who got that name by having the nerve to come onto the step by the patio door and beg for food. (As if that would ever work with me.) Beggar is easy to spot - it's the biggest, fattest squirrel around. Then there's Crabapple the gray squirrel, and Cherry the fox squirrel.
The squirrels also take a nip at my plants sometimes, but deer and rabbit repellent stops that, but the worst thing about the squirrels is that they dig up everything I plant. They like the easy to dig soil that surrounds newly planted things. So, if I want to get anything established in the garden, this is what I have to do:
Welcome to Squirrelhaven.
There's Beggar, the fox squirrel, who got that name by having the nerve to come onto the step by the patio door and beg for food. (As if that would ever work with me.) Beggar is easy to spot - it's the biggest, fattest squirrel around. Then there's Crabapple the gray squirrel, and Cherry the fox squirrel.
The squirrels also take a nip at my plants sometimes, but deer and rabbit repellent stops that, but the worst thing about the squirrels is that they dig up everything I plant. They like the easy to dig soil that surrounds newly planted things. So, if I want to get anything established in the garden, this is what I have to do:
(The photo of the squirrel was taken a few years ago. I don't have any current pictures of squirrels in the garden because they've learned to run away when they see me come out.)
12 comments:
Squirrels know when they've got a great thing going for them, and your neighbours are providing them with a good life.
We have a squirrel problem too. We finally had to move a bird feeder that we could see from out kitchen window because the squirrels had learned to jump from a nearby tree onto the squirrel "baffle." Baffled they were NOT. (sigh)
What a great name for a garden. It brings to mind images of woodland areas with lots of trees and very busy active squirrels running about. You just have to learn to live with them, don't you, so might as well make the best of it.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Heh... well, if Beggar's the fattest squirrel around his entreaties must work on someone. That small child in the doorway looks pretty susceptible. *grin*
"Squirrelhaven" is such a great name for your garden. I would love to name my place but am still waiting for something to click for me like Squirrelhaven did for you.
Great name, and great fun. We had a squirrel visit our garden earlier this summer but I think he (wisely) chose to relocate due to the senior cats (the ones who go outside) eyeballing him hopefully. They ARE senior and not inclined to chase, but HE didn't know that....
I'm glad you all like the name, it suits because of my keen sense of the ironic.
Dirty Knees - I had to give up on birdfeeders because a baffle doesn't baffle the squirrels for long.
Carol - the squirrels provide entertain for the kids & occasionally me. I have them semi-trained. When I look out the window & see them digging in the garden, I knock on the window & they run away.
Blackswamp Girl - the kid in the photo is my son, but he't not the 1 who feeds the squirrels, that's my husband. He's discovered that squirrels don't like soft tortillas.
Jodi - I've only had dogs here, & the squirrels are expert dog teasers.
Great name! I've been trying to think of one for ages...lots of squirrels and chipmunks this year! I haven't had to resort to the chicken wire yet though!
Grin! Great name! ;-) Love the pic of your little boy and the squirrel. So your hubby is the culprit? I never knew that squirrels don't like soft tortillas. The things you learn when you blog! ;-)
I like squirrels but not in my garden. I've read on so many blogs what havoc they wreak in the garden.
Layanee & Yolanda Elizabet- thanks! I never knew how much havoc squirrels could wreak until I moved to this house. At my last house, I had no squirrels at all.
About to years ago I had a squirrel that came around and like to take a bite out of my succulent plants. It would eat them or chew on the plats it just liked to leave the impression of his teeth on my plants' leaves.
When I started feeding a stray (MrBlackThumb) cat the squirrel stopped coming around. BTW I just noticed for the first time that you're also from the area. I'll add you to my list of local garden blogs in my sidebar.
Hi, Mr. Brownthumb! Thanks for stopping by & adding me to your sidebar. Squirrels can be so bizarre sometimes. I wonder how their little brains work.
Oh, I would never name my place Squirrelhaven. We are at war with them. Every year they plant dozens of black walnuts in my flower beds, as well as oaks. Last winter they ate every single one of the Grecian windflower corms I planted, except the two that were within ten feet of Ruby's dog house. This despite the fact that Ruby doesn't care to chase anything that isn't shaped like a tennis or soft ball. Well, except rabbits. She does chase rabbits.
The cats don't scare them at all, after all the squirrels can climb trees and leap from branch to branch. My cats don't even look at them any more.
Additionally, they are not content to steal seeds from the bird feeders through the holes provided. That isn't fast enough for the greedy little brats. They chew holes in the tubes and destroy them totally.
We have a pellet gun, and any squirrel that is not on the ground gets a warning shot across its bow. If they are clever enough to have climbed the feeder pole, they are in danger of death. We don't want any clever squirrels around here, only the slow dumb ones need to apply to live in this yard.
So far I have not been able to convince my husband that a squirrel that has been fattened on my sunflower seeds might be a good candidate for the stew pot, even though I have heard they are very good eating.
I really don't like squirrels, and don't find them the slightest bit cute. In this area, they are referred to as tree rats. Which is what they are, since they are members of the rodent family. And they carry fleas and rabies too.
Healing Magic Hands - I'm not going to report you to PETA for the pellet gun, you have my permission to take pot shots. One of my sisters, after visiting a friend on the Upper Penisula, told me that she saw her friend making sqirrel stew & it looked disgusting, the little headless corpse floating in a big pot. Yuck.
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