Squirrels

I have been having fun looking at all the free wallpaper pics available to my iphone and downloading them to play with in PSE.  I saw this picture of a squirrel and decided to share my squirrel story with you.

Yes, he is cute.  I have a lot of squirrels in my backyard.  Probably because I have so many trees.

Many years ago I decided to get a bird feeder.  I went and bought one designed like this one:

You see that rod at the very front?  Well, it is what the bird has to stand on it to get food to drop into the feeding tray.  If a squirrel lands on it, the seed feeder slams shut and nothing comes out.  The squirrel is too heavy.  OK.  That is exactly how it works.  

My squirrels spent hours trying to figure out how to get into it.  Without success.  Then one day I saw a squirrel literally hanging from the feeder, holding on by his paws, which were gripping the sides of the feeder, not touching that pressure sensitive rod.  His chin   was pressing on said rod in order to get to the food.  His head is the same weight as a bird.

Guess what I did?  I marched outside, unhooked the feeder, dumped out the rest of the seeds, and shoved it into my garage.  Several years later I took it to Goodwill Donation Center.

By the way, don't think my actions caused the birds in my backyard to be underfed; neighbors to either side of me have built  bird havens for the feathery friends.  I get to enjoy them as they fly back and forth.

So that is my squirrel story.