Almost sounds like a Christmas song but White Nose is the name of a squirrel that frequents our yard and our back deck. He’s a pretty big little guy with a furry white nose, hence his name. He feels quite comfortable partaking of our bird buffet. I really don’t mind the squirrels visiting the bird feeders. The only bad thing about them is that they empty the feeders out fairly quickly, which is probably why most people don’t like the squirrels in their yards.
We have two furry visitors that come by regularly, White Nose and a little gray squirrel that we haven’t named yet. There is a positive side effect to squirrels eating at your feeders; they knock quite a bit of seed to the ground which is good for juncos and other ground feeding birds.The top picture is White Nose himself! The bottom one is the little gray squirrel.
If you don’t want the squirrels on your feeders, there are a few things you can do.
- Make a peace offering. Giving the squirrels their own feeder can help keep them from munching on your bird seed. There are several kinds of feeders out there. One type is a platform that you put corn cobs and other treats on for the furry critters. Others are box type feeders. Just make sure you keep the feeders stocked, otherwise they will return to your bird feeders.
- Baffle them! Install a squirrel baffle on your feeder. Squirrels have trouble climbing around them and fall off.
- Get squirrel resistant feeders. Many of these feeders are made so that squirrels can’t reach into them to get the seed. Other feeders have a weight sensitive platform that will drop due to the weight of the squirrel sending them spiraling down in culinary disappointment.
- Just accept it!
Wildlife is an integral part of a balanced landscape and dealing with wildlife frustrations is just a part of it. We also have deer with voracious appetites and rabbits that have no qualms devouring hostas, so I’ll take squirrels any day!