Every boomer with a bird feeder hates squirrels. I don’t understand.

    • Anissem@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      27
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      They make a bird feeder called ‘Squirrel Buster’ which is fairly squirrel proof. I still put out food for them though, squirrels gotta eat too.

      • osaerisxero@kbin.melroy.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        4 months ago

        This. I found the squirrels to leave the bird feeders and the garden alone if you leave them a danegeld of raw peanuts and maybe strap an ear of corn to the tree.

        • Anissem@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          29
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          4 months ago

          I buy in shell peanuts for wildlife and the squirrels love them. They bury them all round the property which is fun to watch. On Nextdoor I occasionally find posts from people trying to figure out where all these peanut shells are coming from in my neighborhood.

          • specialseaweed@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            ·
            edit-2
            4 months ago

            My neighbor does this and I hate them. I have peanut shells all over my property. I can’t walk barefoot because there’s so fucking many shells.

            They’re in my drains. They’re in my flower and veggie beds. Birds pick them up and take them to my roof and try to crack them at 6am and wake us up.

            I HATE HATE HATE my peanut throwing neighbors.

            • Anissem@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              edit-2
              4 months ago

              I buy peanuts 50 pounds at a time, same with black oil sunflower weeds. Nature loves them both. Our backyard is full of natural weeds, bunnies, squirrels, chipmunks and many varieties of birds

        • TheWilliamist@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          13
          ·
          4 months ago

          You sometimes have to be careful with corn… I picked up some cheap bird food with corn in it, the squirrels got into it and buried kernels all around the yard. My wife just about went crazy yanking corn sprouts out of our and the neighbors yard! 😄

        • Count042@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          4 months ago

          I do this, but I’ve got a wood chip yard except for where plants are.

          Guess where the little bastards bury their peanuts?

    • Dr. Wesker@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      arrow-down
      13
      ·
      4 months ago

      Why are the squirrels second class citizens to the birds? Is there a bird food shortage?

      • RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        35
        ·
        4 months ago

        No, it’s just a bird feeder not a squirrel feeder. At least until the squirrels manage to change the signage, which they probably could if they tried hard enough.

      • KittenBiscuits@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        33
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        Squirrels can clean out a feeder pretty quickly. Not as fast as deer can, but much faster than the birds.

        So it’s a pain in the ass to go fill it back up, and it costs money. A person gets a bird feeder because they want to watch birds. There are cheaper ways to feed squirrels, if you like squirrels.

        Both squirrels and birds can build nests in your home. Squirrels can chew their way into your attic, then you risk them chewing through wires. Birds nest in your dryer vent or bathroom vent. A nest in the dryer vent is a fire hazard. And they can introduce bird mites into your home. It’s like having a bed bug infestation except you can’t see them, their bites are hella itchy, and at least they can be dealt with by multiple rounds of thorough vacuuming. Ask me how I know.

        I used to love to keep a bird feeder and watch the bird party on a snowy day. But I wasn’t out to feed the deer, and the mite problem erased any lingering feelings about feeding birds.

      • Lauchs@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        4 months ago

        Birds are super good for the environment, take a quick google!

        Squirrels on the other hand, are an invasive species in much of the world.

        In my home province squirrels make it pretty hard for some of our local trees etc.

        • uienia@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          A particular species of squirrels. I think people in this thread fail to make clear that this is exclusively about the North American grey squirrel. The Eurasian red squirrel is not invasive anywhere, And I strongly doubt anyone have any problem with having them in their bird feeder, since they are solitary and relatively shy creatures.

      • 2ugly2live@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        4 months ago

        Squirrels in my area don’t share. And will do whatever they can to get to the feeder, even if that means breaking shit. I currently use a seed that has some spillage and that’s kept the squirrels satisfied. I don’t mind them, but they end up making it sl I won’t get any birds.

      • ShadowA
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        arrow-down
        8
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        Squirrels are an invasive species, they chew wires and mess with stuff.

        Birds are pretty, sound nice, and eat bugs. They also poop on everyone’s stuff, but somehow it’s good luck if you get shit on.

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          21
          ·
          4 months ago

          Squirrels are an invasive species, they’re not native to North America.

          Just how many tens of millions of years do a species need to exist in a place before you consider it native to that land?

          “The earliest known North American squirrel fossil dates back to the late Eocene epoch, about 34 million years ago.” source

          • Skua@kbin.earth
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            11
            ·
            4 months ago

            North American grey squirrels are an invasive species… in Europe. They seem to be able to outcompete the native red squirrels here

              • Skua@kbin.earth
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                4 months ago

                Oh, I’m not disagreeing with you by any means. I just thought it was kinda funny that they had the direction of the invasiveness of that particular animal backwards

                • ShadowA
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  4 months ago

                  Yeah I caught that and edited it before I thought anyone saw it.

          • ShadowA
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            4 months ago

            Only about 300 years, from your own link you kindly provided:

            When European settlers first arrived in North America, they brought with them a number of animals that were not native to the continent. One of these animals was the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), which was introduced to England in the early 1600s as a curiosity.

            The eastern gray squirrel quickly became popular in England, where it was kept as a pet and admired for its agility and intelligence. In the late 1700s, a group of eastern gray squirrels was introduced to New York City’s Central Park, where they quickly established a population.

            Over the next few decades, the eastern gray squirrel spread rapidly across North America, aided by its adaptability and ability to thrive in a variety of habitats. Today, the eastern gray squirrel is one of the most common squirrels in North America, and it can be found in every state except for Alaska and Hawaii.

              • toasteecup@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                4 months ago

                We’ve not talking about colonizing though, we’re discussing invasive species.

                Given humanity (Homo Sapiens) is currently thought to have evolved in Africa, that is the natural human habitat. All other habitats we’ve created we can be thought of as an invasive species.

                Please don’t virtue signal when it’s off topic like this, it’s really annoying.