Squirrel!

[Carson Dyle]

Damn. This is a first for me. I'm sitting in my home office with most of the windows and doors in the house open. And I hear a rattling noise for about ten minutes. My neighbors were out on their patio earlier, and it sounds almost exactly like someone rooting through a toolbox. I don't even give it much thought, figure someone is out back working on a bike or somesuch.

Then I get up and go into the kitchen and there's a squirrel on the ledge outside the kitchen window over the sink, and he's chewed a 2 inch by 3 inch hole in the screen. Another couple minutes and that little bastard would have been inside the house.

Been a long time since I killed a squirrel. But this one is going to die. Pretty sure some idiots in the neighborhood are feeding them. I've had them hop up to within three feet of me, looking for handouts.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

 

[Carson Dyle]

The little SOB just came back and was trying again. Looks like his death will be sooner rather than later.

 

[Red Squirrel]

lol. Wish we had more squirrels here, I saw one a few years back but he was gone by the time I got the peanuts out. They're fun to have around... provided they're not trying to get in the house that is...

Did get to feed a chipmunk though.

 

[Carson Dyle]

After doing some googling, I think I figured out what he was after. The first time it happened, I had just made a peanut butter sandwich and left the open peanut butter jar out on the counter, although it was probably five feet or more from the open window. And the second time, the dirty knife was sitting in the sink just under the window.

We'll see. I might not have to kill him. Maybe just be smarter about the PB.

Gotta replace the damned screen, though.

 

[paperfist]

lol. Wish we had more squirrels here, I saw one a few years back but he was gone by the time I got the peanuts out. They're fun to have around... provided they're not trying to get in the house that is...

Did get to feed a chipmunk though.

You guys don't have squirrels in Canada?

I was reading on another board about a girl who came to my area from Canada and finally saw a squirrel. I couldn't understand it.

OP I feel ya. My neighbor feeds squirrels all day long and for whatever reason they hang out in my lot and not hers. I want to blow them all up as they eat all the flowers I plant, burrow into the hundreds of feet of mulch beds I have and dive bomb onto my roof when I'm trying to sleep off of my 100' pine trees.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You guys don't have squirrels in Canada?

I was reading on another board about a girl who came to my area from Canada and finally saw a squirrel. I couldn't understand it.

We got them but unless you live at a cottage or camp a lot it's not like you really see them often. Down south they have the big black ones though and they tend to hang out more in cities than the reds. I saw some red ones when I went camping but was only there a few days so not enough time to tame them. Back when I was a kid I used to camp a lot so got to see them a lot more.

 

[Carson Dyle]

How far north are you? The ones here in Colorado are mostly fox squirrels. Growing up back east near Pittsburgh we had gray squirrels. They were everywhere, in both towns and cities and the hardwood forests. Almost everyone called them "tree rats."

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Had some in the attic before the new siding went on. Trapped and relocated them. Peanut butter is, indeed, a great lure.

 

[paperfist]

We got them but unless you live at a cottage or camp a lot it's not like you really see them often. Down south they have the big black ones though and they tend to hang out more in cities than the reds. I saw some red ones when I went camping but was only there a few days so not enough time to tame them. Back when I was a kid I used to camp a lot so got to see them a lot more.

How far north are you? The ones here in Colorado are mostly fox squirrels. Growing up back east near Pittsburgh we had gray squirrels. They were everywhere, in both towns and cities and the hardwood forests. Almost everyone called them "tree rats."

That's what we have, the gray ones. There's like 5 per sq yard and only being 3 hours or less from Canada I'm surprised they haven't infested the similar type of climate.

 

[Paperdoc]

Re squirrels in Canada.

I can only speak from experience of the area of northwestern Ontario where I live. In this area in the bush (forest to easterners) one will find plenty of Red Squirrels (actually, reddish-brown) and Chipmunks. Chipmunks often do not show up a lot in cities, but certainly do in smaller towns where the bush is close. They generally are much more active and have more "nerve", whereas squirrels seem to be more wary and shy. If a Canadian has not seen a squirrel yet, I suspect they rarely go near the great outdoors.

Over the past decade or more there's been a significant change in this area. In several cities around here the larger species I call "city squirrels" have arrived. These are more than twice as big as the Red Squirrels, and I used to see them all over southern Ontario in brown, grey and black colours. They arrived in our city some years ago now (mostly brown and black versions) and basically have completely replaced the smaller Red Squirrels from the bush that used to populate city yards. If you leave the city you'll find the same Red Squirrels and Chipmunks that were there before, and no large "city squirrels". Moreover, further north and west from us those larger squirrel species still have not managed to spread.