Enraged Elder Discourages Wily Wildlife

 We're heading into a stormy night' it's 10 o'clock and snowing lightly, but there hasn't been much accumulation yet. There isn't a lot of wind, either, and that's good news. Sometimes these storms don't turn out to be as serious as the forecasters fear; I guess it's part of their job to predict the worst case scenario. It's probably better to have people over-prepared. 

It has been a day of mixed weather - a little rain this morning, freezing in places (the ground and some surfaces were really cold) and some wet snow as the temperature hung out a little above freezing. 

I was careful to keep the bird feeders filled up, thinking the birds would need some reserve if the weather was really bad and made it difficult for them to get to the feeders at some point. I filled one of the hanging feeders (the larger one shown below) with sunflower seeds yesterday, and of course the red squirrel found it right away. I scared him off once yesterday by opening the crank-out side window in the living room and yelling at him, but that only worked once. After that, he ignored me shouting at him and banging on the window. So today when I saw him hanging off the feeder, I looked around to find something to throw at him. I was wishing I had the water gun that used to be at camp - it was pretty powerful and would be great fun to use on him. (Making a mental note to try to find one of those - soon!) The best I could come up with was a snowball, and there was a convenient pile of snow in a small drift on the porch, so I grabbed some and cranked open the window. That window is tall and narrow and the hinges are on the right, so I had to throw left-handed. I didn't expect to hit him, but hoped to at least scare him. He paid no attention to the window opening, and I lobbed a good big snowball at him. It was a lucky shot that literally swept him off the side of the feeder. I've never seen a squirrel run so fast. In a split second he dove into one of his conveniently placed holes by the stone wall. I couldn't believe I'd actuality hit him, but I fully expected he'd be back as soon as I closed the window and his heart had calmed down. I wanted to be prepared, so I grabbed another handful of snow. Back at the window, I waited until the snowball began to melt, and then decided to stash it on the side table on the porch, within easy reach for when he came back. However, as far as I know, he stayed in his borrow for the rest of the day. I'll be ready for him if he shows up tomorrow, though. However, I may have to reconsider if that snowball is frozen really hard by morning. Just in case I'm lucky enough to hit him again I wouldn't want to actually hurt him; I just want to give him a good scare. They are pretty quick learners, though, so I may not get another crack at him.

I don't mind if the squirrels dine on whatever falls out of the feeders - the birds are pretty sloppy eaters and plenty of seeds end up in the snow. Even though feeders are advertised as "squirrel proof," there simply isn't anything on the market those guys can't get into, given a little time. The closest I've come is hanging a feeder on a really thin wire well spaced between two posts and high off the ground. Even then, there will be one that will get to it, upside down, hand over hand (or feet over feet). They are nothing if not persistent, and I've seen them keep trying numerous times, until they get it right. It's entertaining to watch them, and that has become part of my daily routine! No, it's not sad - I'm learning about wildlife! There's a pecking order (no pun intended!) between birds at the feeders, too. Chickadees are very polite and wait their turn, picking up a seed and flying off with it; nuthatches will share with their own, but tend to be little pigs and hang out in the feeder,aggressively chasing  off other birds; siskins don't seem to have any pronounced characteristics when at the feeder - they just seem to mind their own business, get in and out without any fuss. I've seen an occasional woodpecker enjoying thistle seeds, but not often. I will put a suet feeder out soon, and they will come for that, I expect. The weather has been either too cold or too wet to go out and attach the pully arrangement I use to try to keep the squirrels from raiding the suet. It worked pretty well last year - for a while. I attached an 8-inch clear plastic pie plate over it, but occasionally, with practice, the squirrels managed to catch the cage as they slid off the pie pan. I'm thinking a really large aluminum foil pie plate over the wire holder might work. It will tip and dump the squirrel off when he tries to reach the feeder, and should be wide enough so he won't be able to catch the suet cage on the way down. I'll experiment with that. 

By the way, don't forget to pick up your Joe's Pond Association Ice-Out tickets soon. The deadline to have tickets in is April 1st, and that is only a few weeks away -  exactly 8 weeks tomorrow, actually. The way the mail is operating these days, you may need that much time to have tickets sent to you and get them mailed back. As long as your postmark is on or before April 1, you'll be ok, but don't wait too long - better to get them in. I don't have a clue how thick the ice is, but Shelly Walker told me there were numerous vehicles out on the ice - so it has to be 24 inches or so, I'd think. I'll see if I can find out from an ice fisherman. I've been wondering - with so much cold weather and so little snow to insulate it, I'm guessing it's pretty solid.