Get lost, featherbrain!
For many years, birds have had the hearts of suburban animal lovers around the world for reasons that still baffle this noted sciurophile. Despite squirrels having cornered the market on cute, people always seem to enjoy bird watching rather than squirrel watching. Birdseed outsells squirrel feed about a trillion to one, and you never see any birdproof squirrel feeders on the shelf of your local pet 
supply store. Hungry squirrels who want in on a little of this backyard feeding action constantly get cursed at, chased with brooms and plinked by pellet guns for daring to set an uninvited furry paw inside of some old housewife’s sacred birdfeeder. Despite being pests in their own right, birds have always been the golden critters of everyday wildlife… and you couldn’t blame the squirrels is they perhaps looked upon their fine feathered friends of favoritism with a tinge of jealousy and disdain. Oh to be able to read the thoughts of that squirrel pictured above as his eyes shoot laser beams at his winged arboreal companion.
Take heart, oh much maligned rodent, because at The Nest we do not set aside a day to honor the birds who like to decorate our cars with their unhealthy abstract splatter art. No, it is your fine species who we like to sing the praises of with a Saturday Squirrel write up… and this week, it’s all about you! Tell birdbrain there to go take a hike…
Have a great weekend everyone!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
we have such pigeon-cassos and vincent van berd’s too…I think we need helmets if we want to itoutside this summer…
It can be a real shitstorm if a giant flock of starlings pass over, which happens way too often around here…
I’ve been shat upon by 3 birds…but never a squirrel. Obviously I’m not a bird fan.
Squirrels have the common decency to go somewhere more appropriate…. like in the garden or the chimney…
My squirrels chase the birds. They’ll dart into or jump at the flock eating under the feeder to chase them away (repeatedly). Then they take what they want. They’re clever that way. I’ve seen them intimidate crows. If crows are so highly intelligent, why don’t they peck back with that giant beak? It makes no sense.
The crows must be all talk and no action. Heck, they’re even afraid of strawmen in a field…
That’s true!
“Oh to be able to read the thoughts of that squirrel pictured above as his eyes shoot laser beams at his winged arboreal companion.” It’s simple:
Squirrels eat birds* – this squirrel thinks:” Come a little closer, luncheon!”
*Squirrels cannot digest cellulose, so they must rely on foods rich in protein, carbohydrates, and fats. In temperate regions, early spring is the hardest time of year for squirrels, because buried nuts begin to sprout and are no longer available for the squirrel to eat, and new food sources have not become available yet. During these times, squirrels rely heavily on the buds of trees. Squirrels’ diets consist primarily of a wide variety of plants, including nuts, seeds, conifer cones, fruits, fungi, and green vegetation. However, some squirrels also consume meat, especially when faced with hunger. Squirrels have been known to eat insects, eggs, small birds, young snakes, and smaller rodents. Indeed, some tropical species have shifted almost entirely to a diet of insects.
I have yet to see a squirrel eat a bird, though admittedly my squirrels around here are pretty well fed and are rarely starving…
They usually eat only small birds – most of those in nests. You are unlikely to see that, unless you have several birds’ nests under surveillance. Or you kill several squirrels and look, what they have in their stomachs. *I would not want to do that*
Wikipedia offers several sources for this information.
“Predatory behavior has been noted by various species of ground squirrels, in particular the thirteen-lined ground squirrel. For example, Bailey, a scientist in the 1920s, observed a thirteen-lined ground squirrel preying upon a young chicken. Wistrand reported seeing this same species eating a freshly killed snake. Whitaker examined the stomachs of 139 thirteen-lined ground squirrels and found bird flesh in four of the specimens and the remains of a short-tailed shrew in one. Bradley, examining white-tailed antelope squirrels’ stomachs, found at least 10% of his 609 specimens’ stomachs contained some type of vertebrate, mostly lizards and rodents. Morgart observed a white-tailed antelope squirrel capturing and eating a silky pocket mouse.”
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That bird better watch his tail feathers…
And his nuts….
The Bird Vs Squirrel action is part of my growing up years. Next to my bedroom window was a wide, relatively flat roof. Every early morning, unless the weather was terrible, the crows lined up on one side and the squirrel line up on the other and THEY YELLED AT EACH OTHER FOR FUCKING HOURS. I would stand at my window shouting at them to GO AWAY and have their fight somewhere else. I didn’t take sides. I didn’t care. i just wanted them to shut UP.
Gang warfare on the roof. You are lucky you didn’t end up in the crossfire of a turf war between bird and rodent…
I have the best of both worlds – I enjoy my birds but always leave seed and nuts on the ground for the squirrels. They have developed a taste for the hot pepper suet, too – they manage to get their little fingers in the suet cage and eat it without a problem.
I’ve seen birdseed with hot pepper in it marketed specifically for its being “squirrel proof.” I guess that’s another load of malarkey! Who says squirrels don’t like things hot and spicy?
I really wanted to send you a photo of a poor male Squirrel that got up a Bird Feeder Pole, he must of slipped, he was hanging upside down caught by only his balls on an extension of the feeder pole to hang a plant! lol… 🙂
There is a long running battle between avian ‘art’ and a squirrel who marks a table top under the covered patio. I never knew squirrels ‘marked’ but this little thug repeatedly does despite all efforts to make said spot less hospitable. Thank goodness for Clorox wipes!
I love squirrels too. Squirrel in our part of the world is bluish grey in color with black stripes. As usual they run around and do not trust people very much. But they are good to watch.
I would love to know what that squirrel is thinking! It looks as if might be thinking about launching itself upon the unsuspecting bird.
One of the most interesting things I’ve ever seen while squirrel watching was when our fearless squirrel friend Nutsy got into a boxing match with a crow in our driveway. She didn’t back down and eventually the crow flew off.