GRIZ BEAR COMMENTS: Can I beat the squirrels?

— I told Mrs. Griz the squirrels would get it, but she didn’t believe me when we hung the two bird feeders in the backyard of our new abode. And once again, I was right - even more right than I thought.

Though I usually only filled them during the winter months, we had hung two bird feeders in our backyard just a few blocks away over the past six years. The only problem we had, other than occasional invasions by flocks of blackbirds, was the wind blowing the bird feeders down from the ornate rod-iron post which supported them.

Since our new home is nestled in the edge of a grove of post oaks and we saw squirrels jumping from tree to tree, I expected our days of feeding just the birds was over.

We filled the bird feeders and hung one from the rod-iron holder, thinking it might be tough for the squirrels to climb. The other was suspended from a tree branch - and I was certain that would probably be trouble, and it was.

We were soon visited by a few songbirds; and the squirrels, it seemed, didn’t notice the two new food sources. That, however, lasted only a day.

The bird feeder suspended from a tree branch was the first to come under attack. When I looked out the window on day two, the plastic top to the bird feeder was gone and the squirrels, it appeared, were helping themselves to the bird seed and had either consumed or taken and stashed away half the contents. The birds were still visiting, but they were left to eat what the squirrels spilled on the ground.

I thought the secondfeeder might survive, but it wasn’t but a day or two later that I saw and photographed a squirrel lying over the top of the feeder and feasting on the seed through the holes made for the birds to access the seed.

Unfortunately, the squirrel raids didn’t stop there. Unable to reach part of the seed in the bottom of the feeders, they not only removed the tops, chewing them to pieces, they chewed holes through the feeders in multiple places so as not to miss a single seed.

With all the rain, we only observed the destruction from a distance. When the rains stopped and the waters assuaged from the yard enough that we didn’t need a boat or waders to get to the feeders, Mrs. Griz checked for damage and determined the feeders were beyond any hope of repair, even with duct tape. She threw them in the trash barrel and determined we needed a solution or another course of action so that we could hang bird feeders in the back yard and watch the birds.

Our rabbit and bird dog - at least she used to make attempts to catch rabbits and birds at our old residence - took note of the new creatures. When we let her out, she now exits the back door at a full run in hope of catching one of the elusive critters off guard and still on the ground. She’s tried to go up a tree after a couple of them but has never gotten higher than she can reach standing on her hind paws.

She knows the meaning of the words rabbit and cat and was always eager to give chase, though I was glad she never caught either.

She’slearning the word squirrel. Her ears perk up when she hears it and she goes and peeks out the window into the back yard to see if a squirrel is there. I fear, if she ever caught one, the lesson would be more painful than if she cornered a cat.

I could leave our dog in the back yard to guard our bird feeders and keep the squirrels high up in the trees, but that would be somewhat counterproductive since she’d also keep the birds away.

I told Mrs. Griz I used to hunt and eat squirrel and that might be a solution. The thought of eating squirrel didn’t sound at all appealing to her and she doubted my word when I told her squirrel tastes a lot like chicken. She didn’t believe me either when I gave her that line about frog legs.

Since our dog can’t catch ‘em and Mrs. Griz doesn’t want to eat ‘em, we decided to try another squirrel solution which will allow us to feed the birds - a new feeder which, hopefully, will be a bit more squirrel-proof. We were cautious though; we bought only one to minimize our losses if the feeders are less squirrel-proof than advertised.

So, can squirrels chew through glass and metal? I guess we will soon find out. I would have preferred steel and bullet-proof glass but Mrs. Griz liked the looks of a feeder made with stained glass and tin.

I’m not entirely convinced the new feeder will work. In an attempt to draw squirrel attention away from the new bird feeder, I also put up a squirrel feeder in a nearby tree. Perhaps if I keep the squirrels busy and well fed, they’ll leave thebird feeder and bird seed alone.

Probably not!

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be reached by email at rmoll@ nwaonline.com.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 03/28/2012