No News is Good News.....Right?

Well......it's been a couple of days now with only a few brief sightings of Snacky.

Red was back, briefly

and, once again, he seemed quite content just nibbling shells off of the railing.

He sure is cute, and I couldn't resist snapping just one more shot.

A new friend showed up

but he was just interested in the suet. 

And I was happy that he was!

I still find it interesting that Snacky has not been attempting to raid the feeders.  I attribute his standoffish behavior to the candy-cane/tail debacle.  

And, unlike his sassy gray cousin........Red is really quite skittish, and if he sees as much as a shadow from the window, he scampers off in a jiffy.

But, there were signs that Snacky was still very much around.   Note the two different sizes of squirrel paw prints. 

Let's face it,  squirrels need to eat, too, and I did go out of my way to try to appease them, if you recall.

Here you see a perfectly good corn cob, posted within easy reach for Snacky and Red.  Yet, neither one of them have expressed the least bit interest in nibbling on it.  Although, Snacky did pop over and sniff it the day I first put it out.

I'll admit it,  I'm a bit dismayed that the woman at the Wild Bird Specialty store insisted that the squirrel would find this tasty.   Obviously, she was wrong.

So, I decided that I should try to do something to make it more enticing.  

I went out and bought an inexpensive bag of sunflower seeds with the idea that I would spread some peanut butter on the cob to help hold the sunflower seeds on the cob.  My thought was that once the squirrels began munching on the seeds, they couldn't help but keep munching into the cob.

So, I set about on my project, braving the cold, peanut butter jar and bag of seeds in my hands.

For the record, peanut butter is not all that easy to spread on a cold cob.  Particular when one is surprised to find the jar nearly empty and must scrape the goods out of the jar.

And, sunflower seeds are not all that easy to stick into cold peanut butter.  But, I did the best that I could manage, considering the limited supply of peanut butter and the extremely cold conditions.

But I was pleased at my idea and headed into the house, eagerly anticipating the reaction that the squirrels would have when they spotted my creation.

Would you like to see the finished product?

Ok, I'll admit that it isn't the most enticing looking creation.  Actually, it kind of looks like a bunch of ants crawling around, doesn't it?

And it has been sitting on my deck since Friday, without even a nibble.

Even the birds don't seem interested in the seeds.  

Apparently cheap seeds don't appease anyone.

 And, let's face it......I obviously do NOT think like a squirrel.

Snacky is Back!

Today while I was buzzing around the kitchen,  I just so happened to look out the window, and guess who I saw?

It was Snacky.

Obviously, he was not being Sneaky, and he wasn't acting too Slick.

And, much to my surprise....... he wasn't even Sassy!

In fact, I would describe his demeanor as rather subdued.

But he was apparently hungry and having a grand time snacking on the discarded shells from the feeders.

And rather than run to the window insisting that Snacky scoot, I decided to wait and watch and see just what he'd try today.

Amazingly,  he seemed to be quite content gobbling up the seed shells that were strewn about the railing.

And, this time, Snacky wasn't responsible for those seeds scattered about..... it was the birds.  No false accusations here.

Interestingly enough,  Snacky was perfectly content to just clean up.  And, anyone who likes to clean up earns a big plus in my book!

The next thing I knew, he was hopping over to the other railing, which was also covered with shells.  (Those birds have been mighty hungry.)

I figured this was it........  He'd try to go for the feeder.

But I was wrong!  Snacky was content, once again, to spend his time cleaning up the railings.

And, I thought that was pretty Sweet!

But you can bet your bottom dollar that I won't be changing his name to that!

Not while he's still under scrutiny!

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

There's a New Kid in Town

There hasn't been much happening around here.

You wouldn't get much done either if you were constantly peering out the window in search of the seed snatcher.

Let me give you a brief synopsis of the last couple of days:

Snow fell on Sunday......but there was no sign of Slick.

Ice fell on top of the snow......still no signs of Slick. You'd think ice and Slick would go hand in hand, wouldn't you?

Rain fell on the ice......and...you guessed it.....no sign of Slick.
Then the winds came rushing in, dropping the temperatures to single digits which resulted in some very hungry birds.

The feeders were quickly emptied, but this time, it really appeared to be from feathered friends, not from a sneaky furry creature.

I bundled up and carefully maneuvered the ice to replenish the supply of seed, excited that I had somehow succeeded in foiling the antics of Sneaky.

What do you suppose made the difference?

Was it rearranging the feeders, making access a bit more complicated?

Was it the fear of sticky peppermint matting a furry tail?

Was it the shrieks of disbelief echoing through the neighborhood near the end of the Super Bowl?
(Perhaps Sneaky was watching it while munching and ended up choking at the interception......who knows?)

And then I wondered, do I really need to know what happened to Sneaky?   The present set up was working for now, that's all that really mattered.

Sipping my morning tea was becoming quite entertaining as I watched the birds seemingly enjoy jumping off and on the Slinky.  Who knew that 20 cents could offer so much entertainment?  It kept Sneaky from climbing the pole, and acted as a trampoline for the finches!

A smile came to my face as I watched the goldfinches enjoy some breakfast.

And then, this cute thing flew in

which was obviously much larger than the purple finch, and reminded me of a female blue bird.

My suspicions were confirmed when this guy flew in

They didn't stick around long, but it sure was exciting to see them in the area!

I also spotted a beautiful flickr at the suet feeder, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get a shot of his bright red head.  

Yes....the day was really getting exciting...don't you think?

Then, when I least expected it, I looked out and saw......... Red Squirrel.  

. He certainly was very cute, and, much to my surprise,  he didn't make one attempt to jump into a feeder or climb the slinky.  Red seemed perfectly content munching on the leftovers from the birds.

This is my kind of squirrel.  Tiny, cute, and satisfied with leftovers.  And, he has none of those sneaky, sassy qualities exhibited by grey squirrel that we all know.

I have the feeling that we could really get along.

But then again, I noticed something just a bit concerning to me.

Is it me, or does Red look as if he is rubbing his hands together, as if he is planning something sinister?

Only time will tell.

Guess I won't be getting much done tomorrow either.

I'll keep you posted.

Sassy (and Slightly Sticky ) Squirrel

In case you may be wondering, Sassy (formerly known as Sneaky) is back to his old tricks.

And, let's face it, it didn't take him long to make a return.

And, to make matters worse, it appears that Sassy doesn't seem to find candy canes to be a threat.

Obviously, he had no issues munching just inches away from this remaining candy cane.  (The other one had dropped into the snow when Sassy jumped on the feeder.)

Once again, my pounding on the window did not work as a deterrent,

but opening the window did result in a quick scurry along the deck rail. 

I thought, perhaps, Sassy was heading over to the  squirrel food that I had bought special, just for him, which is mounted on the corner of the deck.  

But that was just a clever ploy on his part, as he stopped to pick up some seeds that had fallen onto the railing, before making an about-turn when he thought I wasn't looking. 

And, since I had chosen to stay inside this time,  Sassy figured that he'd head right back for the goods.

But, something was different.  Were your eyes sharp enough to pick it up?

Well, by now, you have probably noticed that Sassy suddenly earned the name of Sticky.  And, to be quite frank, he didn't seem to mind.

But he finally realized the gig was up, and when he jumped onto the deck, he looked a little disheartened.

And, I'll be honest, I felt bad for Sticky.  I even found myself saying "Poor thing".  And when he jumped off of the railing, with that candy cane still stuck to his tail, 

I felt even worse. 

I watched him bounce over to the Magnolia tree, where he ran up and down, and back across the yard, with a red and white striped extension to his tail.

Yep....that candy cane was not breaking loose!

Then, suddenly, he scurried towards the deck, ducking under, and before I could attempt to figure out just what he could possibly be doing, he emerged, as you can see, candy cane free.

Sticky had become Slick.  Just how did he do that?  Could this be the answer to the missing candy canes?  Was there an accomplice somewhere nearby? 

I was tempted to take a peek under the deck, but the feeders were nearly empty by this time,

and some of the birds were turning upside down from hunger.

and the crowds were making a racket.

So, I set about filling the feeders, trying to ignore the heckling from the sidelines.

And, just as I was about to rehang the feeders, I found myself stopping, and asking myself: 

What would Slick, (or should I say Sassy?) , (or would that be Sneaky?)  do? 

One thing was for sure, despite the candy cane debacle, I had failed to find Slick playing with the slinkys,  and that hint certainly had proven to be effective at keeping him from climbing up the poles.

So, I decided that rearranging the feeders was in order.  

I shortened the rope on the house feeder, hanging it in a higher spot.

Then, I ran a new wire through the squirrel proof feeder to shorten it as well.  

Yes, you read that correctly.  We have a squirrel proof feeder.  The weight of the squirrel triggers a mechanism which thereby blocks the seed windows.  But Slick figured out a long time ago, that he could give the feeder a good swat and sunflowers would fall like rain from heaven.

With the new wire loop,  the feeder hangs high enough so that Slick can't just swat it, and I'm hoping the slinky keeps him from climbing up the pole to jump on it as the physics behind the hanging mechanism is compromised by the new wire.  But we'll keep that our secret. 

I didn't spot Slick anymore today, but I did see a pair of mourning doves checking out the new look. 

And they seemed pretty happy with the freshly filled feeders. 

In the meantime, I decided to bake some Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes this evening.

Doesn't that look heavenly?

Well, as I was putting the frosting on those cupcakes, my grandson was calling us on Skype.  My husband showed him my handiwork and asked him whom he thought I might be making those cupcakes for.

Suddenly, I heard two voices over the phone exclaim, "For the SQUIRREL!"

Aren't they funny?

Really.....  how ridiculous of an idea is that?

After all, I haven't read one thing online that says that Salted Caramel Chocolate cupcakes keep squirrels away.  


Do you think that they might be onto something?

Sassy (Forget Sneaky) Squirrel

Everything was going great!  The day after my candy cane experiment, I spotted Sneaky Squirrel happily snacking on some seed that had fallen onto the railing, but he was soon scurrying away and, surprisingly, he didn't bother the feeders.

And you've got to admit.....he certainly is cute. 

We got some snow

but not nearly the pounding that had been predicted.

And it sure is frigid outside, with high's in the low 20's.  So, you know those birdies have to be hungry.

And there was lots of feathered friend activity at the feeders this week, which made me happy.

But being of a suspicious nature, I kept peeking out the window for sights of Sneaky, but he seemed to have disappeared….except for some suspicious hopping tracks on the back deck coming close to the sliding glass door.

One thing I did notice, though, was that the candy canes were all gone.  And, I do mean ALL gone.  No sign of any…... anywhere.  I had even tucked some into the one feeder where the weather and wind would not have been an issue.  Curious…..don't you think?

I can't help but wonder who was feasting on those.

 Could it be possible that Sneaky was having a candy licking party in his nest somewhere?  Perhaps he got all sticky and was now a Sneaky Sticky squirrel!  There wasn't even any sign of him attempting to get some sustenance from the Squirrel post mounted in the corner.

My son was curious as to how I came up with the candy cane idea.
I told him that I had read it on a blog.
It worked for the writer.
It was cheap.
It really couldn't hurt anything.
I could eat the left-over candy canes.

Don't these all seem like logical reasons to give it a try?

He and my grandson came up with the idea that the Squirrel probably wrote the blog.  Great way to get some candy canes and play with a Slinky.

Aren't they funny?

It's been 4 days without a candy cane in sight, and no squirrels to be seen at the feeders.

And then, today, you know it had to happen.

There he was, happily feasting away.

 I pounded on the window.

That scared him……..NOT!

Obviously, the squirrel knew that I was inside and he was outside.

He turned and looked at me, giving me a Sassy look, which I did not waste time photographing.

I popped on my boots, and headed out the back door.

Do you know that I was nearly at the feeder before that squirrel realized that I meant business?  He was munching away, ignoring me, until he looked up and saw my not-so-happy face, and jumped off happily hopping along the snow to the back of the yard.

In the meantime, I've loaded the feeder up with more candy canes.

Will it work?  Well, he never returned today.

Perhaps he's writing his blog on how to sucker humans into handing over free candy canes.

We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel

Are you familiar with this game:  Sneaky Snacky Squirrel?

All of my grandchildren really enjoy playing this game.  There's not much strategy involved, and just when you think you're about to win, one spin of the dial, and you find yourself with no acorns, victim of the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel.

Well.....guess what?   We seem to have our own live Sneaky Snacky Squirrel.  

That became all too obvious when I noticed that the feeders were emptying way too fast, and birdseed would be scattered in heaps on the deck railing.

It was quite a mess!  

And, let me just say that the local birds don't eat cheap seed.  At least not in our backyard.

So, in an attempt to save myself from having to refill bird feeders every other day, I decided to look online for some practical advice on how to keep squirrels from the bird feeders.

I realize that this is no easy feat.  This isn't the first run-in I've had with squirrels. Somehow those clever creatures (or should I say sneaky?) managed to win the game.  

I read through the list of suggestions, eliminating one after another, until I came across two interesting possibilities.  Both were inexpensive and would cause no harm to the squirrel or the environment.  

After a quick trip to the store, I set about filling the feeders while attempting to make them squirrel proof.  

Ok...... I never professed to an attractive solution.  That's actually a plastic slinky you see stretched over the pole.  I read that when the squirrel attempts to climb up the pole, the slinky keeps him from making traction. Sounds reasonable, don't you think?

I had hoped to find metal slinkies, but such was not the case.  

If this clever trick works, then I may consider looking a bit harder for metal replacements.  Purely aesthetic. 

The second interesting possibility involved peppermint candy canes.  The site suggested that popping candy canes onto the feeders acted as a repellant for squirrels.  

So, I picked up a package of small candy-canes on the after Christmas sale rack, unwrapped a few, and hung them here and there on the feeders.

And, realizing that squirrels need to eat something, I purchased a special product, that squirrels are supposed to find tasty, and mounted it on the corner of the deck, far from the feeders. 

And then, I waited to see what would happen.

I half expected to look outside and find the squirrel playing with the slinky and licking candy canes.  

When I came home today,  I spotted the grey creature on the railing, looking longingly at the feeders.

He took a quick look at the suet, then ran along the rail to the squirrel food on the corner.

He stopped only briefly to check it out before scurrying down the railing and out of sight.

So, do you suppose the candy canes did the trick?  Only time will tell.  

But, in the meantime, we have a new friend:

Now, that's a welcome sight!