Chapel Hill, North Carolina

A Reluctant Homage to Squirrels

There is an old saying about squirrels, “you either learn to defeat them or you just give up and feed them.”

Whether you love them or loathe them…you’ve got to hand it to them. Successful they are. Kind of like the Tom Brady of the rodent family…they rapidly adjust to almost every defense you mount and just keep on scoring - bird food!

Sooner or later these cute little critters are probably going to cross over the line at your feeders. Often agile beyond belief and seemingly able to solve complex problems, squirrels can consume large amounts of bird feed and damage expensive feeders.

And let’s be honest, we’ve all helped to create the modern day super-squirrel. How many times have you made a “squirrel-thwarting” adjustment to your feeding routine, only to be out-smarted and out-maneuvered by your favorite furry friends?

And, just think of the amount of time, money, research and engineering that has gone into the development of countless “squirrel-proof” feeders, only to have most fall victim to their underfunded, but ever resourceful rivals. Being dauntless and clever has its rewards in the world of squirrels.

But as squirrels have learned to defeat many of the feeders that came before…the contest is far from over. We can be pretty darn clever and resourceful ourselves! And modern day tactics can truly create a mutual stalemate between you and your squirrels.

There really are squirrel solutions that will keep your bird food for the birds…while also keeping your blood pressure at a healthy level.

The strong defenses provided by properly placed baffled pole systems, exclusion cages, hot pepper foods, safflower seed and yes…even an array of modern squirrel-proof feeders have yet to be reliably breached by even the most tenacious squirrel tacticians.

But it’s not from the lack of trying…and the endless entertainment value of watching them wage war on our defenses is almost worth the occasional defeat or two along the way.

So it is with begrudging reluctance that we pay homage to our entertaining and worthy opponent. And remember, when playing the long game, sometimes it's best to let your opponent think he has control.