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BS: Battling squirrels
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Subject: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 10 Oct 04 - 11:39 AM Read this astonishing story about a pair of idiots, the LeRoys, who fought a costly war with the squirrels in their backyard over who would get the "birdseed".... ***** Ed and Jean LeRoy, who not long ago set up their first bird feeder on a post in their New Berlin, Wisconsin, backyard in the hopes of attracting beautiful songbirds. Their excitement was short- lived, however, when a gray squirrel completely emptied the feeder even before the first bird arrived. By the second day, the couple was hosting a squirrel convention in their yard. On the third day, Ed LeRoy purchased a squirrel baffle to put on the pole below the bird feeder. Within five minutes, the crafty animals found that they could jump over the baffle and onto the feeder from a nearby tree limb. So LeRoy started cutting tree limbs. The squirrels then jumped from the tree trunk. In response, he cut down the tree. But the squirrels merely jumped to the feeder from another tree further away. Exasperated, LeRoy was not about to give in to the creatures, so he cut down that tree, too. But then the squirrels learned how to pull down the side of the baffle and climb over it. LeRoy built a better baffle that would not bend, but the squirrels simply jumped to the top of the feeder from the ground. An extension was added to the post, though it didn't elevate the feeder enough. At last report, the couple was actually considering building a wide moat with water around the feeder. ***** Amazing, isn't it? These two morons ruin their own backyard in a fruitless attempt to frustrate a few hungry squirrels, when they could have simply scattered some seed around on the ground as well as in the bird feeder and kept the squirrels AND the birds happy simultaneously for a few dollars a week! Squirrels are smart. People are idiots. And there is no such thing as "birdseed" (seeds are seeds are seeds...and seeds are made to be eaten by squirrels as well as by birds). I think the LeRoys should be nominated for a Darwin Award. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Jeri Date: 10 Oct 04 - 12:11 PM Rick F. used to love watching the squirrels finding creative ways to get the seed. My mom, however, came up with an amusing AND effective way to stop them. Bird feeder on metal pole, aways from trees and branches, petroleum jelly on the pole for a couple of feet near the bottom. The squirrels would go up partway and slide back down. They didn't seem that happy about having greasy bellies, but it didn't hurt them. I don't mind squirrels getting their share, but they can just knock all the seed out. The birds can eat from the ground, but cats (who don't routinely get into bird feeders) can then just sit and wait for the birds to land. Thanks for the accidental reminder that I've wanted to put up a bird feeder for a couple of years now. I just have to figure out where to put it so I can get to it when there's a lot of snow, and the squirrels can't knock all of the seed out. The birds usually knock some seed out for the squirrels. Now chipmunks... They don't climb that much, but they're fairly clever, although no critter can come close to a squirrel in the cleverness department. but last autumn, I watched a chipmunk repeatedly run accross the street to the neighbor's barn and come back a couple of minutes later with his cheeks stuffed full of grain. Somewhere under my porch, there must be a huge pile of the stuff. As for the LeRoys, one is reminded of Caddyshack and Bill Murray's attempts to get rid of the groundhog. (Which further reminds one of Bush and Bin Laden, but that's a subject for another thread.) It's just a teensy bit extreme. I wonder why they didn't just move the bird feeder. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 10 Oct 04 - 12:22 PM Because they're idiots. :-) A friend of mine has a whole bunch of bird feeders all around his place, and the squirrels and birds all mutually enjoy the situation together. The more, the merrier. Now, he could have gone and spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars putting up baffles, electric barriers, moats, etc....but he's not an idiot. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,Donuel Date: 11 Oct 04 - 12:04 PM birds coons squirrels chipmunks deer cats mice rodents ... ITs a hungry back yard here. Squirrels battling Bush http://www.angelfire.com/md2/customviolins/gopin.jpg |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: dianavan Date: 11 Oct 04 - 01:42 PM My birdhouse sits atop a post. The squirrels were total robbers so I covered the post with stovepipe. Now they jump from the garage roof. The buggers should be content with that huge Walnut tree but no.... they think they're entitled to the seed as well. I'm actually quite scared of squirrels thanks to a bright idea my brother had when we were kids. He set up one of those traps using a box, a stick and a string. My job was to capture him in my dad's salmon net when he lifted the box. That was one angry and vicious squirrel! Almost as angry as my father when he saw what was left of the net. d |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Peace Date: 11 Oct 04 - 01:53 PM This is just another thread in which Little Hawk shows off that he can spell squerral, squhurle, skwerrel, skwearl,--why the hell aren't they called petunias? Friggin' rodents. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Peace Date: 11 Oct 04 - 02:16 PM Squirells. GOT IT! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Peace Date: 11 Oct 04 - 02:17 PM Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Jeri Date: 11 Oct 04 - 02:59 PM Brucie... one perch shy of a bird feeder. (I know. I should talk.) I chased one of the little bastards around my house once. Luckily, I was more pissed off than the sqyrryll. I got a good look at those claws, and they're huge, sharp things. If skwhorls were predatorial, we'd be in big trouble, with them leaping out of trees on us and ripping our eyeballs out. We'd have to live in metal houses and hope they didn't learn how to use crowbars and power tools. Heaven help us if they ever swarmed. Hitchcock's "The Birds" would look like a Disney film. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 11 Oct 04 - 03:53 PM The squirrels ARE entitled to the seeds, Dianavan. Your mistake is not putting some seed around at ground level also or in other alternative locations where the squirrels can easily get it. Nature did not create seeds for the exclusive use of birds only, but people insist on making up these little artificial agendas in their minds and then getting obsessive about them...rather like the artificial agenda which causes many people to drench their lawns in toxic plant poisons which kill every other plant except the grass. Lunacy, in my opinion. It is lunacy to try to limit seed-eating to birds only. Seeds are for squirrels, birds, chipmunks, mice, and anything else that happens to like seeds. Do like my friend does and put out multiple feeders. The squirrels and birds will both thank you. Brucie - you missed the second 'r'. :-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,Jon Date: 11 Oct 04 - 04:19 PM Squirrels are pretty clever. There was a program a few years ago on UK tv where they made a sort of obstacle course for one to get to its food. They kept making it more complicated and each time, the squirrel worked out how to solve the new part of the puzzle. I think we have about 8 bird feeders and a couple of tables here. Any creature that can get to the food is welcome to it. The food is cheap enough... Reminds me though we need to get another sack of seed. We get a 25kg sack these days - it lasts ages. I am annoyed with one rodent at the moment BTW. I'd taken all the seeds off our sunflowers and left them drying out. A rat has got into the shed and eaten the lot. Jon PS. Another thought... Ground feeding of squirels and birds is out of the question here. We have 4 lively cats and our feeders have to be placed where the cats can't get to. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Peace Date: 11 Oct 04 - 04:24 PM Ah, crap. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 11 Oct 04 - 04:31 PM Try breaking it down into sections: 1. Squ 2. ir 3. rel Now put em together: squirrel |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,BIG ANDY Date: 11 Oct 04 - 06:26 PM Wire up the bird feeder much better that watching telly |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Bat Goddess Date: 11 Oct 04 - 06:27 PM We were at the up-the-hill neighbors Saturday night sitting around on the porch trading songs before the bonfire, and got to watch a squirrel on a wire taunting one of the dogs about the place. That squirrel was definitely doing it on purpose, to drive the dog nuts. Must have known, too, there was an "invisible fence" around the yard, too. Linn PS -- any ideas for getting rid of flying squirrels in the dormer of our house? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 11 Oct 04 - 06:37 PM Flying squirrels are a blessing. Be glad you have them. Advertise and you may be able to attract more. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Peace Date: 11 Oct 04 - 06:48 PM If they pay the rent on time, that's a boon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Jeri Date: 11 Oct 04 - 08:26 PM LH, her foying squirrels don't always stay in the dormer, and the cats leave bits of them lying around inside. Squirrels also tend to gnaw on things. I don't know if Bat Goddess' pets are munching on her house, but I was terrified the one in my attic would eat through an electric wire and I'd come home sometime to a burnt house. The only that kept him out was to figure out how he got in, and repair the hole. Are the small trees by the house still there. The ulrasound thingie might be working somewhat on my mice. One problem with those devices is that sound at a very high frequency acts a bit like light. It doesn't go through or around solid objects. I don't mind most critters on the outside of my house, but the inside is mine. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 11 Oct 04 - 08:31 PM Hmm. Yes, I see what you mean. We had a pet squirrel actually living in our house for a couple of years. He was delightful. But that's not the same as squirrels in the attic. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,Jon Date: 11 Oct 04 - 08:59 PM Don't think I'd mind a squirrel in the attic but would need some research. The possibility of chewing cables would certainly be a worry... The only animal in this house we have declared out and out war on to the point of getting the council in twice and them putting poison in the roof space has been with rats. I've seen the odd one the cats have killed outside - usually younger ones and with beautifuly clean brown silky fur. They are nothing like the images of a creature you may see portrayed as living in a sewer and in filth but they have no place whatsoever in the house. We are in a farming area and back on to a field. If the rats want to live out there and brave the cats, I say good luck to them (even if one did eat the sunflower seeds) but there is that one step to far. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Dave Bryant Date: 12 Oct 04 - 07:21 AM I had (grey) squirrels in the attic of my (upstairs) flat at one time. Besides chewing up everything we'd stored up there, they used to leap around on the plasterboard over our heads - and it sounded as if they were wearing size ten boots. I chased them out with a broom and blocked up the hole they were getting in through - it was great being able to sleep at night again. Thank god they never worked out how to open the freezer that lived up there ! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,noddy Date: 12 Oct 04 - 07:56 AM hey Brucie if you cant spell squirrel just call them TREE RATS cos thats what they are.just spotted one..... Gotta get my gun . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,noddy Date: 12 Oct 04 - 08:03 AM As you can guess we get them in our garden. I have our bird feeders hanging from fishhing line strung between two trees. so far it has worked. One winter when we had the feeder on a pole a squirrel tried to climb the pole which was covered in ice. He got so far then slid down again. I must say he was determined cos he tried and tried and tried . It was hilarious just watching him. Never made it. There was anest of them in a neighbours tree and they used to run around the branchs chasing onanother especialy the young ones. one youngster got it wrong big time.. he fell near the top of the tree and you heard him tumble through the branches and he landed in the canal. He swam ashore looking totaly shocked and miserable. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Date: 12 Oct 04 - 06:52 PM Never mind the cute squirrels- how does one get rid of racoons in the attic? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Jeri Date: 12 Oct 04 - 07:34 PM Now that's something different! I'd trap them with a Hav-a-Heart trap outside the attic, free them somewhere far, far away, figure out how they're getting in and board it up. They come out at night, but home repair isn't something most people like to do when it's dark, especially if you have to work on the outside of the house. It'll be easier to find the holes, though. Then again, if someone in your family were to go up there and have a stern talk with them, they might find somewhere else that isn't infested with humans. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,petr Date: 12 Oct 04 - 09:02 PM we had squirrels in the attic last year, they made a hole in the roof and got in that way. Maybe you don't mind having the cute lil critters doing that but we sure did. When the big downpour came last october (the most rain ever recorded) pretty much all the water that was in that side of the house got funnelled into the hole, and into our wall. It was like sticking in a garden hose and putting it on full blast. and when I put seed out Im doing it for the birds not for squirrels. (they can find their own) I find that the birdfeeder that sticks on to the outside of the window is squirrel proof as they cant jump onto it or climb the glass. theyre just rats with bushy tails. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 12 Oct 04 - 09:05 PM That is a vile calumny which I must protest with every bit of strength in my body! Squirrels are lovely creatures, and worthy of praise. People who will not allow squirrels to share the "birdseed" are selfish prigs who should be hung from a clothesline by their toes and left out to flap in the wind. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Bev and Jerry Date: 13 Oct 04 - 01:00 AM In the interest of honesty, when we run out of seeds we put "squirrel food" on the shopping list. They get most of it but they take a lot of crap from the acorn woodpeckers in the process. It's great fun to watch. Bev and Jerry |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: greg stephens Date: 13 Oct 04 - 10:40 AM I have just watched a black squirrel fighting a grey squirrel in Toronto. And till now I never knew black squirrrels existed, I thought they came in grey or red. Travel is a great educator.(I arrived here last night from England). |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Wolfgang Date: 13 Oct 04 - 11:39 AM ...Darwin Awards. These awards are given annually to those individuals who did the most for the human gene pool by removing themselves from it. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival. The central idea of calling that award "Darwin Award" instead of, say, "Dumbya award" is lost when people are nominated who are simply stupid but live on. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Bill D Date: 13 Oct 04 - 12:30 PM a black squirrel is sort of the opposite of an albino....called 'melanistic' |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 13 Oct 04 - 12:35 PM Yes, I realize that, Wolfgang. So the Le Roys do not technically qualify YET for a Darwin Award. But, perhaps after the moat is installed, the Le Roys will fall in it and drown. Or maybe Mr Le Roy will cut down another large tree and it will fall on him and kill him. Either of those eventualities would qualify for a Darwin Award, and we can always hope... :-) In the meantime, as you suggest, I award them the Dumbya Award for Total Idiocy. They should shortly receive a figure of a gilded squirrel, mounted on a cherrywood base and giving "the finger". |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,celtaddict at work Date: 13 Oct 04 - 08:28 PM When I was roaming about the Highlands of Scotland last summer my niece and I got a kick out of some of the signs. SLOW DUCKS. NO WHITE LINES FOR MILES. But our overall favorite was the one with the triangle with the bold exclamation point, of general alarm or warning, with the explanatory sign attached below. x x x x ! x xxxxxxx RED SQUIRRELS We had no idea whether they were six feet tall, or carried assault rifles, or what. Years ago when we put up a "squirrel-proof" feeder with the perch that drops down closing the door when a weight pushes on it, to shut off bigger birds and squirrels. In twenty minutes flat I looked out and there was a squirrel lying on his belly, holding the roof ridge with his hind feet, reaching down to grab fistsful of seed. Now we have (among assortments) one feeder hanging on a very thin post, with a clear acrylic dome over it, which lets the little chickadees and such feed safe from the roughlegged hawks and neighborhood cats, and another box-type of wide mesh that the squirrels and woodpeckers like. If you put in multiples, make them multiple kinds and you are likely to see a wider variety of clientele. I did hear a rustle at night a while back and looked for a presumed mouse, and saw a critter I took for a squirrel pup scoot across my living room about six feet from me. I went to toss a beach towel over him to get him outside safely, and he ran up a bookcase and glided off. Twenty plus years in this house in the woods, and the first flying squirrel I have ever seen in the wild is in my living room. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 13 Oct 04 - 09:25 PM Flying squirrels are beautiful little things. I've seen one or two in the wilds. Different types of feeders are a very good idea. As you suggest, it will attract a far greater variety of birds and other creatures. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Rapparee Date: 13 Oct 04 - 09:36 PM Squirrels don't fly; they glide. The star should have been called "Rocky the Gliding Squirrel." Bullwinkle, on the other hand, was a moose and moose don't fly or glide (without being in an airplane or something). |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Peace Date: 13 Oct 04 - 09:37 PM Bait. Think of it that way. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Date: 14 Oct 04 - 04:34 PM Jeri- Thanks; we've done that, but the racoons (raccoons? has two c's I think)keep multiplying. We put one of those whistling things inside the attic-they moved it to another location, farther from their chosen nest. We moved it back, and they unplugged it!!! Finally, we put speakers inside at various locations, and played rock music- heavy metal. That worked, but we ourselves couldn't stand the loud music either, so had to turn it off- and the raccoons moved back in. Stopping holes helps for a very brief time; raccoons chew another hole almost immediately, while we're out of the house. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 14 Oct 04 - 07:14 PM LOL! That is funny! Man, those racoons must have been grumbling to themselves about the neighborhood going downhill fast. It's a shame what a poor racoon has to put up with these days, what with noisy idiot neighbours who have lousy taste in music. I would have done precisely what they did...unplug the blasted thing. I would next have severed the speaker wires. If that didn't work, wreck the speakers themselves. If that didn't work, call the police! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,petr Date: 14 Oct 04 - 07:47 PM vile calumny? whatsa LH matter dont you like rats? why dont you put some seed out for the rats? or dont you want them to share.. People who will not allow 'seed' to be shared by rats are selfish prigs who should be hung from a... (as above) (squirrels can carry diseases just as much as rats, in case thats what you have against them) and they've helped us in scientific research and medicine. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 14 Oct 04 - 08:21 PM I like rats. Rats are intelligent and affectionate animals when you get to actually know them. It was the nasty intent of the post I was objecting to, not the word "rat" in itself. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,noddy Date: 15 Oct 04 - 04:59 AM There is a road sign just out side Blairgowrie which reads " Free Range dogs and children. Drive slowly" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,petr Date: 15 Oct 04 - 04:09 PM sure rats are affectionate when theyre not spreading diseases or crapping in your food. squirrels can carry diseases as well such as rabies. I dont have a problem with birds making holes in my roof and thats why I choose to feed them. Neither birds nor squirrels actually need us to feed them. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 15 Oct 04 - 04:19 PM Any animal can be a problem under certain circumstances. A rat is a problem when he's a wild rat loose in your pantry or living in your walls. He's a delight when he's a pet rat who knows you, likes you, and has a nice cage to nest in. I still think the good points of squirrels (wild or not) outweigh their bad points by a wide margin. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Rapparee Date: 28 Oct 04 - 03:16 PM Go here. Either click on the picture at the top of the page or scroll down and click on the box (you'll know which one). |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST Date: 28 Oct 04 - 05:09 PM LH I can feed the birds at my house for a cost of~$3 every other week.Your friends the squirrels will empty that same feeder in an afternoon if you give them the chance. You send me $6 a day and I'll be glad to share my feeder with the little bastards. Until then, they can find their own sustenance. Don't get me wrong, I love the little buggers. Especially covered with mushroom sauce on a bed of wild rice. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Metchosin Date: 28 Oct 04 - 05:32 PM you need a Westie. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Herga Kitty Date: 28 Oct 04 - 06:31 PM In England, red squirrels = protected species, grey squirrels = vermin. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Oct 04 - 07:14 PM Last I heard, flying squirrels are one of the protected species in the U.S. Lots of red squirrels in our creekbottom, though a neighbor up the street, the idiot who planted a yard full of pecan trees, has been trapping and shooting them so the numbers are somewhat diminished. Seems they're stealing his nuts. Duh. He's not running a business, so what does it matter? His neighborhors keep stealing his traps and he keeps buying more. Squirrels are quite entertaining when they're in the yard, but they're noisy running around in the attic. I blocked them out with hardware cloth, a very stiff wire fencing kind of material that is a half-inch square mesh. I spent a day in the attic putting chunks of this over the air vents. I also had to patch a few holes in the soffit, and put this screen over the holes on the outside. It doesn't look great up close, but most people aren't walking around the house looking up at the soffit. I have only one birdfeeder up now, and I today I emptied it because after the last rain the seed got wet and was beginning to grow. Yuck. The last batch of seed I bought had too much fine cornmeal it in, and even the little birds don't like it. I throw other stuff in the area near the feeder, dry bread, crackers, a variety of foods that if tossed in the compost they'd go in for anyway. Might as well make it easier on them. I try to grow things that have seeds over the winter. Even something as commonplace as a zinnia is good for little birds--I've seen the little guys get in there and tear a dry flower head completely apart to eat the seeds. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 28 Oct 04 - 08:04 PM Well, my friend has a variety of feeders up that cater to different types of birds. The squirrels are interested in some of the stuff, but they don't seem to be emptying the feeders on a daily basis. Hardly. Maybe it's a question of what type of feeder you use and what you put in it. Finches, for example, eat these very tiny little black seeds in tall cylindrical feeders. The squirrels don't bother much with those. He has suet up for the woodpeckers. The squirrels don't bother with that either, as far as I know. I think it probably depends on what you're offering and how. All I know is, you have 15 or 20 different kinds of birds, plus 2 chipmunks, 3 or 4 grey squirrels and 2 red squirrels, and they're all having lots of fun there eating whatever suits them. The more the merrier. I think the suburban feud people have with squirrels is due to one thing alone: people who are control freaks. Squirrels make far better neighbours than such people do, in my experience. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 28 Oct 04 - 10:00 PM |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: GUEST,Auggie Date: 29 Oct 04 - 09:28 PM Thanks for the tip Little Hawk. I'll try the little black things tomorrow in my feeder if I can find them at the local hardware store. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Little Hawk Date: 30 Oct 04 - 12:20 PM Auggie, it also helps to have a feeder that is specifically designed for finches, and for dispensing those seeds. I suggest you look it up on some website about bird feeders. The seeds I'm speaking of are very tiny. Have a look at this link, go to the bottom of the page, and you'll see some typical finch feeders (shaped like a tube). The finches pick the seeds out of little holes on the sides of the tube. Various bird feeders The type of feeder where a squirrel causes the most consumption of seeds is the kind where the seeds all come out at the bottom and just lie there, because the squirrel is inclined to gather them up in mouthfuls and spill lots more on the ground in the process. That doesn't happen with a tube feeder like those finch feeders. There it's more a case of getting one or two seeds at a time rather than scooping up a whole handful of them, so to speak. There are various tube feeders for tiny seeds, medium-sized seeds, peanuts, and so on. The squirrels really like the peanuts about the best. Finches like the tiny seeds. Other birds like various of these choices. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Battling squirrels From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Nov 04 - 12:57 AM As I drove home this morning from dropping the kids at school I noticed a recently deceased squirrel in the street beside a neighbor's house. I intended to go scoop it up and leave it in the wooded area where it could be recycled without being ground into the pavement first. I parked, went into the house for a little while, then headed across the street to the neighbor to give them some peppers from the garden before retreiving the squirrel. The startling motion of a turkey vulture launching himself from the street caught my attention. My neighbor and I stood transfixed as he circled when disturbed by occasional passing vehicles, then settled back down to dine al fresco on squirrel tartar. The fact that our city homes are surrounded by a couple of hundred acres of woods and prairie had a lot to do with this bird finding this squirrel. I mourn the day soon when those woods are torn down in the name of "progress" and 450 homes are built in their place. No room for vultures in that formula. SRS |
