by Peggy Robin
The last few days have been the glorious springtime we’ve been waiting for and dreaming about…and no one is enjoying it more than the squirrels who have been shivering in their little nests all during the prolonged and snowy winter. If you haven’t seen the squirrels out frolicking in the sunshine in the past few days, you can see them on the links that have been posted during Squirrel Week, which is celebrated annually around this time of year by Washington Post’s local columnist John Kelly, who has featured posts of:
Baby squirrel adopted by mother cat and kittens: http://wapo.st/1kB9K0N
John Kelley’s squirrel gallery, featuring Sugar Bush, the Supermodel Squirrel:
High quality Washington Post squirrel photos:
And cuter/funnier photos sent in by local readers:
and
All right, enough of this aw-aren’t-they-cute gawking. Let’s face it, the little rodents may be furry and fun to have around, but they are also thieves. What they are best at stealing is the birdseed that we buy and stock in feeders for our feathered friends. If you love birds, you will need a way to protect the food you provide for them (our local squirrels are fat enough as it is!). Squirrel-proofing your feeder is the hardest trick in the book…which is why it takes a book with 101 tricks to help you get the job done. “Outwitting Squirrels: 101 Cunning Stratagems to Reduce Dramatically the Egregious Misappropriation of Seed from Your Birdfeeder by Squirrels” has been the go-to guide for bird lovers and bird feeder defenders since its first edition came out in 1988. Now in its third edition, it’s got 25 years of wisdom (and frustration) behind it. And it’s from our own listmeister and Cleveland Park denizen, Bill Adler, who recently recounted the evolution of his anti-squirrel worldview in an interview in the New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1gmfvbk.
As for the book, it’s available at most nature stores and bird feeding supply stores, as well as on Amazon.com:http://amzn.to/Q1GCBW. Remember, if the techniques described don’t keep the squirrels at bay, you can always throw the paperback at them!
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Still Life With Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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