Bit late with this one! Our battles continue however!! Nature rolls on with it's rules!
Grey Smartness Rules!!!!: Bit late with this one... - PMRGCAuk
Grey Smartness Rules!!!!
50 Replies
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DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer
Yes, they are determined little blighters aren’t they!
in reply to DorsetLady
Determined DL! They have honed into my psych. with bird feeding. They knowing I ain't gunna turn them in squirrel pie or crisps (which were a failing promotion a few years ago).
But on a desperate day. If I got close enough! Who knows! Till you're there!!!
Only a fantasy.............. I'd never get near the effer. Smart him/her & ! lookalikes!
What a lovely garden you have.
It’s a shame we’ve been taught to hate grey squirrels, I think they are rather sweet and clever.
I had a fox on my garden path the other night, it just stared at me. I was thrilled.
in reply to SheffieldJane
Jane. I don't hate them. They are very efficient raiders & cute with it. Urban foxes through our garden every night 6' fences no problem. Wildlife running out of space & access at ground level. No hedgehogs for years now! Always the thrill!
No hedgehogs in my garden either recently. We used to have a couple snuffling around during the evening - dog used to go bananas from indoors!
I’ve tried to make my little patch as wildlife friendly as I can. Once hubby left armed forces he worked in the countryside so we always lived in remote cottages and always had lots of wildlife around - must admit I do miss it!
in reply to DorsetLady
I don't think all the garden gravelboards have helped in our area but they can climb. They make a lot of noise when mating. Don't even see them on the roads now. What's happened to them?
I think I saw on the TV a few weeks ago that we’ve lost almost 40% of hedgehogs over the last few years. Some of that is down to gardens as you mention, but the consensus of opinion seems to be they have declined because of the increase in badgers and the change in intensive farming methods and the use of insecticides.
See attached
hedgehogstreet.org/about-he...
in reply to DorsetLady
Interesting site analysis. Thanks. May still have a photo of a family of them if I can find it.
We are not too thrilled with foxes as they use our garden as a resting post before attacking the town bins etc!! If it was one only we might be more accepting! and they are also very messy!!
I saw a badger one day in the Cemetery over the road, just lumbering along as if on wheels. At dusk. We were both amazed.
in reply to SheffieldJane
Never seen a live one Jane even with all the countryside nearby. Lots of roadside casualties though! Also big sett on side of Row heath Sports track/allotments/ primary school. Jack Russell went missing for two hours. He was a lucky boy to get out of there. Do I miss those crazy adventures!
I have just seen this thread but we had a badger which came every night and pulled down the bird nut feeder and ate the nuts . Then about June time along it came with its baby! Every night as soon as it got dark they arrived. After several weeks they stopped coming but one came back the following autumn. We used to turn out the lights and peer out the window. Magical!
Magical indeed! I have never seen 1 either in the 17 years in this country.
in reply to karools16
At least 2 club members then karools!
Wonderful!
in reply to Arleneh
What a treat for you. They can make a mess of a lawn lawn though digging for worms!
Ooh, I haven't seen a squirrel for years. Have had a hedgehog outside my front door, and, on a few occasions muntjack!
Try a kids nerf gun. A water gun is ok but they are used to getting wet. It clicks and the "bullets" do fly a long way but are essentially harmless. Eventually you might just need to have the click. I use it to stop magpies attacking blackbirds.
in reply to
Poop. This is a MENSA squirrel. Jeremy Paxman couldn't wipe his bum!! Could see him catching the bullets in his teeth & giving that little smile of his! Have to admire him.
in reply to
😂😂😂
in reply to
I am laying here the da da da da da da Bura Bura boo...mission impossible theme. Don't know if you spell it like that. 😂
SheffieldJane in reply to
😂
Beautiful garden! I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a grey squirrel. We have red and black ones, but grey is a new one for me. (Lanakay, if you see this, have you ever seen a grey squirrel in our neck of the woods?)
Have never seen a black 1; didn't know there were any!
I used to live in Iowa and we had them there. They are on a ‘protected’ list and it is illegal to harm them. I believe some have found their way across the river into Nebraska. I still have friends in Iowa. I’ll ask if somebody will snap a picture of one and share it. I think they are quite beautiful.
in reply to Insight329
Believe me they are ten a penny round here Insight. They eat almost anything. No native reds though. No black as far as I know. Maybe it's a camouflage ploy of a grey. Crafty monkey's they are!!
Insight329 in reply to
Squirrels are certainly crafty — especially when they break into the birdfeeder. I love to watch when 2 or 3 are playing. Their gymnastics amaze me.
I have mixed feelings about grey squirrels - love to watch them scampering through the trees. They have such clever tricks - there is an old crab apple tree just beyond my landing window and the squirrels perform amazing acrobatics to prize the apples from the branches. However in November 2016 a squirrel found its way into my loft and caused me a lot of trouble, keeping me awake at night, chewing through an electric cable and putting my lights out etc. It eventually electrocuted itself and died and I had the delightful experience of having a huge pile of maggots fall through the ceiling (next to the light fitting) onto my bed. The loft is now well sealed, thank goodness.
Aargh! 😱
in reply to Marijo1951
It's mice that irk me. I have only had 1 in past year but when there was an empty house next door I was over run. My dog literally watched them and yawned. That's when I got nerf gun.
in reply to
We have field mice in the rockery. Not house mice though. Rats are everywhere these days. Another clever blighter! Jack Russell was very efficient sorting those out.
in reply to Marijo1951
They can be aggressive when cornered.( One less though!!!!!) Yer they love apples & sit delicately chobbling turning the apple round & round.
Second Sheffieldjane’s response!
Squirrels dig up almost all my bulbs I planted about fifty last autumn. I had someone do it for me so they went in really deep but come spring I have fewer than twenty and keep finding odd, half chewed bulbs scattered about the garden. I've had to give up on bird feeders as they find a way of getting into every kind. That said, I do like watching the little ones playing tag along the top of the walls.
in reply to maria40
Yer maria we have to cover our pots with chicken wire till the bulbs start growing. What a war eh! Don't weaken. Stay strong!!!!!
Hi super garden,
I had similar problems so my neice told about a squirrel baffle that fits on the pole to stop them climbing up, it works perfectly, so now I can enjoy the birds and not worry about the vermin xx. I would post a picture but not sure how x
You can goggle it x
in reply to 9lives
Lovely. Thanks 9lives but this is beyond outside solution!! It's personal. 'Grey on Grey' one might say!
He. Me. One day will hear that watch chiming as we face one another in a sweaty face off. Who knows the outcome!! No guns. But who will listen!!!! Or move the quickest!!!!
9lives in reply to
Aww I can visualise the stand off,
You chewing a piece of straw in your mouth, just like one of those spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastward in it.
Ha ha x
The squirrel baffle works well on the top, and to keep them from climbing up the pole......put the pole through a slinky.....attaching the top of the slinky to underneath the bird feeder. For some reason the squirrels can’t get over the slinky.
I haven’t tried the slinky yet but I’ve heard other locals say it worked for them.
Certainly does, they're lovely to look at but can be a nuisance, my hubby thought it clever to entice the little blighter into the house by leaving a trail of bread - and he loved it! (the squirrel not the bread) needless to say I didn't, told him they are vermin and to stop it!!
I've stopped giving them monkey nuts now as they would pull out all my bulbs and replace with the nuts. Only knew when we had dozens of monkey nut trees sprouting, they are very clever at covering over the soil neatly after digging. We have the same poppy stand as you - ours get sat on by the big fat pigeons - so funny to see them teetering there. Only have grey squirrels but would love to see reds - mainly in Scotland I understand - apparently driven out by a grey squirrel virus.
Great photo of the garden.
in reply to Telian
Hi. Telian. Wood pigeons! Don't think most have ever seen a wood! They are all here! Bonking on the fence! Crashing through the garden hovering up anything. Other birds feel the safety of them though!
The red squirrel was re-introduced to Norfolk, a few years ago, by a gentleman, who attended the same church as me. At his funeral, standing room only..a well-known and loved head teacher, and wide reputation for his work with the red squirrel.
in reply to karools16
It's great small populations are being re-introduced. Never seen a red! Only in a book & tele! The grey raiders are very smart! Some disease problem as well for reds the experts say!
They are good shots with ripped open sweet chestnuts in the woods. And believe me those spikes hurt when dropped from 20 to 30 feet.
in reply to
Poop! There you go!
in reply to
😂😂😂
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