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| Mama kicks the squirrel babies out when they need to forage on their own. They usually head for the bird-feeders, the Harvard and Yale of squirrel educations. |
Squirrels made the all-time views list.
We are ready to declare an armistice. We have city-supplied garbage cans on wheels, so I decided to use those tops for extra food, whether eaten by squirrels or birds.
They were making a racket and destroying the hanging bird feeders, so I stopped filling them. Naturally, the squirrels concentrated their attention on the "squirrel-proof" feeders - quotation marks used to designate the irony.
The squirrels, whose IQ is easily thwarted by new plans, were delighted and spent plenty of time on the lids. Birds took their turns and they devoured all our old, extra food.
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| The pileated woodpecker gained about 7,000 views (not my photo). They are hard to find, but they were visible in Bella Vista, eating the bugs finishing off the oaks after a drought. |
String the Birds Along
I found some loose twine, so I cut it into pieces and placed the remnants on the garbage cans. Part of the fun is seeing how quickly the string or twine disappears.
Birds love twine and other building materials for their nests. I have seen robins hopping on the ground, determined to keep their mouthful of leaves from me. One got the orange twine I put on the Crepe Myrtle tree, but dropped it on the flight up to the next. The robin dived down to get the fancy piece from the garden, flying high up in the front yard maple to add it.
Dryer lint is another favorite of birds, soft material to line their nests. Wire cages for suet work well to store lint. When we were poor, we borrowed lint from our neighbors. Now we have our own.
Birds need food least of all in the warm weather. They loves nesting materials and clean water for baths. Flight depends on cleaned, preened feathers, so they wash and perch on higher objects to finish their flight prep.
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| Norma Boeckler's yard is an ideal place for birds - water, woods, gardens, and wild flowers. |
