Every boomer with a bird feeder hates squirrels. I don’t understand.
Put chili peppers in your bird feed. Birds aren’t affected by the capsicum like mammals are.
My dog hates squirrels, so I do too.
Maybe because ‘bird feeder’ implies they are trying to feed birds?
I really hated the possums in my old neighborhood because they would always crawl into the soffit and have babies, destroy things I could not afford to fix, and poop stinky poop in my attic. But in my new slightly bougier neighborhood the possums are so cute and just run around eating bugs. Rats I can’t bring myself to hate, and squirrels just seem like cute fluffy rats. So I can’t hate them but goddam it I have never harvested even one fully ripe tomato because they destroy them. I do hate that.
We don’t? Boomer with bird feeder who loves squirrels.
I don’t think it’s age related.
I’m a Gen-Xer who hates birds and squirrels equally. So I guess I’m your antithesis?
Though I don’t hate any of them to the point of harming any of them. That would be too much effort.
You’re one of the good ones.
That’s the same thing racists say when they get to know a minority.
The way people talk about boomers here is pretty awful, and it wouldn’t be tolerated for any other group.
That’s not true, gen z is pretty awful as well.
Non-boomer here, I hate squirrels.
If you try to grow your own vegetables, you too will come to hate squirrels. I promise. Ageism need not apply to squirrel hate or vegetable enthusiasm.
There’s a delightful little red squirrel sanctuary near me run by a couple who I would guess to be in the boomer generation. The wife fell ill and wound up almost permanently bedridden, so they moved to a house that would be easier for her and which also had some attached land they could use. The husband turned it into ideal squirrel territory and set up feeders by the window so that the squirrels would come visit his wife while she was stuck in bed
37y/o here. Fuck Squirrels, grey and red, as well as chipmunks. They’re all just different textured rats. Destroy shit to make nests, destroy shit to get at food or store food, disease spreading, fuckem all.
Anyone needs advice for bird feeders: 4x4 post in ground, thin walled metal rust resistant metal tubing covered in environment friendly lube. I’ve gone extreme with lard - looked like shit after a week, now I just buy vegetable oil spray and coat it. As long as there are no trees close enough for Squirrels to jump to the feeder you shouldn’t have an issue. Every post I put in gets a 4 way cross on top to hang 4 individual feeders from. I do this for any feeder that isn’t humming bird/oriole cuz they don’t seem to get fucked with.
That fourth sentence is people 110%
We are the skaven. Respect our furrier tree brethren.
Not a boomer, but squirrels are pretty much just tree rats that make loud noises, could be the cause.
They are of the order rodentia, but so are capybara and everyone loves those. So I think you’re incorrect.
I love squirrels but Capybaras are the most different thing possible. I’ve played with some and they’re so mega chill, I can pet em and feed em by handing things to them… squirrels won’t even be on the same side of the tree as me.
They’re related, and blood doesn’t run.
They can be as related as they want, but squirrels run from me and capybaras let me love them. So that’s why capybaras are superior.
I still love squirrels.
Their mating call in the fall when they lookin for that squssy is a WILD sound
Loud noises? The only noise I’ve heard a squirrel make is the “Tsk, tsk, tsk” -sound while agressively staring me down and whipping their tail and it’s not by any means loud.
The squirrels where I live are noisy as hell, they chirp nonstop
The squirells empty the bird feeders much faster than the birds would so the boomer then has to refill it sooner. Rinse and repeat until they constantly talk about the squirrels. My parents bought my grandfather a slingshot for his squirrel problem/hatred and the dude took off part of his own thumbnail and had to go to an urgent care.
I admit I laughed at the end.
I’m in my 30s and now also hate squirrels because of this very reason. They will empty an entire bird feeder in a single afternoon and the shit’s expensive. We like to keep it stocked so our cats have some excitement to watch out the window.
Also, a bird built a nest in the tree right next to the feeder and squirrels came and ate through the bottom of the nest so they could eat the baby birds which was pretty horrific to discover.
My grandpa took issue with the seagulls harassing everything else in his backyard, so he bought a slingshot and shot them with grapes “They don’t get hurt by a squishy grape, they get scared and the pigeons are happy about the grapes”
They destroy whatever they can. They chew cables, rip siding and nest in insulation. Make wherever they can smell of piss. If you try to grew anything edible they eat the sprouting fruit, nuts, and leaves then start eating the bark and kill the tree.
My momma is 62 and loves her squirrels as well as her birds
Every since one of them tore out half the insulation from my car hood and stuffed it in every corner of the engine compartment, I’ve had it out for them. Furry little obsessive compulsive weirdos.
Have you considered the car may be better this way?
Not a boomer, but as a Brit - the grey squirrel is an invasive species which has pretty much driven out the native red squirrel from most of the country. They also cause damage to trees through bark stripping.
I’ve known this for a while, however I do not wish harm to grey squirrels. This is their war, I don’t even know the first thing about squirrel warfare, although I do hope the red squirrels find an alliance to support their freedoms.
It doesn’t matter your age, put up a bird feeder and you’ll soon hate squirrels. You spend $40 on a bag of seed and they’ll scoop out all the stuff that they don’t want to get to the stuff they do want. Seed on the ground attracts animals you don’t want like rodents or Canadian geese that shit all over. I found it easier to pay the squirrels off like the mafia. Buy a bag of corn or cheap peanuts and sprinkle some around to appease the bastards. It sucks but it’s worth it in the long run.
And then lace the corn with cyanide?
The Mark Rober episode that boomers need.
A lot of boomers are really particular about well-manicured yards, pristine gardens, etc. Squirrels do not help with this.
I love seeing little divots where our squirrels bury nuts. If they eat some of our plants, then I put a cage around it or plant new ones. Seeing the little guys play and eat the food we put out for them far outweighs any minor landscaping problems they cause.
My dad is a boomer and back when I was in high school he had a pet squirrel. It would sit on his shoulder while he worked. Eat walnuts out of his shirt pocket.
Since people already answered the question, here’s some unrequested tip:
If you want mammals to avoid bird feed, mix some of the hottest chili powder and/or pepper seeds that you find into the feed. The birds won’t care, they don’t get pepper burned, but squirrels (and you) do.
Picture related:
It’s native in my chunk of South America. I almost never see those but I hear them often. I know them as sanhaço, but there are a bunch of local names.
The pepper plant is likely a wild malagueta. Almost as hot as habanero, but birds love it.
So cool, thank you for the added detail. I was wondering if it was a random picture illustrating your point, or a local bird. It’s both! Unfortunately for me, sanhaço are never up here in Northern Canada 🙂
Tried this and it didn’t faze the little fuckers. Going to take another pass at it, must have done something wrong.
Maybe they developed a taste for it?
