Sunday, July 23, 2017

Those Funny and Frustrating Squirrels!











 I like taking pictures of the squirrels... but I don't like the damage these silly squirrels do to our house, outdoor furniture, lights, tomatoes, etc. 

We  only had a couple of squirrels the last few years.... and that was enough. This year, though, the neighbors put up a squirrel feeder and we have LOTS of squirrels.

 I think the squirrels in the area have sent out invitations to family and friends from all over and they keep arriving.  Sigh.






 These squirrels dig in my pots, getting dirt all over. Sometimes they leave the flowers, roots and all, out on the ground to dry out and die. Sometimes they eat the roots.











































 This year, since there are so many of them, they have gotten quite bold and come often to our deck...  and dig in the flower pots. We chase them away, but they come back... and many times they don't go far at all.













 You can see the evidence of this guy's digging in my Hibiscus... on the floor and on his face.















I chased him out of the plant and he went down the stairs a bit, then started peeking at me.














Another time one of them was jumping from plant to plant...  quite hyper, as squirrels can be. 

















 He seems to feel quite at home...

























Like I said, these guys are pretty hyper... moving here and there.... racing from one place to another, making it hard to get pictures, but I still took quite a few. 
















 I was on the back deck and heard noise behind and above me... and here was this guy on the roof. We've seen them on neighbor's houses, but not ours. This wasn't a good thing. 

I made noise and he ran over the top of the roof, so I went through the house and out the front door.... only to find 2 of them on the roof out there. They were chasing each other and having fun.

This is a big concern since I have heard that they will try to get inside the attic and I have seen one nosing around different parts of the roof this week. They can chew wires and cause house fires.

My husband and sons plan to check the house and roof to be sure all is sealed up tight and if it isn't, they will fix it. We do need to keep these guys out. They do seem to be getting more aggressive which is a concern.





























 As I stood watching them, they came CLOSER to me and kept watching me. 

As they came to the gutter and kept watching me, it seemed they were warning ME off. Hmmm... whose house is this anyway?!!!














Like I said, we feel a bit over run with squirrels. As you can see, they feel right at home.... and my tomatoes aren't even ripe yet... they love those and take plenty of them.

Not sure how to evict them, but would like to have them find a new home.  

I'll still keep taking pictures of them since they are here. They are funny and a bit cute.

I know some of my readers have commented that they don't have squirrels in their country, which surprised me. Do you have squirrels... do you like them or get tired of them? It's a good time of the year to be sure the house is all tight and safe from squirrels and other pests.

If you like squirrels, you may also enjoy these posts:

In the Life of a Squirrel 

Baby Squirrel Out of the Nest.... 

Lessons From... Squirrels? 

Birds and Squirrels....... 





Shared on:

Tuesday Talk
Dishing It and Digging It
Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make
Scraptastic Saturdays
Simple Saturdays
Friday Photo Journal
Friday at the Fire Station
Foodie Friday and Everything Else
Skywatch Friday
Vintage Charm
Paula's No Rules Weekend Party
Thursday Favorite Things
Home and Garden Thursday
Homemaking Party
Homestead Blog Hop
Tip Tuesday
Counting Our Blessings
Tuesdays w/ a Twist
Inspire Me Tuesday
Through My Lens
Modest Mom Monday
Art of Homemaking Monday
Over the Moon Link Party

Featured on:

Thursday Favorite Things




32 comments:

  1. Joy, I feel your angst! We have Brushtail Possums in our roof cavity, and they are cute, yes. But arrrgh! The havoc they wreak! Sweet photos like yours are a reminder that they are entitled to share our space. Love, Mimi xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just want to have them know what "their space" actually is! It's not in my house or attic.... scary to think of them getting inside, though they are trying. Your possums in the roof cavity sounds awful. I hope you are able to evict them. Thank you for visiting. :)

      Delete
  2. Hi Joy,
    Thanks for coming by today and taking the time to leave a comment. It was appreciated.
    Love all your cute photos with the squirrels......we have a bunch around here in our yard
    too, and I get a real quick out of watching them, fortunately they just run up and down
    the trees and dig in the yard, I am thinking to bury acorns and stuff...I guess have never seen them dig up anything yet! I really enjoy nature too.
    Blessings, Nellie
    Oh and your muffins on your other blog look yummy...........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How nice to hear from you! I'm glad you are enjoying your squirrels... I enjoy mine...and get frustrated w/ them... and laugh at them... and it goes on and on. sigh. Thank you for your sweet comment.. and the muffins are really tasty. Thank you for visiting. :)

      Delete
  3. lol, so fun. Is a love/hate situation. Isn´t it? With love as a bit larger side :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are SO right... I go back and forth on the issue!!! :)

      Delete
  4. OMG, this is too funny after I made the comment about the prairie dog in your other post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great shots. I'm so frustrated with the squirrels living in our yard. They are so destructive. Wish they would move on. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree with you! They are very destructive and so many times my feelings of frustration with those squirrels far outweigh my enjoyment of their funny antics!!!! Thank you for visiting. :)

      Delete
  6. Haha. They do look silly in pictures! The squirrels in our year kill my flowers. :-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is exactly why I find them funny... and very frustrating.... animals!!! They have killed my flowers too.... I would prefer not to have them in our yard at all... and we could just enjoy them in a park somewhere!! :)

      Delete
  7. They're quite the acrobats, aren't they!! Cute, but sounds like too much of a good thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right! Way too much of a good thing.. although seeing their antics can still make us laugh. :)

      Delete
  8. Your photography is awesome! There must be SOME deterrents out there on the net. Have you tried sprinking red pepper on your plants/railings? I used a cajun rub on my phlox that the woodchucks were eating; the salt blistered and wilted the leaves; they came back 2 days later and ate them anyway. Mothballs deter critters from eating your bulbs; maybe it will work with squirrels, too??? I had a chipmunk who would sit on my top step munching on whatever--18" away from my 2 cats; through the glass French doors! I swear this was doing the equivalent of thumbing his nose at them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So far we haven't found anything that works... and I have been surprised that having so many people active in the yard doesn't deter them. I was pleased to see the neighbor's cat out there yesterday because when the cat is around, the squirrels seem to hide. :) Maybe they will just leave!

      Delete
  9. Hello, great series on your squirrel friends. They can be little devils. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! They are quite the challenge, that's for sure! Thank you for visiting. :)

      Delete
  10. Squirrels are funny and frustrating indeed. Your photos are engaging - I do love watching squirrels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you... and I am so glad you stopped by and commented. :)

      Delete
  11. Your squirrels are bold. Mine look for food and if I haven't put out the corn or peanuts they take off. Of course my cat likes to lounge on the patio so they probably don't want to be to aggravating.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We don't have animals (at least not PET type animals!!!.... we do seem to have some of the wild ones!) That would help keep them from acting like they own the place. I have been glad to see the neighbor's cat challenge their boldness recently. :)

      Delete
  12. When we lived in Ohio, we had plenty of fat, bushy-tailed squirrels. Then, we moved to North Carolina. The squirrel population was very scarce, and for the longest time, we didn't see any. Then, we moved to near-coastal, southeastern NC, and we still didn't see very many. But, slowly they are finding us. They are thinner than the ones in Ohio, and their tails are skimpy. We only have 2 to 3 that come to the BIRD feeder area looking for sunflower seeds that the birds knock out of the feeder. We love seeing them, but we don't have much for them to get into. They aren't that much of a nuisance if there are only 2 or 3, are they???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully not. We have always had so many kids here... our own and neighbors... and didn't really have squirrels in our yard... then 1 or 2.... then the neighbors started feeding them and now the squirrels are raising families here! sigh. It is surprising to hear of places without squirrels... I had figured they were all over. I guess I might miss them if we didn't ever see them... I just would rather not have them in my yard! :) Thank you for visiting.

      Delete
  13. Joy, I share your concern. Squirrels have been very destructive in my garden, too. Your photos are lovely though--thanks for sharing @Vintage Charm!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you... and I have to admit that when they were on the roof behind me and weren't scared of me at all... I felt a bit threatened by them. They are getting WAY too aggressive for me.

      Delete
  14. This sure sounds familiar. We had squirrels all over. They would dig in my garden, my hanging baskets, and the lawn. The problem we had was neighbors that would constantly feed them! They were very bold and would leave crackers (or whatever they were being fed) on our steps and window frames. I never did find a solution, and we sold the house! You don't want them getting into your attic. That happened to my husband before we were married and they started a fire in the attic of his townhouse. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow... a fire is a concern with those things, but to hear of one that actually happened is alarming. The last few days, we have seen another neighbor's cat in the yard and the squirrels seem to respect and fear it and I am glad of that! :)

      Delete
  15. Ugh, I feel for you. I must say you got some great shots of the little boogers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I do enjoy getting fun shots...but would rather not have the squirrels here. :) Thank you for visiting.

      Delete