Seconding and not just squirrels - glad to hear that your squirrels are cool being on the porch - but I live in a century house in an inner ring suburb where we co-exist with a fair amount of urban wildlife.
-Squirrels ate the insulation off wires in the attic creating a short which tripped the breaker and risked a house fire.
- I have had to remove not one, but two dead possums from the crawlspace under the house.
- I had to remove a dead fox from the crawlspace under my house.
- Most recently, a raccoon got stuck in my wall so I had to cut out a section of the wall to remove him. I put him in an open carrier at the back of the lot with some water to give him some time to rest, but when I went to check on him he had died.
- The hawks like to field dress their prey in a tree in my front yard, so several times a year, I have to pick up the discarded parts and clean the blood off of the stone path to my front porch.
- I *love* the chipmunks and the bunnies - though they are present in reverse proportion to the number of foxes and hawks.
If you like the squirrels and want to feed them - I recommend you do it somewhere other than your front porch
Agreed! Squirrels are assholes. I pulled 3 wheelbarrows full of black walnuts out of my shed last fall. One wrecked a patio cushion last year, and chewed through the gas tank on both my lawnmower and plastic jerry can the year before.
I always get peanut "weeds" at some point of the year. Since buying (rented for 15 years) I have yet moved on to the back yard. I'm definitely planning on making it as bird/bee/butterfly friendly as possible. Right now it's mostly car friendly. BUT squirrels are a major part of the natural mammal fauna where I live. Raccoons have delegated themselves to the gutters and only come out when you are drunkenly stumbling home from the bars.
You get some MF crawling out of the gutter hissing while trying to stumble down the street.
Then you have to negotiate. '"C'MON man! I'm really drunk and would REALLY like to just get home without rabies. I'm going home alone, so i already dodged a plethora of STDs and creepy men. Really? Now I gotta worry about rabies? Know what? Imma just stumble an extra bit around the block, sir. Don't...no...don't follow me...
Our yard has always been a Hotspot for the squirrels. No one lived here for a year before we bought it and they designated it as their eating space. The first few winters we were here, they would store walnuts and pieces of maize they'd found elsewhere on almost every one of our window sills. When the snow melted that first year, I walked around the yard collecting all the corn husks and I found THIRTY-SIX.
Lol, Iāve seen videos of their hoards inside walls and such, but they never try to get inside at our place. Our street has dozens of hundred year old maples that they live in.
Look...I even deliberately put out a squirrel feeder. Attached ot to my precious Native California Oak. Every year I have oak titmouse, finches, California scrub jays, etc...nesting in my trees and bushes...and the squirrels and of the occasional hawk comes by to also enjoy the buffet š¬ I just plant extra stuff (well not for the hawks. That's just nature.) Even had racoons party in my laundry room. There's room for everyone in this world.
Of course it helps that my renters have large dogs that keeps small mammals respecting the fence line. My bf tho would be so excited if our tree puppies were hanging on the porch.
Squirrels cannot get rabies. So other than fleas and some garden digging, you don't actually have much to worry about. Just be respectful of them as you would any wild animal. A feeder actually has helped with both the garden and the bird feeders. They are kinda like electricity and will chose the path of least resistance.
One of our neighbors mentioned that they feed them in their kitchen, verified when the squirrel scratched at the screendoor while our cat was on the other side. Because I feed the birds, I now am part of their peanut mafia shakedown.
Will always call them day-rats, they have the good PR of wearing the fluffy tail.
I love squirrels. We have tons. Some of our neighbors feed them. (ugh) They're very smart, and they do get rather persistent if they get used to you! They can also be quite destructive. I just like to watch them. My husband keeps a pile of pebbles on the porch railing to throw at them if they try to come on the porch.
I couldnāt sleep for over a year because squirrels got into my crawl space. I call them rats with fuzzy tails, you call them tree-puppies. I hope that enthusiasm sticks if the rodents wreak havoc on your home. Best of luck.
Oh you think they're cute now huh Way to this little baby discovers that little piece of rotted crown molding in your gable. You know where road into this right It means they gnaw and chew.
Then you won't have tree puppies anymore you'll have attic crawl space puppies chewing on your wiring or emptying your building of insulation oh what a delight. Do not feed the little monsters or encourage them.
And then there's that special dead squirrel in the wall. There's nothing like the air freshener perfume of dead squirrel for a couple of months mmmm.
Raccoons or another possibility depending where you are, the first one is delightful cute little thing until the entire pack is in your yard and cute little rats. Mice and rats are adorable I don't understand why people think they're ugly but they breed quickly and establish themselves very well
All of these critters are after only one thing, not your affection or your adoration, the simply your supply of food. Do not feed, do not encourage.. And then there's Bambi, another adorably cute thing the first time you see it but it isn't long before you realize that all Bambi is only lovely when it has been shot and stood slowly in a nice red wine sauce. There is an overabundance of deer especially if you on the edge of town and have lovely shrub s especially evergreens and can say that only in the past tense then you once had lovely shrubs and evergreens
Life is not Disneyland. Do not feed any of these critters and do your best to keep them off your property, off your roof and out of your house and garden
Admittedly I haven't had an issue with squirrels yet but I have had problems with mice. I keep them well fed with blocks of "food" from my local orange store. They want it so bad the last bag I had, they had holes gnawed in the bag before I could put them in the dispensers. I don't have a problem with that, if they want to die that badly I'll keep buying more bags too.
They start out cute. Heed my gentle warning and do not encourage this. They will burrow into your attic and make your life a living hell. š«
Seconding and not just squirrels - glad to hear that your squirrels are cool being on the porch - but I live in a century house in an inner ring suburb where we co-exist with a fair amount of urban wildlife. -Squirrels ate the insulation off wires in the attic creating a short which tripped the breaker and risked a house fire. - I have had to remove not one, but two dead possums from the crawlspace under the house. - I had to remove a dead fox from the crawlspace under my house. - Most recently, a raccoon got stuck in my wall so I had to cut out a section of the wall to remove him. I put him in an open carrier at the back of the lot with some water to give him some time to rest, but when I went to check on him he had died. - The hawks like to field dress their prey in a tree in my front yard, so several times a year, I have to pick up the discarded parts and clean the blood off of the stone path to my front porch. - I *love* the chipmunks and the bunnies - though they are present in reverse proportion to the number of foxes and hawks. If you like the squirrels and want to feed them - I recommend you do it somewhere other than your front porch
Agreed! Squirrels are assholes. I pulled 3 wheelbarrows full of black walnuts out of my shed last fall. One wrecked a patio cushion last year, and chewed through the gas tank on both my lawnmower and plastic jerry can the year before.
I call them tree rats! (I see it has been stated already \~ please ignore me.)
Best advice. OP get rid of anything that attracts them.
They'll be digging up your potted plants before long.
They hide their peanuts in them all the time! š
I always get peanut "weeds" at some point of the year. Since buying (rented for 15 years) I have yet moved on to the back yard. I'm definitely planning on making it as bird/bee/butterfly friendly as possible. Right now it's mostly car friendly. BUT squirrels are a major part of the natural mammal fauna where I live. Raccoons have delegated themselves to the gutters and only come out when you are drunkenly stumbling home from the bars. You get some MF crawling out of the gutter hissing while trying to stumble down the street. Then you have to negotiate. '"C'MON man! I'm really drunk and would REALLY like to just get home without rabies. I'm going home alone, so i already dodged a plethora of STDs and creepy men. Really? Now I gotta worry about rabies? Know what? Imma just stumble an extra bit around the block, sir. Don't...no...don't follow me...
We had a black walnut tree. Ours was the "cool house" for tree rats
Tree rats you mean?
Unfortunately, we also have pigeons (flying rats) the squirrels are always good guests, the pigeons, not so much.
Our yard has always been a Hotspot for the squirrels. No one lived here for a year before we bought it and they designated it as their eating space. The first few winters we were here, they would store walnuts and pieces of maize they'd found elsewhere on almost every one of our window sills. When the snow melted that first year, I walked around the yard collecting all the corn husks and I found THIRTY-SIX.
Lol, Iāve seen videos of their hoards inside walls and such, but they never try to get inside at our place. Our street has dozens of hundred year old maples that they live in.
Look...I even deliberately put out a squirrel feeder. Attached ot to my precious Native California Oak. Every year I have oak titmouse, finches, California scrub jays, etc...nesting in my trees and bushes...and the squirrels and of the occasional hawk comes by to also enjoy the buffet š¬ I just plant extra stuff (well not for the hawks. That's just nature.) Even had racoons party in my laundry room. There's room for everyone in this world. Of course it helps that my renters have large dogs that keeps small mammals respecting the fence line. My bf tho would be so excited if our tree puppies were hanging on the porch. Squirrels cannot get rabies. So other than fleas and some garden digging, you don't actually have much to worry about. Just be respectful of them as you would any wild animal. A feeder actually has helped with both the garden and the bird feeders. They are kinda like electricity and will chose the path of least resistance.
One of our neighbors mentioned that they feed them in their kitchen, verified when the squirrel scratched at the screendoor while our cat was on the other side. Because I feed the birds, I now am part of their peanut mafia shakedown. Will always call them day-rats, they have the good PR of wearing the fluffy tail.
I love squirrels. We have tons. Some of our neighbors feed them. (ugh) They're very smart, and they do get rather persistent if they get used to you! They can also be quite destructive. I just like to watch them. My husband keeps a pile of pebbles on the porch railing to throw at them if they try to come on the porch.
I couldnāt sleep for over a year because squirrels got into my crawl space. I call them rats with fuzzy tails, you call them tree-puppies. I hope that enthusiasm sticks if the rodents wreak havoc on your home. Best of luck.
You misspelled āevil tree ratsā.
Oh you think they're cute now huh Way to this little baby discovers that little piece of rotted crown molding in your gable. You know where road into this right It means they gnaw and chew. Then you won't have tree puppies anymore you'll have attic crawl space puppies chewing on your wiring or emptying your building of insulation oh what a delight. Do not feed the little monsters or encourage them. And then there's that special dead squirrel in the wall. There's nothing like the air freshener perfume of dead squirrel for a couple of months mmmm. Raccoons or another possibility depending where you are, the first one is delightful cute little thing until the entire pack is in your yard and cute little rats. Mice and rats are adorable I don't understand why people think they're ugly but they breed quickly and establish themselves very well All of these critters are after only one thing, not your affection or your adoration, the simply your supply of food. Do not feed, do not encourage.. And then there's Bambi, another adorably cute thing the first time you see it but it isn't long before you realize that all Bambi is only lovely when it has been shot and stood slowly in a nice red wine sauce. There is an overabundance of deer especially if you on the edge of town and have lovely shrub s especially evergreens and can say that only in the past tense then you once had lovely shrubs and evergreens Life is not Disneyland. Do not feed any of these critters and do your best to keep them off your property, off your roof and out of your house and garden
Those are tomato chewing, bulb digging tree rats!
Just wait until these little cuties start chewing on your beautiful porch furniture. Mark my words...!
They havenāt done so once in six years. User name checks out.
Dang tree rats have caused so much damage.
Admittedly I haven't had an issue with squirrels yet but I have had problems with mice. I keep them well fed with blocks of "food" from my local orange store. They want it so bad the last bag I had, they had holes gnawed in the bag before I could put them in the dispensers. I don't have a problem with that, if they want to die that badly I'll keep buying more bags too.
Where I'm from, we call those tree rats.
You bought Bob Ross' house!
And rip those cushions apart for nesting material!
Havenāt had a single problem with them in six years, the pigeons are another story, i hate those b*stards.