#squirrel damage

[inthecityofgoodabode]

May 2024: The Week Before Memorial Day

The first of the blueberries & the last of the strawberries:

We've had this honeysuckle for a couple of years but it has never blossomed. We relocated it to a sunnier spot & behold:

I'm convinced these crows have a nest in this tree because they are here all day long but I don't see a nest:

Friend on my arm:

I'm starting to believe this mystery plant is an elderberry:

The gray squirrels can't even wait for the sunflowers to form seeds:

Drop dead legs:

The onions are starting to bulb nicely `so maybe they'll be harvestable in June or July. The plan is too plant watermelons in this spot once the onions are harvested:

The corn is starting to take off nicely after some recent rain:

A shot of the backyard garden from the backdoor with Silverback guest starring in the lower right hand corner:

Friday night grilling:

[inthecityofgoodabode]

February 2024: The First Week

We got a new bird feeder:

Because the gray squirrels jacked up this one. There are some things even duct tape can't fix:

I made tomato soup with the last of our 2023 tomatoes. We had enough left for about two servings:

Green:

Green:

Everywhere:

Including sprouts:

It is the end of an age. My queen & I spent Saturday taking down everything at Plot 420. We wanted to have our presence off the land so it would be available for someone else to takeover in 2024.

We decided to shut it down so we could focus on maximizing our backyard garden at home & free up some time for other interests. We brought home a lot of trellising hardware (cattle panels, posts, fencing, etc.) that we plan to incorporate into the backyard garden so there will eventually be photos of how we work it in. Part of the plan to maximize the backyard garden is to make more use of vertical space.

This is probably the last photo of Plot 420 that I'll take. Apologies for the graininess but it was dusk when we finally finished the tear down:

[inthecityofgoodabode]

The Misplaced Rage Of Gray Squirrels

Finally, another of our blueberry bushes is putting on its Fall color: 

When they took the pine trees down next door, my wife said the gray squirrels would blame us & retaliate:

Today, they broke two of the bottom branches on our buckeye: 

[inthecityofgoodabode]

December 2022: The Snow Came

The aftermath of when squirrels are convinced you buried something they wanted when you just planted Romaine: 

The snow came but the rough part was the single digit temperature that froze a line to our central heating unit & shut it off last night: 

We slept on the couch in front of our gas fireplace: 

Luckily, our HVAC guy was able to get out to us today & help thaw out the line & add some insulation to prevent future freezing:

There was cold & snow: 

Thus, as it was written, there must be battle: 

The last of our homegrown tomatoes that we harvested in Fall: 

Also, the last of our homegrown tomatoes that we harvested in Fall. We’ll likely be enjoying 2022 tomatoes on New Year’s Day 2023: 

I realized we had all the ingredient that I needed to make chili in the house: 

Dinner for the soul: 

[dianaashworth]

Squirrel Wars!

Yesterday Hefin came and fixed our roof. A squirrel had found a hole in the soffit(the timber under the eves) and had moved into the roof space above the bathroom for the winter months. It was disturbing Bill as he cleaned his teeth, by moving its furniture around in its garret, reorganizing the insulation and planning to rewire the electricity. Something had to be done — — while squirrel was…

View On WordPress

[jazzeria]

I looked at one of my balcony ledge planters and noticed the corner was dug up, damaging my basil seedlings.  I’ve found peanuts buried here in the past, so I’m sure it’s squirrels.  As a deterrent, I stuck some forks in.  The next day, I saw it dug up again.  

I’ve now added more forks , moved the planter over a little farther from the nearby support beam, and hung a hanging planter on that side, too.  No more squirrel damage yet!  

[oldnerdybasterd]

Bi-color corn shredded by squirrels...

[el-mt03]

All of this damage to these trees has been caused by non-native eastern fox-squirrels (Sciurus niger).  Usually the scope and severity of the damage is not visible to people on the ground since they mostly chew the top side of the branches. 

Squirrels do this for a variety of reasons;  all rodents have constantly growing incisors that must be worn down by gnawing or they are feeding on the cambium or sweet sap that readily flows during the spring (bottom picture).  As seen in the top two pictures, the damage can be significant and the squirrels prevent the wounds from sealing over by continuing to gnaw on the wound-wood.

It is for this reason that it is good to discourage squirrels from inhabiting your trees.  One way is to reduce food sources such as feeders and fruit.  Also do not select trees like these maples (top and bottom are sugar maples (Acer saccharum) and Norway (Acer platanoides), which produce sweet sap/gum.  And additionally using physical squirrel barriers and pruning to prevent them from climbing the trees.

An exception, in this part of the country, would be tolerating a small amount of damage to you trees in order to provide habitat for native squirrel species which have a much smaller impact.