Just hand over the peanut and nobody gets hurt....

[jhetley]

I think somebody in the neighborhood is trying to hand-train squirrels. (This is not a good idea if you value the structural integrity of your fingers, or dislike fleas.)

Headed out for my morning newspaper walk and nearly stepped on one of the tree-rats under our feeders. I tried to run it off, in sort of a mild way, and it dodged rather than heading for a tree. It looked up at me. It dodged again. Repeat ad boredom.

Coming back, it was draped on the feeder and loathe to leave until I nearly swatted it with the aforementioned newspaper. Then dodge, look up, dodge, look up. It almost held out a tin cup for my spare change.

I have removed the feeder to my workshop, pending further developments. If you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll know I've been mugged by a gang of Sciuridae and they broke my fingers as a warning.

Comments

[edschweppe.livejournal.com]

The local squirrels are pretty damn bold as well. If I find myself working from home a lot this summer, I'm thinking about investing in a Super Soaker or similar water cannon, and seeing if I can use that to convince the squirrels to leave my neighbor's bird feeders alone.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

They'll probably just bounce over to you and demand a drink and shower. Depends on how hot the summer turns out to be, I guess.