Look what I get to see from my home office!

[parrot tulips]

My husband and I were at the hardware store one weekend, and I mentioned wanting to check out the bird feeders. Well, as it happens, they also had squirrel feeders/feed, so we decided to pick one up. I had serious doubts about having any furry little visitors, but this is now my view every time I go into our home office to pay bills:

 

[thecat]

Wow, I would love a view like that too Cute furbabies.

 

[LaraOnline]

Wildlife seriously need all the help they can get these days.
Over the past ten years general populations of wildlife animals have dived globally as human numbers have doubled.

Nesting sites are another hugely important element in helping different local wildlife populations survive.
I was listening to a radio news story yesterday describing the crash in numbers of a prominent local bird.
From fifty or sixty nesting birds in a breeding location eight years ago - now only two birds returning!!

Even hugely important animals such as orangutans, cheetahs, lions are on the last stages of viability as species.
Imagine a world where lions are extinct. That is the world we are face within the next ten years.
I am stunned that my grandchildren may have a childhood without lions, tigers... All those story book creatures!!!
And also no local birds.
Extremely 'sobering'.

 

[AGBF]

For some reason it took me a while to make out the figure in the picture. I only knew it was going to end up being a squirrel or squirrels from the comments of the the other posters. But once I "saw" it, it I saw it! Adorable. We have lots of squirrels in our front yard without a feeder and I can watch them through the big front windows in the fenced-in yard where we keep our Newfoundland dog, Griffin! I suspect that our having a huge oak tree with acorns may be part of our allure!

Deb/AGBF

 

[JewelFreak]

We buy tons of birdseed, mostly for squirrels, it seems. But our feeders & fountain do attract some wonderful birds -- goldfinches, brown thrashers (the most beautiful birdsongs on earth!), cardinals, bluebirds, purple martins, various woodpeckers & an assortment of finches & thrushes and of course gigantic black crows. Once even a pileated woodpecker on the feeder! Thrill of the month. It's really fun to sit in the family room & watch the action a few yards away.

 

[missy]

Ooh, that's a great view. Love that you set this up for the sweet squirrels! Enjoy.

 

[Karl_K]

Your lucky I have a skunk that visits me every evening when I am out for some air.
We have about zillion birds in the bushes out back this year and 10+ different rabbits of different ages and even more than that squirrels.
More this year than ever before.

We also have a very huge racoon and occasionally its family that I see at night every so often. I hear it killing cats every once in a while too.
I tell people not to let their cats or dogs out at night but they do not listen. I would say someone finds a cat tail every couple weeks.
They have even killed a couple dogs including a pit bull mix.

 

[momhappy]

We actually try to avoid squirrel visits by purchasing squirrel-proof bird feeders. Otherwise, they ruin our feeders (chewing holes in them and quickly draining them of their contents). They have chewed through our heavy plastic trash can and they carry trash all over our yard. They have even tried to chew through our plastic drains directly below our garage doors in an effort to get into our garage (I presume that they smell the bird seed that is stored in the garage). As much as we try to peacefully coexist with the little critters, I mist admit, that we are not very fond of the them (or at least of the damage that they have caused).

 

[VapidLapid]

jealous.
*sigh*
I live in lower Manhattan
I don't feed the wild life.

However I did once see a wild turkey in Hudson River Park between the Mary Miss sculpture and the Holocaust museum.
And no, I do not mean an empty bottle of wild turkey, 'twas a real live bird!

 

[parrot tulips]

We actually try to avoid squirrel visits by purchasing squirrel-proof bird feeders. Otherwise, they ruin our feeders (chewing holes in them and quickly draining them of their contents). They have chewed through our heavy plastic trash can and they carry trash all over our yard. They have even tried to chew through our plastic drains directly below our garage doors in an effort to get into our garage (I presume that they smell the bird seed that is stored in the garage). As much as we try to peacefully coexist with the little critters, I mist admit, that we are not very fond of the them (or at least of the damage that they have caused).

I completely understand. We live next to a fire road and have open space/forest behind us. Because of the deer, I spend hundreds every year replacing all the "deer resistant" plants I purchase. Even the trunk of our magnolia tree is mangled from them rubbing their antlers against it. So while everyone else I know seems to enjoy deer sightings, part of me will always see them as a bit of a nuisance.

Still, I enjoy all of our little visitors. Squirrels, birds (including wild turkey), deer, and even the occasional coyote. Amazingly, the raccoons steer clear , and we've only ever had one skunk.

 

[momhappy]

^Yes, we live on a large lot and even though we are in the middle of the city, our neighborhood is very wooded and private. We typically appreciate the wildlife that visits our yard. We have several bird feeders and I can usually manage to keep the deer from destroying too much of our landscaping (although, we deal with our fair-share of deer-related loss each year). The squirrels are really a pain in the butt though because they have been the most destructive. My husband calls them "tree rats"