NFR My squirrel friend.

[Jim in Anacortes]

I call him Douglas. He comes right up to my window sill for the food I offer. I removed the screen and opened the window. He is inches away. Let me tell you folks, this little guy is a hoot. His body language is so very expressive. The first time I gave him a full peanut his tail was flicking around like crazy. This clearly told me that this was his favorite food. On good weather days, like today, I like to challenge Douglas with full peanuts. As I type, he his learning to tightrope across a crab line to get to his coveted peanuts. (He has plenty of food on the ground, so I don't feel guilty for challenging the little gymnast.),,,..... Douglas can be manipulative. He looks me in the eye and pounds his fists together when the feeder is empty. And then looks at me as if to say "Who's manipulative? The guy making me tightrope that crab line?"..Douglas is my friend.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

Douglas is, indeed, a serious dude. Apparently he "controls" an area of about ten blocks in Anacortes. However he must always be wary of the house cats and the eagles and especially the owl that hoots every night. Douglas does not come out after dark...ever... even for a mountain of peanuts.

 

[bobduck]

I've been feeding peanuts to squirrels in my backyard for years. Always enjoyed it and have had some feed from my hand. One had a notch in his ear so I named him nacho. The funniest thing I ever did was tie a string to a peanut and on the other end about 3 ft tied the string through the tab on an empty beer can and left it on the patio table. Nacho grabbed the peanut and jumped to the concrete patio and the can followed 3 feet behind. When the can hit the concrete, the clang scared him and he ran up a spruce tree with the can staying right behind. Laughed so hard it hurt and when a few seconds later the can came clanking back down through the branches, string still attached had to laugh all over again. But he kept the peanut. This fall I have a squirrel with a bent tail so I named him Bentley. One day I told my wife Bentley had a friend and when she got to the window she asked where it was and I said , well before you got here it went. So it became Wentley. Now I had Bentley and Wentley. This morphed into the Lee brothers, Bent and Went. Too much fun.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

Thanks for the feedback bobduck. Douglas has mastered the art of tightroping. His early attempts were quite comical. Now he is challenged with a "slack rope" where he hangs upside-down while transversing the line (much like a commando). Whenever I challenge him, he meets that challenge. I respect that. But when he sits on the feeder and puts his "hand" on his hip and looks at me with that condescending, judgmental look, I am forced to reflect.

 

[kerrys]

Try feeding them creamy peanut butter. Squirrels go crazy for peanut butter and they get the stuff all over their feet and faces. Funny as hell.

 

[Dloy]

An uncle lived on the cliff above Shilshole in the 50s to 70s, and had several “pet” squirrels. I recall standing still with a peanut in outstretched hand, they would crawl up your clothes and out your arm, and eat out of hand.
Cute, but I sick the dogs on them now.

 

[DanielOcean]

Fuck Squirrels

Edit: except ur friend

 

[PeteM]

Some entertaining videos on Youtube by Mark Rober on setting up squirrel mazes you might enjoy.

 

[Buzzy]

Fuck Squirrels

Edit: except ur friend

They’re interesting critters but I echo your sentiment because they’re also destructive.

The grey material is battery insulation a squirrel shredded to make her nest under the hood of my truck.

In the meantime, my son in law wants to take the squirrel he’s adopted to their new home.

 

[cdnred]

Got any pics of Douglas to share..? Cute as he is I have to agree with @Buzzy , careful he doesn't get into your attic or elsewhere. Cute can sometimes become a nightmare if not watched vigilantly where they are going to setup a nest..

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

I could definitely see where feeding squirrels could be a very bad thing. I try and keep it light with Douglas. I don't want pigeons or seagulls . Apparently, Douglas has learned that if he stands right at my feet he will get a peanut. He just taught me to do this trick yesterday. Now he smells the coffee, scampers around my feet and expects me to hand feed him a peanut. He is training me well.

 

[DanielOcean]

I could definitely see where feeding squirrels could be a very bad thing. I try and keep it light with Douglas. I don't want pigeons or seagulls . Apparently, Douglas has learned that if he stands right at my feet he will get a peanut. He just taught me this trick yesterday.

Sir do what you take enjoyment in. Good for you.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

Douglas is a vegan. He watches me cook the flesh of birds, pigs, fish and cattle (on my BBQ). Although he has never seen me cook a rodent....I can totally understand his trust issues. I dated a vegan woman for several years, we would have long discussions about eggs, butter, leather clothing etc..., But I am here to to tell you.... Douglas is a "true vegan"...he doesn't even wear leather Birkenstock's.

 

[DanielOcean]

We need douglas t shirts

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

It occurred to me that, long ago, I had another friend that was infatuated with whole peanuts. I called him Jonathan Livingston. He was a seagull. Every morning he was on my bow. When I got to about 20 knots he would fly behind me until I set anchor. My deckhand (out of boredom) fed him tons of whole peanuts. Jon eventually learned that he could break open the shell. That differentiated him from the other gulls that would regard peanuts as inedible..... I truly believe that we had a "bond". I wondered where he slept at night, about his social life etc... But, every morning there he was, on my bow, working for peanuts....The fact that I was also "working for peanuts" was indeed ironic.

 

[Matt B]

Working for Peanuts

 

[mcswny]

This thread is some good clean fun.

 

[Old Man]

I actually read that book about that sea gull. It's a good thing it wasn't very thick. One night was all it took.

 

[Pink Nighty]

Apology for a species drift, but this thread reminds me of the guy who trained crows to buy peanuts from him. He set up a vending machine style peanut dispenser and provided the crows coins perched nearly in the slot. When the crowd nudged the coin a peanut came out. He slowly moved the coins further away, eventually off the vending machine platform entirely and into his backyard, then his front yard, then the street they lived on. Eventually he stopped putting coins out, and the crows began picking up loose change around town and buying peanuts from him.

If that's not the best side hustle in the world idk what is.

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

Thanks for all the input folks! Matt B that video is epic! Thanx, I've never seen it before...Apology for a species drift,.... but I once harvested a very rare albino sea cucumber. Pure white. I named him Edgar Winter, and set him free on the rocks at my marina. Normal sea cumbers have extremely good "camouflage" but Edgar stood out like a neon sign. Every morning I would look (and usually find) Edgar. He was not my friend, but he provided me with a very unique situation to learn how sea cucumbers move around.