Squirrel Wars

If you remember a few weeks ago, I bragged about my new bird feeder that was guaranteed to be squirrel proof. I've had so many problems through the years with squirrels getting into my bird feeder. I thought I was so clever buying this new bird feeder. I thought "I'll show you, Mr. Squirrel!" I thought it was one less thing to worry or get angry about. I would find myself watching him try and try again to get into the feeder only to fall to the ground and I would smile. I thought I had won the war with Mr. Squirrel but I was wrong.

The new bird feeder had been out a few weeks now and yesterday I woke up to find it not hanging on my tree but on the grass with all the bird food gone and this horrific hole. I couldn't believe what Mr. Squirrel had done to my bird feeder.


So how would Rocketman fix this and that's when I thought about duct tape. It fixes everything. So I repaired the hole as best as I could and hung it back onto the tree.


I wondered how the heck Mr. Squirrel got the feeder off the chain I have. I even have a hard time attaching it.

So I went to bed last night hoping this would be just a fluke of some kind. It was the first time in a week that it was cool enough to have the air conditioning off and so the bedroom windows were open wide.

At about 2:00a.m. I was awoken by the noise of fingernails on a chalkboard and then a distinctive thump. I thought I was dreaming but then I heard the same thing about five minutes later. That's when I thought it had to be Mr. Squirrel trying to get into my feeder again although the thump I heard was decidedly louder than a squirrel.

I jumped out of bed and ran to get a flashlight out of the closet. I tried to see it from our bedroom but a crab apple tree was in the way. I ran downstairs and opened the window closest to the feeder. I turned on the flashlight to see two yellow eyes looking back at me and they were NOT a squirrel.

I was so scared that I moved the flashlight away for a moment. The figure was huge and I thought it might be a bear cub. I moved the flashlight again and held it there. Do you know what it was? The biggest raccoon I have ever seen! It was the raccoon that had damaged my birdfeeder.

I still don't know how he got it off the chain but now I know it wasn't Mr. Squirrel. I don't think my bird feeder is raccoon proof.