By Larry Hodgson
If you’re like me, squirrels are both friends, as you can have so much fun with their antics in the garden, watching them run from branch to branch, negotiate phone wires like tightrope walkers, chatter angrily at each other, etc., and ennemies, when they attack our vegetables, cut the flowers off our tulips and magnolias, strip tree branches of their bark and steal our tulip bulbs.
Bird lovers who set up feeders to attract their feathered friends often find squirrels particularly annoying, as they steal the seeds they put out and scare off the birds who no longer dare to feed on them, ruining their pastime. They often come to consider squirrels as nothing more than bushy-tailed bandits.
But here’s a funny video made by a novice bird watcher, Mark Rober, who, frustrated with his inability to prevent squirrels from raiding his bird feeder, at least decided to give them a good run for their money before they got their share of the seeds by having them go through a complex obstacle course.
Here is Mark’s video, over 20 minutes long.
Is there is a lesson here for the home gardener? Sure! You might as well learn to share your garden with the local squirrel population, as they’re always going to win!