Quote:
Originally Posted by edgarspencer
Do the stove pipe sections work? I gave up on them. It's more entertaining to see how ingenious they can be.
|
Edgar, I'm pretty sure the stove pipe convinced our squirrels that our Granny Smith apple tree would present less of a challenge and easier to navigate. I cut the tree back as far as the Mrs. would allow, which resulted in about a 5' leap over to the Woodduck box -- this offered virtually no deterrent whatsoever. For the past two years a family of squirrels have nested in the box. The first year produced 3 babies, this year there were four of the little bas---ds!
A most unusual event happened this Spring . . . one early evening the momma squirrel moved all four of the babies by mouth out of the box and into a nest in a White Pine tree about 30 feet away -- I was able to partially document it happening with a cell phone video. The squirrel family lived in that nest for a couple of weeks while the parents taught the young ones to climb and jump. Once the babies were proficient climbing and jumping the momma squirrel then moved all four of them back into the Woodduck box by the same method as she moved them out! They all then lived together for a couple more weeks in the box until they struck it out on their own. Mother Nature is pretty awesome!
Here's a less than 2 minute video of the momma squirrel moving Baby #4 out of the box and into the nest. The keen observer will notice something else lurking at the very beginning of the video. Those that correctly identify the creature will have their name thrown into a drum and qualify for our Grand Prize Drawing!
https://youtu.be/4zAXGBUarOk