Stop! Thief!
I can't remember if I ever mentioned that a month or two back I had a bird feeder vanish from my garden. It was a long wire tube, with a metal lid and a hanging chain, filled with three nice new fat balls made of suet and seed for the birds (and, yes, the squirrels). And the day after I filled it I looked out of the window and there was nothing there but an empty hook.
Now, my garden is entirely fenced in, and there'd be visible signs if someone vaulted over the fence to start stealing bird/squirrel feeders. The fences aren't really up to the weight for that, unless you start using ladders. And if anyone tried the back wall in from the (gated) alleyway, there'd be cries of pain as the pyrocantha ripped them to shreds. So, unless my neighbours fought their way through their rampant passion flower climber thing to reach over the fence and nick it (unlikely), it got carried off by wildlife.
I don't think the birds are up to it. So my primary suspect was the kind of sneak thief that has a woffly nose, an ever-twitching tail, clever paws and formidable teeth.
Anyway, I replaced the feeder with one exactly like it. As a precaution I wound the chain three times round the hook to make it more difficult to remove. And earlier this week I looked out to see it hanging lop-sided, because someone had nicked one of the hooks that attach the chain to the feeder itself.
I never found the hook, so I don't know if it got gnawed away or was merely bent out of shape. I replaced it with a cable tie, which was all I had to hand, and hung it back up. I had the same culprit in mind, but I still had no absolute proof. I'd never seen a squirrel near that particular feeder, you see.
Until today.
Picture was taken through a window, so it's not as clear as I'd like. Click for larger version.
Mrs Squirrel was feeding rather than unhooking, so I can't conclusively proove it was her. But as I now have evidence that squirrels like fat balls I'm pretty sure that it was either her or one of her family and friends.
Squirrels like sunflower seeds too. Somebody's chewed the (plastic) hook of the sunflower seed feeder in half in the past 24 hours and dumped it on the ground for easier access. So that one is now hung by a cable tie too.
Now, my garden is entirely fenced in, and there'd be visible signs if someone vaulted over the fence to start stealing bird/squirrel feeders. The fences aren't really up to the weight for that, unless you start using ladders. And if anyone tried the back wall in from the (gated) alleyway, there'd be cries of pain as the pyrocantha ripped them to shreds. So, unless my neighbours fought their way through their rampant passion flower climber thing to reach over the fence and nick it (unlikely), it got carried off by wildlife.
I don't think the birds are up to it. So my primary suspect was the kind of sneak thief that has a woffly nose, an ever-twitching tail, clever paws and formidable teeth.
Anyway, I replaced the feeder with one exactly like it. As a precaution I wound the chain three times round the hook to make it more difficult to remove. And earlier this week I looked out to see it hanging lop-sided, because someone had nicked one of the hooks that attach the chain to the feeder itself.
I never found the hook, so I don't know if it got gnawed away or was merely bent out of shape. I replaced it with a cable tie, which was all I had to hand, and hung it back up. I had the same culprit in mind, but I still had no absolute proof. I'd never seen a squirrel near that particular feeder, you see.
Until today.
Picture was taken through a window, so it's not as clear as I'd like. Click for larger version.
Mrs Squirrel was feeding rather than unhooking, so I can't conclusively proove it was her. But as I now have evidence that squirrels like fat balls I'm pretty sure that it was either her or one of her family and friends.
Squirrels like sunflower seeds too. Somebody's chewed the (plastic) hook of the sunflower seed feeder in half in the past 24 hours and dumped it on the ground for easier access. So that one is now hung by a cable tie too.