I had been wondering for over a week why the hummingbird feeder is always empty and yet I never saw any hummingbirds around.
I discovered the reason while looking out the deck doors one morning. A squirrel hung upside-down on the feeder and jumped off when I slid open the door. Aha! I knew he was the culprit! But how did he get at the nectar?A teeny-tiny straw?No, the crafty squirrel had learned that by tipping the feeder, he could lap up the nectar as fast as his little tongue could lap.
I am not sure how to get around this except lying in wait and jumping out and yelling "Cut that out!" every time he comes near. Who has time for that? So I guess he wins.
I don't know who the thief is that steals my figs every summer. Year after year, the lush harvest disappears just as it gets ripe. Overnight. Every single fig.
We have guessed possums and raccoons. Seeing a deer in our back yard one evening, Jim opined that a deer could stand on its hind feet and reach the figs. Do deer eat figs? We don't know. Besides, he said thoughtfully, some of the figs are too high for even a deer to reach. Unless they used a ladder.
Could be a giraffe, I said. Stranger things have happened.
But I don't think we'll ever know unless we sit up all night waiting for the thief to appear.
Which I might just do, because dang it! it looks like we will have a bumper crop this year. I don't mind sharing, but I would dearly love to have just a few.
Hmmm ... I wonder if squirrels eat figs?
Actually, I think squirrels do eat figs. I'm trying to remember how they disappeared from my tree in Florida, but the memory is gone.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to use a net to protect them, or there is also a product called gardener's tape - a metallic sort of stuff that twists and turns, keeping birds off fruit.
As for squirrels, I was told they don't eat safflower seed, so I filled a feeder with the more expensive food. Wrong. Squirrels were all over the stuff. I'm giving up. The squirrels will have to go elsewhere to find a patsy.
Squirrels are loathsome thieves. They steal from my bird feeder and tease my dog without mercy. I wish I had the heart to run over them when they cross the street.
ReplyDeleteDid I say I hate squirrels?