Although the little book, Outwitting Squirrels by Bill Adler Jr. is about the trials of a bird fancier trying to, as he puts it, "reduce dramatically the egregious misappropriation of seed from your bird feeder by squirrels", it is written with the humorous admission that the furry rodents usually win when food is the prize.
Adler even devotes a chapter (Know the Enemy) to squirrel facts. It is loaded with things not all squirrel fans will know, such as that diets include mushrooms, apples, bones, insects, and the all-time favorite, hickory nuts. In fact they can eat 1.5 pounds (their own weight) every week. Don’t try that at home! Sometimes two litters of young are produced per year, with peak birth times in Jul/Aug and Dec/Jan. With an adequate food supply, there won’t be any shortage of new tail-twitching talent. They are born athletes; able to jump up six feet, leap across eight feet, climb aluminum poles, swim, and run up to nineteen miles per hour. They also have very sharp vision and are able to identify another squirrel at fifty feet and track things moving twice as fast as can a human.
Even the most avid squirrel fancier may need to keep them out of bird feeders. The book includes an extensive buyers’ guide on the features of various commercial models of feeders especially their effectiveness in fending off furry paws. The list of 101 strategies to stay one jump ahead range from the serious - "squirrels hate the smell of naphthalene (mothballs)" - to the silly - "Parade around your yard in a squirrel costume; it confuses them."
Overall, the book by someone who admits an admiration for his adversary
is interesting reading for both the squirrel and bird fan. For the former,
Alder even includes a reference - The Squirrel Lover’s Club of Elmhurst,
Illinois
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