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Squirrels ain't so bad!



All,

I've been having a running feud (as, I'm sure many of you have) with the squirrels usurping my bird feeders. One of the little buggers on a platform feeder keeps everyone else off; one on my peanut butter-mix feeder usually means the feeder ends up on the ground, open and empty. I learned this morning that there are worse feeder pests out there.

My wife hopped out of bed when the alarm went off at 6:00 and said "That's interesting!" I blearily asked what, and she said "Well, there's a horse in the backyard. No, there are two horses in the yard." That woke me up; I stumbled to the window and saw the two beasts- one standing in the pond, another licking sunflower seed from one of my platform feeders, and, then, a third (the pregnant mare) alternately nuzzling a tube feeder hanging from the back deck and licking up the spilled seed. Lee called our neighbor to inform her of the breakout, and I went downstairs to help keep them out of harm's way. A bucket of sweet oats was alll it took to get them back in the pasture (the ice storm knocked a limb out of a tree, which knocked down the back fence...). There wasn't a sunflower seed left in any of the feeders; I'm just glad they didn't find the 50 lbs of sunflower in the trash can by the garage door! Now to fill all the hoof prints in my ice sogged yard and rake up the "horse apples"...

I am getting a strong itch to blast down to the Banks for an all day marathon on Saturday, the goal being to see an alcid, any alcid, before they all come to their senses and head back north (all the Atlantic species would be lifers). Are there any folks in the Triangle area who would be interested in such a venture? I have a 4X4 that can carry several passengers and plan on some serious beach scanning. Time allowing, I might also make a swing for the black-headed grosbeak, too.

If you might want to go, drop me a line and we'll see if we can sort out the logistics.

Take care,

Clyde Sorenson
Clayton and Raleigh, NC

clyde_sorenson@ncsu.edu