Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Thursday, March 06, 2008
&%@# Squirrels
Just saw this annoying frustrating amusing sight at my bird feeder.
Notice the rat-like tail beneath all the fluff.
21 Comments:
I find the squirrels beautiful! I don' think of rats at all.
Great shots!
Ok ... I'm laughing my socks off .. not at you ... with you ? LOL
Joy
So, let me get this straight - you think of squirrels as "bushy-tailed tree rats"? LOL
Marie: Well......they are sort of cute in their own way. I'd like them much better if they didn't cause so many problems in the garden. Just lately, they chewed off 2 narcissus flowers.
GardenJoy4Me: I do have to smile, at least. I can't believe they can cling to a little bit of plastic with their back feet and eat upside down, all at the same time.
Mr. McGregor's Daughter: Let's just say there's a strong family resemblance ;-)
I share your amusment/frustration at those furry little buggers. I can't tell you how many avocados they have ROBBED from me!!!
Rees Cowden
Aha, so you've found out what under all that fur. Rattus rattus in disguise. Gosh darn it. I actually ate one of those things. Bleehhh.
When I'm at home in London, I actually put nuts out for the squirrels. I guess the world just divides into squirrel lovers and squirrel haters ...
Rees: Avocados too? I think there's very little that squirrels won't eat :-( I'd be more sad about losing avocados than I am about birdseed.
Ki: You mean you dined on squirrel, right? I'm currently reading Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett, and the favored food of the dwarfs in that book is rat.
Sue: I sometimes pick up hickory nuts while walking in the woods and bring them home to the backyard for the squirrels. I know this is only encouraging them, but I do it anyway. It's an odd relationship ;-)
You managed to make them look like cute tree rats in the photo, Entangled...but in person they are trouble.
They buried pecans all over the place in fall, spent February digging new holes in every container and bed looking for the buried nuts, and now appear to be in a mating frenzy while new pecan trees pop up all over the yard.
We need more details from Ki on his squirrel-eating past!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Oh my...he's hilarious, isn't he (even if annoying) Looks like he's doing some sort of yoga, doesn't he?
Annie: You have my sympathy. I haven't seen the results of their acorn planting yet this year, but stay tuned.
I do wish Ki would come back and tell us all about eating squirrel ;-) I've just been searching YouTube, and I can't believe nobody has posted the Larry, Darryl & Darryl scene from the second Bob Newhart show, where they ask Stephanie "What's your favorite part of the squirrel?"
Jodi: It made me think of some kind of gymnastic routine - parallel bars or something like that. How they eat upside down is beyond me.
The little rat!!!
Jane Marie: They chewed off 2 more narcissus flowers yesterday. Grrrr. This is not supposed to happen with narcissus.
Well, those pics made me laugh but I understand that squirrels can be a real pest in the garden. And you're not the only one who qualifies them as rats with fluffy tails. ;-)
Yolanda Elizabet: They're fun to watch when they're not eating birdseed. I was so surprised the first time I saw them groom themselves. They do just like cats, with tongue and paws.
Yep, squirrel. Knew a guy in college. He took me squirrel hunting. I was supposed to shoot the critter which I was reluctant to do then (but gimme the gun now!) but he got so excited when we spotted one he shot it himself. Took it to his mom who was very careful to inspect it's innards for parasites. I think she looked at the liver in particular. Soaked it in brine or it could be milk for most of the day and fried it like chicken. So what's it taste like...well, like tender fried chicken. Just like frog's legs is supposed to taste like chicken but sort of fishy chicken to my taste buds. Anyway that's the first and last time I've eaten squirrel. But now that we have a colony of more than 10, clambering on the bird feeders, and digging up dozens of crocus bulbs we planted last fall, maybe it's time for a squirrel BBQ.
Just kidding.
Hey at least I have one thing in common with Mike Huckabee. I can't claim to be as resourceful in cooking the critter though - popcorn popper no less. From Slate.
I found out that eating squirrel's brains which is apparently a delicacy in some parts of the US is implicated with the transmission of Kreutzfeldt-Jakob disease so don't eat the brains if you have a desire to try some squirrel.
Annie, one has no sense when you're in college. That can only account for some of the weird culinary samplings during those days.
Ki: And now we know! Thanks for the update.
That's a great video from Slate. Mike Huckabee must have had one of the popcorn poppers without the stirrer thing. I'd really hate to make popcorn in it after that.
Supposedly the original version of Brunswick Stew was made with squirrel, but nowadays they use chicken. I think. There was a Brunswick Stew fundraiser at the local volunteer fire department near our central Virginia house last weekend, but we didn't go.
So that means if Ki ever runs for office he has eating squirrels on the resume? What a fun story, Ki!
For economic reasons we ate a lot of fried bologna when my husband was in graduate school - it probably would have been healthier to eat squirrel pie instead.
Entangled, I can't remember that particular Larry, Darryl and Darryl scene but loved "Newhart". Maybe those episodes will be on DVD one of these days.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
No squirrel fan here...however, your pictures are quite cute...especially as they're in your yard, not mine! Ha. Well, I have my share...
So, now, who do I have to "thank" for the peanut shells the critters bring to my garden?? Nope, don't feed them here, but someone nearby does...
Not that I was planning to need it, but I'll certainly take Ki's culinary health advice to heart.
Hello again! Came back this morning to visit some more. Found your squirrel post Too funny! Quite the little acrobat you have there! Our yard is officially a "Squirrel Free Zone"!
GG: I think it was Mr. McGregor's Daughter who wrote that you can tell who has squirrels and who doesn't by whether or not they think squirrels are cute ;-)
WWW: Squirrel-free gardens are a very good thing ;-)
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