Dunkirk NY – The bird feeder in my back yard has seen a lot more action in these past two weeks. I’ve been more consistent in filling it with seed, so the birds are now aware of its presence. I don’t get many songbirds, like finches, at my feeder. Mostly it’s brown birds; sparrows, wrens, and the like. I like to think of them as “working class” birds, sort of in fitting with my neighborhood. Other species include blackbirds and mourning doves. They tend to feed on what falls to the ground, although the blackbirds try to eat directly from the feeder. They have a hard time of it because they can’t crane their necks around if they land on the perch, and their beaks are slightly too big to fit in the feed opening.
My challenge has been keeping the squirrels off the feeder. Squirrels are quite determined creatures. They know the seed is up there, and they will try any number of options to get at the feeder. I have placed the feeder in a location where there are no branches from which they can jump, and there is a domed baffle attached to the pole on which the feeders hang, so they can’t climb up the pole. They have tried leaping up and over the dome, and grabbing onto the pole above the dome, and have been successful at times. So I have had to find the right height to keep the dome higher than they can jump from the ground. I discovered with this last snowfall that they have gained 18″ in height, so another adjustment became necessary. Once they accept that they cannot get over the dome, they nibble away at the seeds that fall from the feeder as the birds above eat.
In recent days, though, I have thought about this intent of mine to keep the squirrels away from the feeder. Squirrels have to eat, just like the rest of us, so why do I find myself feeling resentful when they succeed at getting at the feeder? Why do I take the position that the feeder is only for the birds? Why have I taken deliberate action to keep the squirrels from stealing the seed? Birds and squirrels seem to have the same diet here, so what’s the big deal? And why is there a prejudice towards feeding birds and not squirrels? I don’t dislike squirrels (although my wife does, and wishes them all sorts of harm when they appear in the yard), yet I don’t feed them. They are very smart, persistent and clever, admirable qualities, and yet I take no steps whatsoever to make them feel welcome in my yard.
Exclusivity is a very interesting human trait, the idea that “this is mine and not yours.” In its most concentrated form we call it “discrimination,” when we believe the intent is based in a dislike or even hatred of someone or something else. Feeding birds and not feeding squirrels seems to me to be a form of that human urge to discriminate. I like birds, and I seem to believe they are fragile and helpless, so I feed them. Squirrels, however, seem more capable to fend for themselves, and sometimes can be destructive (squirrels, for example, gnawed away several holes on the plastic top of the gas tank for my lawnmower, making it difficult to operate, as the gas kept sloshing out the holes). So they don’t get fed.
I wonder whether or not I should re-think my position on squirrels. Probably the best solution is to give them a feeder of their own, which would really be no additional trouble, as they eat the same diet. I wouldn’t want too many squirrels to congregate, as they might become more destructive. I wouldn’t want them in my attic, thinking that would be a good place to live as it would be closer to a food source. It’s always a complex question, that balance between protecting what I consider to be mine while not impeding your attempt to get yours. Seems like nature, as it always does, mirrors our own human tendencies, for better or worse. -twl