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Thieves? Opportunists? Or just trying to survive? Street Prophets Coffee Hour [1]

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Date: 2023-11-12  

Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour, the place where politics meets up with religion, science, art, nature, and life. Come in, have a cuppa and a cookie (or three!) and join us. Street Prophets is an open thread. All topics are welcome.

Summer is really and truly over. Fall is winding down, too. I’ve brought in the hummingbird feeders and replaced them with seed and peanut feeders for the winter birds. But birds aren’t the only animals attracted to the feeders on my deck.

So what do we call these mammals that show up? Many people actively go after them. Others passively try to discourage them. Still others give them their own feeders.

So here are some of the unintended and uninvited guests at my feeders.

Squirrels are probably the most frequent non-bird visitors to most feeders. I’ve found that it helps if I leave a lot of empty space at the top. Maybe not this much space, but someone has already been at this feeder. But if a feeder, either seed or peanut, is filled to the top, the squirrels open the top and have all they want. If there’s a space of at least 6 inches, they work at the food and don’t know to open the feeder from the top.

I’ve tried putting out food labeled for squirrels, but it seems to be heavy on the dried corn. That gets eaten, but not for a few days, after everything else is gone.

Raccoons go where food is, and they eat more varied food than the squirrels.

They’re so darned cute! They can eat a lot, though not as much as a possum.

I’ve brought in nuts overnight, but eventually there comes a time I forget, and an expensive nut ring is demolished or carried off. I’ve bolted peanut feeders closed, but then they are carried away by an industrious raccoon and I’m out an expensive feeder. I’ve wired suet closed, same results. I even feed only plain suet because the seeds and nuts in most varieties will draw more than my intended guests.

I know mammals need to eat, too. Food is expensive and getting more so, so what to do?

What unintended visitors eat at your house?

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