| Author | |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 8:37pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
There has been an interesting spontaneous discussion about these fuzzy tailed animals in this Picture Book Discovery thread . The discussion has me wondering just how popular or unpopular these creatures are in general. Thought it would be a fun poll.
I've posted my thoughts there, but so as not to bias the poll, I won't comment right now  .
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We found that the actual options we want to offer won't fit. This is the full intended version of the poll:
Quote:
Squirrels: Do you...
A) Love them madly, madly, madly.
B) Find them pretty cute.
C) Think little about them one way or the other.
D) View them as a nuisance just like any other rodent. Afterall, they are just rats with fluffier tales.
E) Despise them as the bane of your birdfeeder, garden, and anything else they've decided to steal, bite, or otherwise mutilate. |
|
|
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
amyable
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 07 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3798
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 8:46pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I voted "cute" but really it's more like "Hey, look at the cute squirrel! HEY YOU, GET OFF OUR BIRDFEEDER BEFORE I THROW SOMETHING AT YOU!"  They're a mixed blessing around here.
__________________
Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 8:50pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Truly, madly deeply. Just like pretty much every other creature I've come across.
And really, how could you not love this?
 SQUIRRELS
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 8:52pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
amyable wrote:
| I voted "cute" but really it's more like "Hey, look at the cute squirrel! HEY YOU, GET OFF OUR BIRDFEEDER BEFORE I THROW SOMETHING AT YOU!" |
|
|
Uhmmmm.....I actually do throw things at them and run out of the house screaming at them. That's a lovely picture, huh? My kids think so, too. 
lapazfarm wrote:
And really, how could you not love this?
|
|
|
Theresa, that picture is totally not fair.....
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 8:54pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
MaryM wrote:
Theresa, that picture is totally not fair..... |
|
|
I never claimed to play fair!LOL!
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 9:07pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Well neither did I. 
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Willa
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3881
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 9:47pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
This is why I have to say I love them, nuisances or not ... I have 3 grandsquirrels right now -- my son found 3 northern flying squirrels out of their nest and I have been helping to foster them.
__________________
AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 10:18pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
MaryM wrote:
Well neither did I. |
|
|
Bahahaha!!!
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 10:29pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
MaryM wrote:
amyable wrote:
| I voted "cute" but really it's more like "Hey, look at the cute squirrel! HEY YOU, GET OFF OUR BIRDFEEDER BEFORE I THROW SOMETHING AT YOU!" |
|
|
Uhmmmm.....I actually do throw things at them and run out of the house screaming at them. That's a lovely picture, huh? My kids thinks so, too. |
|
|
LOL! That's us! It's a race to run out and scream at them. But my boys bark at them to scare them away. There's always a "Let me, let me do it!"
I think it might be genetic. I remember being an adult living at home eating my breakfast one more morning when my dad came tearing through the kitchen in his robe holding a wiffle bat. I wasn't sure where that was going (I did so want to eat my breakfast) until he opened the sliding door to chase after the squirrels.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Sept 27 2010 at 11:32pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I'm happy to be in the think little one way or the other category..
That wasn't always the case though.. we have some rather "saucy" squirrels living in the big trees "next door".. and the squirrels would run up and down the power lines just to get the dogs to bark at them.. it was very obviously done to rile up the dogs.
Now we have no dogs so the squirrels don't bother me.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 12:25am | IP Logged
|
|
|
JodieLyn wrote:
That wasn't always the case though.. we have some rather "saucy" squirrels living in the big trees "next door".. and the squirrels would run up and down the power lines just to get the dogs to bark at them.. it was very obviously done to rile up the dogs.
Now we have no dogs so the squirrels don't bother me. |
|
|
LOL! That reminds me, years ago we had a little Jack Russell and the squirrels would taunt her terribly. They'd get on the clothes line just out of her reach and throw acorns on her head!
CRACKED ME UP!!!!
Squirrels!
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Carole N.
Forum All-Star
Joined: Oct 28 2006
Location: Wales
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4484
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 2:55am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I think squirrels are pretty cute, but I am with Amy--I don't want them hanging on my birdfeeders. We used to put feeders out for them in the backyard. They were so cute as they romped around the yard. Over here, we don't seem to have any squirrels in our garden, so I guess I miss them a bit!
__________________
Carole ... in Wales
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Becky Parker
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 23 2005
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2582
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 6:33am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I voted that I find them pretty cute. I no longer put bird feeders out, but it wasn't the squirrels bothering them so much as the raccoons, opossums and even wild turkeys in the winter. I would have to refill the feeder every day and it was getting ridiculous. So now we just watch the squirrels play "tag" up and down the trees and find them fun. We also have several different kinds around here so the kids enjoy identifying them, just like they do the birds.
I love the picture-duel above!
You are "quick witted" with your picture Mary!
__________________
Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mary G
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5790
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 6:40am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I don't even care if they hang on the birdfeeder ... all's fair in love and war ... it's when they came in the house in Denver that really creeped me out (especially when they ate holes thru the screens not a day AFTER Rick had replaced the screens) ... oh, and garbage cans ... forget about it! They chewed thru the bottom corner as well as the top corner of one of those heavy, wheeled, industrial garbage cans (only way we culd keep them out was to buy metal cans ... which the garbage men enjoyed tossing around and seeing who could get them to land upright -- surprising how many times they couldn't!)
Sorry, squirrels are right up there with horseflies, mosquitoes and no-see-ums ... WHY did God create em!
__________________
MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Christine
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 23 2006
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1151
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 7:27am | IP Logged
|
|
|
If they did not cause so much damage, I would like them. I mentioned in another thread about their chewing through our garbage/recycle can lids. I didn't mention that they caused $5000 worth of damage in a friend's attic. They also caused major damage in a neighbor's attic (he has taken to shooting them), and they keep chewing a hole in the wood of a friend's house in an attempt to get inside. The latter friend has replaced and repainted the wood a couple of times already. I have seen them jumping on our flower baskets to access our deck...I may need to permanently remove my flower baskets in order to prevent them from causing damage to our house.
Final analysis: No matter how cute they are, squirrels are rodents that cause major damage to homes and property, costing homeowners money that they can ill afford to spend.
__________________
Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 7:28am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Willa, that is the neatest!
MaryG, for nature club 2 years ago we made little squirrel or bird food out of bagels, peanut butter and sunflower seeds. I put the sunflower seeds out on my screened porch and the squirrels went MAD! They ripped holes in the screen, climbed up the deck in all sorts of way, chewed into the wood, just horrible, horrible destruction. Even after I removed all traces of the seeds, they kept coming back. It was my fault for tempting them, but...
Fast forward to last year, when we planted a few corn and sunflowers as an experiment. Those squirrels again went nuts, climbed the 10 foot sunflower to eat the seeds, cut down the 5 foot head to drag it to their nest, and cut down the corn stalks...all before anything was even ripe.
Oh, my scene with my dad I forgot to mention he was just chasing them...no hitting involved. It just was a funny sight in the morning. He saw them through his bathroom window, but we had no idea what was going on.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Trinity
Forum Pro
Joined: June 12 2010
Location: Connecticut
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 114
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 9:03am | IP Logged
|
|
|
What a sweet photo Willa!
Squirrels have long been one of my favorite animals. We adore these little guys in our home. Can you believe they are made almost entirely of wool?
They were made by the talented Katie at The Wool Food Market.
I have always enjoyed my father's attempts to keep squirrels away from his birdfeeder. I remember when I was younger he thought he had finally found a way to keep them off the feeder, but they still managed to get up there. He didn't believe me until I showed him a picture of the theives in action.
__________________
Trinity
DS(05/01/03)& DD(03/02/08)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Paula in MN
Forum All-Star
Joined: Nov 25 2006
Location: Minnesota
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4064
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 9:27am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Christine wrote:
Final analysis: No matter how cute they are, squirrels are rodents that cause major damage to homes and property, costing homeowners money that they can ill afford to spend. |
|
|
Amen!
__________________
Paula
A Catholic Harvest
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stacykay
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 08 2006
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1858
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 10:51am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have to admit, I love them! We have five towering oaks in our yard, and well, where there are acorns, there will be squirrels! I love waking up to their chatter as they run up and down the tree outside our bedroom window. (Not to mention the sounds of the acorns falling off the tree, onto our roof, and roll, roll, roll, until they either clang into the gutter or make it off the roof onto the ground-we haven't been sleeping well the past two weeks!)
They make us laugh! Our neighbors got new sod, and until it was "placed", they were burying acorns in the sod rolls.
They are cute! We have one blonde squirrel who has been dubbed "Marilyn." We have Stumpy, Nutty, and Zip.
They keep us entertained! They have fights with the chipmunks, run, jump, flip, "fly" from tree to tree, walk the tightrope, play on the boys' play structure, climbing into our jack-o-lanterns...
They've entered our home! Down the chimney and into our family room. It was a cause of great excitement! Dh laughed at me from the comfort of his office, as we frantically tried to shoo Zip out the doorwall.
And I have a wonderful picture of a fluffy beautiful squirrel my dad drew for us, hanging on my family room wall.
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
organiclilac
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 30 2006
Location: Illinois
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 640
|
| Posted: Sept 28 2010 at 10:59am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We put Vaseline on our bird feeder pole last year to deter them, and it was fun to watch them try to climb up and either spring off in horror and frantically wipe their paws on the grass, or, when it was below freezing out, slide down the pole repeatedly like little firemen.
__________________
Tracy, wife to Shawn, mama to Samuel (4/01) and Joseph (11/11), and Thomas (2/15)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Are You NUTS about Squirrels, or NOT?
