Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 15:15:15 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Wilkerson, Jordan T." Subject: Warning! Intelligent squirrels on the loose! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" MDOsprey, With the on-going war against these furry critters, I feel I need to warn others about our recent observations of these mistakenly innocent-looking ruffians. After years of successfully baffling, the new generation of genetically-advanced squirrels has managed to figure a way past. The baffle we have is the cylindrical kind that they have routinely climbed inside of while I watched their tails waving curiously from the bottom. However, this time I was foiled. They have attacked the feeders with an amazing set of progressive approaches this year. First they tried climbing the pole and grabbing the bottom of the baffle with their teeth. Once they could do this reliably, they tried leaping from this awkward position, sometimes grabbing the feeders with one claw and scramble on up. I stopped their ingenious approach by lowering the baffle, but not low enough for them to jump from the ground. Little did I know I was leading them into solving the problem all-together. Now they get a running start and dash up the pole a little way; then, showing their evolved intelligence and strength, leap up and out from the pole and acquire their target with uncanny repeatability. In fact, they practically overshoot the feeders, implying that no matter how far down I place the baffle, they will still be able to reach the feeders. I even watched one of their leaders training new recruits last week. Beware! It's only a matter of time before they get the word out on how to beat our defenses. Jordan Wilkerson Cloverly, MoCo, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================