Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 16:09:00 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: John K Subject: Re: Squirrel / Bird predation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Another squirrel story: A squirrel got his claw caught in my brown metal "squirrel proof" feeder. The poor thing was just hanging there and could not free itself. When you went near the feeder to help it, it would thrash about in panic and I was afraid it would tear its paw off. I finally decided, I had to do something and went out with a couple of screw drivers and managed to pry it lose in about 15 seconds. It ran off, seemingly no worse for the wear. They are pretty tough. John Krustins College Park, MD ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Pierce" To: Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 3:32 PM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Squirrel / Bird predation > Squirrels seem pretty indifferent to the birds at my feeders, but the birds > give them a wide berth, even Red-bellied woodpeckers, which pretty much > dominate the pecking order otherwise. My guess is the squirrel's > unpredictable movements are a factor, i.e. thier indifference combined with > a tendency to jump - as a goldfinch or other small bird I wouldn't be too > happy with a squirrel landing on me, even if it wasn't intentional. In > short, I'd say most birds don't want to get between a squirrel and their > food. > > fdp > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > Fred Pierce (DNRC)- fpierce@avialantic.com > Mid-Atlantic Aviation on the Web - http://www.avialantic.com > ** Mid Atlantic Air Museum WWII Weekend Airshow June 6-8 2003 > - www.maam.org/maamwwii.html ** > *** World Airshow News - www.worldairshownews.com ** > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM]On > > Behalf Of Tom Beal > > Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 11:56 AM > > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > > Subject: [MDOSPREY] Squirrel / Bird predation > > > > > > I read an article once, that despite the classic work on the predator/prey > > relationship between the snowshoe hare and the lynx, the major predator of > > the hare was the red squirrel. Apparently they raid the nests while Mom > > feeds and make off with many newborns. > > The squirrels in my yard have become adept at vacuuming up the millet I > > spread out on the ground for the sparrows. The sparrows are very > > wary of the > > squirrels and keep their distance. This morning a window strike goldfinch > > was recuperating on my deck. It lay motionless for at least 20 minutes, > > until a squirrel came poking around. The bird flew off when the squirrel > > came with in a foot or two. > > The squirrel did not appear to be hunting or even notice the bird > > and I have > > never seen a squirrel chase a sparrow while feeding. Has anyone > > ever seen a > > squirrel attack a bird or know of any literature? > > > > Tom Beal > > Bowie, MD > > > > ======================================================================= > > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > > ======================================================================= > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================