If there’s one order of animals I kinda hate, it’s rodents. I mean, beavers, and chipmunks, and squirrels are all pretty cool in their place, but they don’t seem to understand where “their place” begins and ends… (Actually, I love squirrels. I just wish I could hold a conference with my local gray squirrels to explain a few things, like private ownership and my desire to feed titmice and juncos, not them.) Other rodents you can keep. Mice, rats, raccoons, groundhogs. The Allegheny wood rat is endangered, and several states are trying to stabilize their populations. And while I recognize their place in the created order, I really don’t want them around. What I want is nuthatches, chickadees, downy woodpeckers. I want to feed the birds all winter. But the messy little creatures scatter the seed on the ground, and it attracts mice… The mice come into the house, which sits unoccupied most of the time. They die in traps that I set in the basement, but which I only have the opportunity to check once a week. I can often go two or three weeks without an opportunity to check the traps. (Which is gross.) Worse than that, squirrels lay waste to seed balls like the one pictured here. Baffles barely slow them down. I found an old set of wind chimes that I’m hoping will scare the squirrels away, but not the birds. Is that even possible? I guess I’ll find out the next time I go north. If this bird seed ball is still untouched, I’ll know that wind chimes work to keep both birds and squirrels away—which defeats the purpose. Wish me luck.
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