Not a squirrel fan, either. We used to feed the buggers off the edge of the roof, and they were so cute, meanwhile they were RUINING all my childhood Barbies!!

How dare they!

Nancy

Rats with fluffy tails.

How do you know it's squirrels?
I watched a squirrel run towards my porch, jump up onto a hanging, wrought iron hook (for baskets), and pole vault into my open attic.

That whole, among others, has since been closed, but it was a feat of great gymnastics.

I had raccoons and snakes, too. They didn't pole vault, though. Those are different stories.

To be truthful, we didnt get to the new soffits like we were SUPPOSED to so they probably moved into what they saw as comfy quarters. Heard bumping and squealing last winter inside the walls.And found dead one(YAY! one down -27 to go.)in the wall.Dont know how long that was there. Could be any no. of yrs.(my house was built in 50s)
CEFreeman- Oh I know it was squirrels coz they would stick their heads out to look at me as I walked from Garage to the door.And disapear as soon as I got too close.

Oh, but they're so cute when they dig up your freshly planted garden to try and find the black walnuts they hid last fall....

I like squirrels. Must have something to do with not liking Reese's.

This post was edited by linelle on Thu, Dec 13, 12 at 18:27

I will never forget the look on my sister-in-law's face when a squirrel ran across the plastic we had covering the open ceiling above our table during breakfast one morning (we were mid-reno).

The sad part was, she was horrified, but my husband and I laughed for a while before he got around to getting up from the table and getting rid of it!

We once caught a live squirrel in our cellar and, being young and new homeowners, decided to take it to the woods and release it back to the wild. My husband sat in the back of our old jeep with a pair of work gloves on, clutching the squirrel, while I tried to find a place far enough from our house to let it go. It was furiously trying to bite him the whole time. Ahhh, the memories. We still laugh about that one.

Squirrels have definitely wreaked more havoc on our old house than any other critters (well, except maybe carpenter ants).

Yes, rats with fluffy tails. Homeowners insurance will not cover their damage; "rodent damage" exclusion. Ask me how I know.

[LOL]
Linelle, that's just plain wrong.

I've heard them digging for gold in the ceiling above my bed. None yet this year, although I have mouse poison down behind my dresser. It disappears, so somewhere, somehow, I'm killing the skinny-tailed squirrels.

They are brave little sh!ts! Don't give a darn about who sees them. None of them do.

I sense a rant coming on. I don't know what's worse. Interminable scratching, or snakes silently falling out of my ceiling while having sex. The snakes, sadly, not me. (not I)

I love them, too. I have fed them for over 18 years, and they have never tried to live in my house. One family lives in my maple tree. If they did move into my house, however, they would have to be eliminated, cute or not.

My kitchen squirrel.

Disease ridden rats with fluffy tails!

I feed them outside all Fall & Winter--never had 'em inside that's what big pussy cats are for. Squirrel retardant, Although one has been eating her planted wheat grass kernels...she's not impressed with that.

Heard on our local news that this past summer was a great year for squirrels. Great as in the squirrels were having a great time and life was fairly easy.

Same goes for insects. So it stands to reason that some would end up in our homes.

Christine, you didn't happen to get a photo of those snakes? It would make interesting artwork in your bedroom, lol.

My dog, Ginger, hates squirrels more than you do. Makes things interesting when going for a walk, especially when she found the fresh squirrel carcass and thought she might like to bring it to mom!

We have a squirrel that taunts my dog every morning! It runs across the top of our screen enclosure until it is right over the center of the pool and then chatters away, sending my poor pup into a tizzy. Not really a huge squirrel fan!

No, no photos. I was too busy trying to catch them in cat litter boxes.

I am one with nature.
Except mice. I hate mice.

fried squirrel = goooood eatin'.

At an outdoor potluck I was at recently someone brought a pot of soup, that they called Brunswick Stew. I served myself some in a bowl and was eating it when I heard the person who made it say, "Brunswick Stew traditionally has squirrel in it but I didn't want to use too much, so I only used one squirrel in it."

I couldn't bring myself to eat another bite.

Springroz-they didn't get to the little attic space I use to store stuff so they didn't get my Barbies. But 30yrs of storage didn't affect them either. It took my 6 yr old about 5 min. to break something.
Brickeyee-thats what I call em.
EATREALFOOD- I have 3cats.Didn't scare the rats w.
furry tails at all.I did wonder why they sat staring at the corner of the ceiling.Disease? Yup. Not mention fleas and lice.Leptospirosis
Can cause organ failure in extreme cases.

Agree - rats with furry tails. Pre-renovation, we had a wonderful view outside our kitchen window of our bird feeders. Constant activity! Unfortunately, the squirrels would leap onto the roof and make their way across the roof (scrabble, scrabble, scrabble) over and across the line to the bird feeders. Not much fun seeing a squirrel a foot away, gorging itself on your nuts or seed.

I can't find a picture wbich shows this, but here's a close-up of a visiting oriole (a treat).

All the bird feeders were attached to a line, which the squirrels could easily traverse via the roof. Fortunately, DH came up with an excellent way to deter the squirrels from visiting the feeders, mums the word :)

We have no birdfeeders with our renovated kitchen and I really miss the birds.

According to the Doubleday Cookbook "Gray squirrel makes better eating than red squirrel." They're bigger and meatier, and red squirrels taste funny because they eat a lot of pine cones.

Boops2012--I am truly fortunate as miss pussycat kills water bugs and no mice has been seen here since she unpacked her suitcase. If a squirrel appears on the window she literally flies at the window while screaming cat obscenities !

I've never understood the parents at state and national parks who encourage their children to feed the squirrels so Mom/Dad can snap a photo. This usually happens within 10 feet of the sign that says, "Do not feed the squirrels. They may carry plague fleas." Thinking perhaps foreign visitors missed the sign or its meaning, I have once or twice pointed it out with appropriate attempts at making it clear. Nope. They really want that photo of Jr. feeding the squirrels lunch leftovers right out of his hand. Well, at least the odds are better than the idiots who want to pet the "nice" bull buffalo at Yellowstone to photographically remember their trip. Several of those folks have been posthumously awarded the Darwin Award.

Q. Do you know what happens to your squirrel population when the property across the street changes from a field with a couple of horses to an elementary school, a park, and a condo complex? Yes! They all run across to set up a metropolis on your side of the street!

If a squirrel appears on the window she literally flies at the window while screaming cat obscenities !

I just spit coffee all over my computer screen. Too funny!

The first time we opened the doors to our fireplace there was a dead squirrel in it. Shudder.

If I saw snakes fall silently from the ceiling I would probably die of a heart attack there and then.

We are having a trial by fire with the 'wild life' now we've moved to the country.
We were introduced to stink bugs last spring - they are monsters! I'd never even heard of them when we lived 45 minutes south in the city.

Then last week I almost stepped on a dead mouse in the basement. I almost had a heart attack then too.

We also apparently have a groundhog who moved into the landscaping by the pool.

This is all new!!

EngChic, I'm sorry about your squirrel. We seem to be the only ones who like the critters. I don't get the hate. I think I have an affinity with them and we converse when I'm on a walk and encounter them.

EngChic, you have my sympathy. I would have cried. I like squirrels, too. They are clever little guys. We have white squirrels, which are really pretty, in the neighborhood gene pool. When squirrels are killed by cars near my house, I assume they may be the ones that eat peanuts in my yard. I retrieve them and bury them in my yard.

I'll admit, though, I also like possums. The only North American marsupial - how cool is that? One managed to get on the NYC subway last year, which must have been interesting.

I'll take any mammal, any time, over snakes falling from the eaves.

Just because I don't want them in my attic, doesn't mean it doesn't tear me up when a little one dies.

I almost died at >>zombie possums>cat obscenitiesI have both.

In my life, I've also had woodpeckers pecking at the wood dashboard of a car. Cardinals fighting themselves in a mirror. And my hunter (not) cat following the mole trail along the ground to tap it once in awhile. Hours he did this. I think the mole tired.

Oh. I hate moles.
Ground hogs are undermining my barn.
I like snakes. They make small holes.
And the sex-in-the-ceiling thing? At least someone's gettin' it in my house.
Ok. TMI.

The squirrels and I get along, but only because they stay outside. Probably helps that I live in a milder climate and have two large dogs. As long as they stay out of the house, we will probably be okay.

Rats and mice and I do not -- but especially since they want to come inside. The house next door had a rat infestation -- we think for a couple of years, and the prior owners did nothing. The offspring started looking at our house. We think the problem is under control now -- after another neighbor's orange kitty routinely longed in our flower bed, a hawk sitting on our fence looking fat and happy, the dog catching a couple, putting wire mesh at the bottom of our garage door opening, cement board siding, a rat zapper catching 7 or 8 near our trash cans, the house next door sold due to a divorce and a young couple with two little girls bought it -- showing no mercy on the freeloaders.

We still get possums, skunks, raccoons and the squirrels. As long as they stay outdoors, I can probably live with them. I've actually had one or more who amuse me. One year, I had an acorn in the corner of each window across the front of my porch, they leave them in the openings of my filigree doormat and every year, I find I few in each planter beside me door -- but in 10 years here, they never dig those up. They just leave presents by the door.

If they get in my house, they will be reminded why will have gotten along so far.

I forgot the woodpeckers! Last week they made a hole in our HOUSE. Yep pecked a perfectly round hole in our cedar siding. Arghhhhhh!!!

Yelling at him pecking away just seemed to encourage him further.

I live in a built-up residential area, but had to remove my cat door because possums, raccoons and the odd feral cat just strolled in like there was a Wildlife Welcome! sign.

I also like possums (but not as much as squirrels). They are ugly but in a cute kinda way. One day one of my cats caught a rat outside and released it in the house, specifically my bedroom. I discovered the critter sitting on top of the curtain rod. It had been in the house all day, unbeknownst to me. My three cats refused to help. They gave me this look like, whatever dude, and walked away. My neighbor and I dismantled my dresser, behind which he was hiding, flinging underwear across the room. When we finally flushed him out and chased him outside, it felt like we had just personally brought down Pol Pot.

Snakes, please God, never.

I don't hate possums, exactly, I just want them to stay out of the fenced backyard because they freak out the dog ;)

Last time one got in the yard it played dead and our dog believed it. An hour later it was back and the dog would NOT pass by it to come back to the house. I really think he was freaked out by the "was dead" possum. Poor baby.

A friend has 3 squirrels in her attic, I wouldn't want to have them in my house either. Just in the yard and at the feeders :)

Squirrels are cyclic here. They run the same cycle as acorns (5 - 10 years). The acorns peaked last year but we had a mild winter so the squirrels didn't kill off like they expected (80 - 90%). During the day there are 10 - 20 squirrels outside my office window. Drives our indoor cats crazy. They taunt the cats. I have 2 "naked" squirrels - no fur except their tail. THEY look like rats!

Just after we moved in while lying in bed I said "Honey, we either have ghosts or squirrels". We had a family. They shredded only 1 box in the attic for their nest - surrounded by 50+ other boxes. They ate thru the fascia to get in. We put up wire and they moved further down. Eventually had to trap them and move them. By law here you can only let them go outside but then they would return so our nice trapper took them on a long car ride. We had to replace all the fascia too.