The Battle is Taken into the Fall

Well...migratory season is here....I see chickadees dribbling back....the gold finches are strong....I think I saw a tree  sparrow the other day but not confirmed and in general, the feeders have livened up a bit.

Which means.....my nemesis is back as well. The squirrels, while never truly disappearing for the summer, were more hidden from view-- as my feeders were not stocked with sunflower seeds and the like. But now since I feel the nip in the air, the feeders are stocked, the thistle is flying out like ice cream sundaes on the boardwalk, and the suet is up (I bought a five pack at Ace Hardware and envision going through many more 6 packs, or ....no, these are five packs, the beer is the six-pack) and the sunflower seeds have caught the eye and claws, and jumping skills and curiosity of the squirrels once more. So, .....what do I do, oh what do I do.  

I  built 'that'...AKA 'above photo"..... I went to Ace Hardware and got a pole, stuck a board on top, and screwed in my sunflower feeder. I 'attempted' to dig a hole in the rock, / soil....and managed to put it in the ground about 6 inches. Within minutes the squirrels were on the grass, as sharks are to a life raft. They circled my feeding pole, probing it....testing it, nudging it. An hour later the squirrels tipped it over. Great Squirrel = 1....Me = 0 (Battle of the Fall latest score).

I attempted to dig deeper into the soil so the pole was in further, but the soil is a composite of tiny pebbles and sand, almost impossible to dig. I was in the process of 'giving up' when Deb mentioned to me that I should just use one of the existing holes out there. You know...the mole holes. Let them do the work for me. So I selected one nice one, about the size of my pipe and started inspecting it. But the hole appeared to go sideways' as it connected to this underground maze of 'other holes' as they popped up, somewhat hidden within the grass. Upon closer inspection and after I placed my weeder tool inside the hole, I found that the weeder just about became lost as there must be levels or floors our moles have created, deep under ground.

So....with hardly any effort, I have now hammered in my feeder pole so that a solid 1 to 1/1/2 feet is ground-bound. Nice and sturdy.

As I write this now and sit upon my own meal......there are no circling squirrels. I think they have called it a day; checked out...off the clock. Tomorrow, will bring another battle, our fall battle. 

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