A neighborly question

[Jennasis]

Can you change what you feed them so that there isn't anything for them to bury?

This is another reason why I love living our in the country. Nearest neighbor is too far away to hear me scream bloody murder. Plus I haven't seen a squirrel at my place in nearly 18 years. Very few trees.

 

[Mysterian]

Your nuts bring all the squirrels to the neighbor's yard,
and they're like, "it's better than yours"
And the neighbor's like "but my lawn is infested"
and the squirrel's are like "'cause of all the nuts we've ingested"

 

[NotGrumpyButPrettyClose]

Until January of this year, nothing but peaceful co-existence with the squirrels in my yard. I've lived in this house for almost twenty years and this was the year that one decided "nuts" to living in the trees and it proceeded to nest in the attic. Part of the squirrel's "renovation" included chewing new "doorway" exits in the roof and creating bedding lofts for the juveniles. My spouse has always loved the squirrels as part of the Disney forest creatures ensemble outside the kitchen window. Because of the noise and damage, she now considers squirrels to be big rats with fluffy tails.

Your neighbor might not even be considering an event like mine, but be forewarned. Nothing that I tried to do to evict them myself worked. I have a lot of cute footage from the motion-detector security cameras that I put in the attic. It took a roof replacement (from tornado damage in early February) to finally scare them off.

 

[VandVsmama]

I've been encouraged/pressured/voluntold by a few people I know to set up bird feeders in my backyard to feed the birds and to give my indoor cats some Cat TV to watch. I'm not interested in inviting the local squirrels, mice, and pack rats to take up residence in the yard as well as the birds. And pack rats can chew through practically anything (we live in AZ).

At our old house, DH thought it would be great to get a heavy duty plastic outdoor small shed thing to store all of our pool chemicals in. and when I say heavy duty plastic, this was heavy duty stuff.

A pack rat chewed an entrance into it and built a nest in it. And then he built a back up nest in our BBQ. He'd commute in between the two. The nest of stuff that was in that short outdoor shed was incredible. OMG, so much crud and stuff. We were lucky that he didn't decide to take up residence in our attic or the garage. Once we destroyed his 2 homes (primary residence AND the vacation property), he decided to migrate elsewhere and we were very grateful.

In my opinion, a pack rat is sort of like a squirrel that's jacked up on steroids. I don't want either one in my yard if I can help it.

 

[leebee]

We have lots of squirrels. They are cute to watch but they dig holes all over the yard, dig up bulbs, eat the tulips, etc. VERY annoying. I don't know if stopping feeding your squirrels would make any difference in your neighbor's yard or not, but I'd stop for awhile to see if it makes a difference. The holes are really obnoxious, especially if you've worked diligently on your lawn and garden.

 

[unrequited23]

Growing up, my grandpa always fed the squirrels peanuts. They would meet him at the back door and walk next to him to the gas grill where he stored their nuts. It was absurd. They also set up a corn cob feeder on the tree that was directly across from their kitchen table, so they could watch the squirrels while they had their morning coffee. As much as they encouraged the squirrels, they had every anti-squirrels device you could think of on their bird feeders.

So, if I were in your position I would stop feeding the squirrels nuts and instead feed them something they wouldn't be tempted to bury like bird seed or corn cob.

 

[Alicefan]

I have a white squirrel and a gray one that come and eat out of my hand. I started them out with unsalted shelled peanuts but noticed quickly that they made a mess with the shells and they did tend to bury some of them. I switched to unsalted unshelled peanuts so now they just stand there and eat them and wait for the next one. Definitely chose something they don't bury. You should explain to your neighbor that squirrels spend their entire lifetime within a 2 acre radius so whether you feed them or not, they are going to be squirrels and bury acorns in his yard. It's what they do. His only hope is cutting down any trees he has around his house.

 

[Karin1984]

I am on your neighbour's side, don't feed wild animals. It encourages unnatural behaviour and makes them dependent.

 

[barkley]

i love squirrels and chipmunks. the topography around my house is such that if they were going to bury anything my lawn would be prime real estate b/c it's got the best soil base (we grow rock in my region-acres of massive boulders under shallow dirt). we've never had an issue with them bothering the lawn but i suspect it's because like someone else suggested-we feed them corn, or what they really like-critter chow (mix of shelled sunflower seeds and peanuts, raisins and other seeds). nothing to bury-just stuff they can consume.

 

[maxiesmom]

i love squirrels and chipmunks. the topography around my house is such that if they were going to bury anything my lawn would be prime real estate b/c it's got the best soil base (we grow rock in my region-acres of massive boulders under shallow dirt). we've never had an issue with them bothering the lawn but i suspect it's because like someone else suggested-we feed them corn, or what they really like-critter chow (mix of shelled sunflower seeds and peanuts, raisins and other seeds). nothing to bury-just stuff they can consume.

Where do you get your critter chow?

 

[barkley]

Where do you get your critter chow?

walmart, ace hardware. you can also order it from chewy.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I don't know, I would probably just ignore him and do what I want.

I like squirrels, I think they are cute. I was unaware they were capable of damaging stuff though. We have some that are regulars around here. They hang out on the patio a lot of times. The only problem they have ever caused was once we had company, and my step-daughter happened looked outside and pointed out that we had some squirrels engaging in amorous activity right on the patio. Eek.

 

[hsmamato2]

I think it's fairly rude of your neighbor to ask that,I used to have a neighbor that complained when my outdoor cat walked by her windows bc her indoor cats then wanted to go out and it was unfair (???) That said,I'd stop feeding the peanuts in shells maybe to avoid a big problem, but continue to feed my birds,and let the squirrels share that (since the little monsters do it anywyay!) I love feeding the birds, they're so beautiful to watch. Those pesky squirrels and chipmunks? I dislike them tearing up my yard, but they do it no matter what anyway,they bury acorns and anything else they find in the woods. It can't really be stopped if you have trees.

 

[lucas]

Feeding squirrels brings in rats and all kinds of other critters.

 

[Christine]

I don't think it's ever "rude" for a neighbor to talk to another neighbor (in a friendly, respectful way) about a behavior that is bothering them or might possibly be impacting their quality of life. It sounds like the OP and her neighbor have a decent relationship and, honestly, I applaud him for approaching her directly with what's bothering him. It them becomes important, on both sides, to really think if your behavior is truly undesirable and does changing it harm you in any way but yet give peace to another.

Really, I'd love to see more civil discourse between neighbors such as in this example versus some of the other stuff I see: harrassing people online in neighborhood forums, reporting everything to the HOA, or setting up countermeasures without trying to resolve it like adults would have many years ago.

I think it's pretty interesting, from a pyschological perspective, that what the OP's neighbor did is construed as "rude." Are we that sensitive anymore??

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

When it comes to outdoors, I live by Let Nature Be.

The squirrels will not starve if you stop, they'll find food ( what they should be eating) elsewhere.

Your neighbor may still complain, though.

 

[SteveH]

What would you do?

Fair question. Chances are I'd keep feeding. We live in a former apple orchard, when we first move in half the orchard was still here and there was ton of squirrels. Then when the orchard was gone they left. They came back a few years later as the neighborhood trees grew. One neighbor has a bee hive and garden, the squirrels never bother their garden. Other neighbor has 4 young kids they love watching them race along the face tops to our house.

Right now we have 3 regular squirrels. I will say they don't like corn... at all. I tried the bulk mix feed and found corn all over the deck. Rather funny they did bury some corn, it later popped up in our deck planters. They do like peanuts and sunflower seeds though. Peanuts shells are easier to clean up though. Here's the thing, they don't really bury the peanuts - they eat them.

However, in the front of my house we have a maple and they bury those seeds all over. I have small "divots' in the Spring and Fall. I deal with it. You know what, I figure it's their home too. My neighbors are jealous, they watch the squiiles race along the fences to our house. I don't over feed them, there is tons of natural food in the trees in our area. Never had any damage from them either. They entertain and annoy one of our dogs. We have enough cars, dogs and on the outskirts coyotes that we're not over populated with them.

They get a couple handfuls throughout the week in our feeder. Come winter I keep it full though.

 

[barkley]

Feeding squirrels brings in rats and all kinds of other critters.

we have no issue with rats or mice for that matter despite feeding the squirrels for years. the neighbors in our neck of the woods (rich with mice, rats and other critters) that have issues with rats and mice are those that engage in one or both of the following-

-leaving out bowls of dry food for their dogs, cats, chickens....(food source for the rats and mice near the houses),

-they mow/cut down every bit of bushes, brush, wild grass on their acreage. the critters have lived in that growth for generations and are inclined to stay there and not come near homes but if it's all cut down and replaced with gravel, ornamental lawns, plain bare dirt....the critters migrate to where they can find shelter (houses).

we have a large area of our property cut back for fire protection but purposely leave areas with overgrowth so that the native critters, birds and migrating birds have shelter (did the same in our former tract home by virtue of large ornamental bushes along the fences).

 

[barkley]

they did bury some corn, it later popped up in our deck planters.

i've stopped feeding the migrating geese corn b/c they would eat it, defecate it, and the next year we were getting corn plants popping up all over the place (apparently goose poop is a great fertilizer).

 

[_19disnA]

Just because your neighbor is opposed to something and tells you doesn't mean you are obligated to change what you do. What if he said he didn't like petunias/geraniums or wind chimes? Would that mean you can't have those things either? You also mentioned a fence, but I don't know the exact layout of your yard. Does the neighbor sit by the window all day watching what you are doing? Perhaps you could feed the squirrels on a different side of your house that he can't see. Honestly, anywhere that has certain types of trees (evergreen, oak, etc.) will tend to attract squirrels as a food source for their seeds. Unless you neighbor wants to cut down all of those types of trees, squirrels are a common wild animal you find in many places.