“What do you do all day?”

I used to have pretty mundane things to say like, “work on reports,” “field incoming questions,” etc. Now, I’m a middle-weight squirrel fighter!

Here’s the story…

We put out a bird feeder a few weeks back and I love it. We have a pair of cardinals that enjoy 3 meals a day right outside our door. Unfortunately, we have a squirrel too, and he doesn’t have reservations.

The little bugger (he is cute after-all) comes and eats all of my birdseed. His acrobatics include hanging precariously upside-down while munching all of the seeds. His presence, I’m assuming, also deters the dainty birds from visiting.

So, what do you do when you have unwelcome guests at your table? I tried yelling, well, squawking at him. I even enlisted my 3 year old for help. It worked… once.

Then the little guy decided we weren’t much of a threat. Next, I slipped my toes into my tennis shoes (too lazy to actually get my whole foot in), and tip-toed out into the snow. Do you think that even phased him? Nah. We were eye-to-eye and he stood his ground (in the tree).

Without getting a net or a gun, I felt pretty hopeless. My attempt at throwing the remains of my son’s banana at him was unsuccessful (I missed by a mile).

With nothing left to try, I decided I would just give him his own lunch and maybe he’d leave the birds alone. That lucky dude got his own pile of sunflower seeds piled nicely on the ground below. He ate his fill and skipped away knowing that he was victorious. I lost, but at least my son knows I’m not afraid of taking on a squirrel. And you know, they are pretty cute when they sit and eat.