Usually I don’t mind squirrels eating at the bird feeder. There’s plenty of food for everyone and I enjoy little critters as much as I do birds. They’re all equally fascinating to watch. We get rabbits in abundance and they’re fun too unless you’re trying to grow a vegetable garden. Then, you don’t want them around.

I do put out suet which is a greasy concoction that attracts birds. The stuff hardens and gets pecked at by the long beaks of birds. It may be attracting something larger like a squirrel or bigger. The other day I found it on the ground and several feet away from where I hung it. Something must have swiped at it and removed it from its hook, thus sending it to the ground. And that night I heard something outside and when I looked out I saw a white flash like a tail of something. The situation makes me think. The last thing I want is to attract wild animals. In that case the suet will go. I’ve taken it away before.

If there is a squirrel at the feeder it will be the eastern gray. This species was introduced at the turn of the 20th Century, around 1900. It is not native and has taken over. We do have the Western Gray squirrel but it is not one to feed at the bird feeders. The western gray stays in the forest. The western and easter gray squirrels look the same but have very different habits.

Again, I don’t mind squirrels at the feeder. It reminds of a person who lives back east. when they see a squirrel at the bird feeder they ping it with a BB from a BB gun. It’s harmless and send the squirrel away. I like the animals around here, to observe. They are all a thing of beauty.

The cray scene below is my setup to take pictures of items for sale on ebay. In this example, i have a book. A painter’s canvas serves as a backdrop. I have to lights facing the item. I still get shadows and glare, but for the most part this setup works.