Housepets!

For those of us who enjoy spending ungodly amounts attracting feathered vagrants and then sating our voyeuristic desires by watching them eat.

My mom used to put bird seed out but then she basically gave up. We also used to have hummingbird feeders, but she gave that up too.

Maybe when I have my own house I'll start doing things to attract birds. Birds are cute.

I like squirrels as long as they stay away from my birdfeeders. Past that, it's killing time.

Dissension wrote:*laughs* I guess I can see how you'd feel that way. Investing in feeders and seed for bird-watching purposes, then having squirrels steal it all? I'd be unhappy, too.

It's not only that, but they breed like..well rats and will eat hatchlings, eggs and parents alike if they get hungry enough. I won't go offing dozens of them, but I will thin them out if they really start raiding the feeders. I'm not spending 8 bucks on noshell songbird feed to feed them.

We got a bird-feeder once...although that just got actual rats to steal from it. Not the best sight in the world.

my mom keeps having to improvise ways to try to keep squirrels off of her bird feeders. those clever little ********(no swear words, just asterisks) keep finding ways around them.

...also, I need to say, apparently mods are the only people on this forum that like birdwatching (and Flint).

I guess I'm lucky, as there's a big main road between the park and my house. It kinda stops any squirrels from getting across...

RandomGeekNamedBrent wrote:my mom keeps having to improvise ways to try to keep squirrels off of her bird feeders. those clever little ********(no swear words, just asterisks) keep finding ways around them.

Red pepper in the seed is supposed to turn them off if your not willing to get a BB gun and pop a few of them.

I would be perfectly fine with squirrels in our bird feeders if they didn't eat so much of it!

Foxstar wrote:

RandomGeekNamedBrent wrote:my mom keeps having to improvise ways to try to keep squirrels off of her bird feeders. those clever little ********(no swear words, just asterisks) keep finding ways around them.

Red pepper in the seed is supposed to turn them off if your not willing to get a BB gun and pop a few of them.

I think she's tried. they actually seem to like it.

FlintTheSquirrel wrote:Geez, this thread has already started sounding like a thread about hating Squirrels. :< Figures to be honest......

Flint, I don't hate them, I just do not want to invest my money into feeding them.

FlintTheSquirrel wrote:Well since the thread has already touched the topic of hunting them. I really rather say otherwise. :/ (I think I should not check back here, I am dampening the mood I guess)
Talk about birds, like which breed you like most.

You are quite welcome here, you don't have to leave.

And I'm a fan of Northern Mockingbirds. One of the few breeds that will let you get pretty close and they are everywhere.

I like the.. bullfinches? I dont know what they're called in english. :p

Tiggy wrote:I like the.. bullfinches? I dont know what they're called in english. :p

That is what they are called, the type anyway.

What about the feeders that fling and spin the squirrels off? I saw some of those at a store in Estes Park, CO.

Anthroguy101 wrote:What about the feeders that fling and spin the squirrels off? I saw some of those at a store in Estes Park, CO.

They can be somewhat costly, but pretty effective.

I've only observe birds from afar, and the only birdfeeding that I've seen here is spreading grains on the ground for pigeons to on.

Since my college is literally next to a forest reserve, there are a few species that I rarely seen anywhere else here, like these bright blue and bright yellow kingfishers (don't know their real name). There's even a hawk flying over the lake sometimes.

I live next to a State Park and down the street from a National Park. I get a lot of different species.

My favorite are the Kites that fly by every now and then.

We have hummingbird feeders, and get a few of those every day during the summer. Squirrels are a problem, but not huge, since we do not use feeders. We have an acrobatic cat that loves birds and squirrels. We don't want him getting fat!

I like watching sparrows sometimes, though I don't spend any efforts in attracting them.

Some pictures I've taken yesterday near the library. Always stop there after church to return books and see what species I can bring in.

From what I can tell, I had three kinds feeding there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Pigeon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Starling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great-tailed_Grackle

No crows this week although I did hear them.

For the most part, if I'm birdwatching, it's my pet Cockatiel, Merlin. XD

There have been a couple of swarms of migrating birds once, though. They were black/gray and had this orange chest... they were eating up all the berries off our tree in the backyard!

We also get Bluebirds and Bluejays where I live. I see a lot of birds... I'm on the coast, in suburbs, near wooded areas. Sometimes there's owls at night!

I love owls but my family doesn't. Big birds are really pretty, but sometimes you have to be careful about them when your dogs are tiny. Still, they're nice to watch when your puppies are safe.

We have a have a hawk in my neighborhood. but it seems to have moved along. which is good, because my mom was scared that it would attack the squirrels attracted to her bird feeders.

RandomGeekNamedBrent wrote:We have a have a hawk in my neighborhood. but it seems to have moved along. which is good, because my mom was scared that it would attack the squirrels attracted to her bird feeders.

Hawks are kick-butt. I wish I could get a pair to nest nearby. I wouldn't even mind them dining on the songbirds, because hey, that's what raptors do.

We get red tailed hawks in our yard sometimes. And they are pretty awesome. :3 Anyway, I might take a picture of my dad's "squirrel-proof" bird feeder design, if anyone would be interested in building their own.

We get plenty of hawks here. A couple years ago, one almost carried one of our chihuahuas away!! Had to chase it off.

Owls are pretty common, a few come in every now and then to the clinic I work in for treatment. A local wildlife rehabilitation place brings them in. Along with a few other birds. Like hawks.

And Kites! Kites are fun birds to look at. I like the way their tails look.


My favorite birds to watch are Mockingbirds though. A whole lot of them around here, and they don't take off a lot.

Everytime I wake up or go to bed late, (like at 4 or 5 am.. ithappens :c) I hear birds. Since I practically live in a forest. xD If you'd check my house on google maps, 60% of what'd you see would most likely be green everywhere. x3

The Blue Jays have learned that my squirrel resistant feeders are where I put the peanuts and other shelled seeds. Now I have them emptying them within a week at best!

New pics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Egret
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard

Ooh, nice birds. :3

We usually have a lot of mallards at my place!

And also(Off-topic): *goes all CSI on Foxstar, checks the reflection in the cars across the pond, gets his appearance*

no im just kidding, that would never work.

I went out to Lake Dardanelle State Park and took some pictures I thought might tickle Foxstar's fancy. Here are a couple of teasers; the rest can be found in my photostream.

Aw that's kick butt Diss. Nice job.