Has anyone else experienced eastern gray squirrels that are shy, timid, or otherwise not interested in bird food? (1 Viewer)

[Avon Avians]

Hello, folks!
This isn't really a thread that I needed to post, but I guess I just kind of felt like posting it.
Where we live, we have not experienced eastern gray squirrels being pesky. In fact, I'm starting to miss them after we moved out of a location with loads of them!
We still have them here, but for some reason, it is quite uncommon to see them. I mean, they are not rare, but they are not an everyday sight either.
Given, we do not have many nut-bearing trees on our small lot. We are also still in the process of making our yard more wildlife-friendly.
I decided to put out a homemade squirrel feeder made from a milk jug with the hopes of attracting more squirrels to our yard.
Back in Connecticut, there was no way to keep a gray squirrel off of a feeder with sunflower seeds!

However, I've noticed something unusual.
The squirrel feeder rather quickly attracted black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, blue jays, and lots of eastern chipmunks.
I was pleased to see so many chipmunks in a yard with so few nut-bearing trees.
The chipmunks were chasing each other around over the sunflower seeds. This was what I expected to see, being acquainted with their behavior.
It took a while before the first squirrel showed up. I was so excited to see one finally find the feeder that I missed an opportunity to photograph a nearby eastern phoebe.
The squirrel took some time investigating the feeder. It sniffed the cap, ate maybe one seed, then left.
I was surprised to see a gray squirrel acting so skittish and uninterested in sunflower seeds. That would certainly explain why we never had a problem with them.

And no, they were not safflower seeds, thistle seeds, or hot pepper-flavored bird treats. They were plain black oil sunflower seeds!
It had occurred to me that maybe this individual squirrel had never before seen or tasted sunflower seeds.
Or maybe it was just more interested in finding acorns. It is autumn, after all.

This is certainly not how our local red squirrel behaves. It will often be one of the first creatures to show up at any bird feeder, whether it is pure suet, bird food, or food intended for squirrels.


Here's the squirrel near the feeder. Notice it's not eating from it. The chipmunk above its head ate from the feeder several times.

I'm not going to ask for advice on how to win this squirrel over. If it wants to just forage for its own natural food, then that's its own decision.
Besides, I doubt that it will take very long for our resident gray squirrels to start raiding our feeders!
Still, I'm curious as to whether or not anyone else has experienced anything like this when it comes to feeding squirrels.
I always thought that they were bold and aggressive feeder bullies, but apparently birdseed is not always their greatest interest.

If anyone has a problem with gray squirrels at their bird feeders, I would gladly trade squirrels with you!
(Just kidding.)

 

[etudiant]

I'd expect wild squirrels to be pretty wary, they probably have a genetic memory of Brunswick stew, so they will be careful about when and where to settle down for chow.
That said, they sure learn fast, here in NYC Central Park they practically check your pockets for sunflower seeds.

One possibility is that the seeds were treated, as they often are, with a fungicide, which may alter the taste. Against that is their acceptance by the chipmunks.
Maybe you just have especially fine acorns....

 

[Avon Avians]

I'd expect wild squirrels to be pretty wary, they probably have a genetic memory of Brunswick stew, so they will be careful about when and where to settle down for chow.
That said, they sure learn fast, here in NYC Central Park they practically check your pockets for sunflower seeds.

One possibility is that the seeds were treated, as they often are, with a fungicide, which may alter the taste. Against that is their acceptance by the chipmunks.
Maybe you just have especially fine acorns....

Yeah, they certainly do learn fast. We had success getting the squirrel to accept the feeder, and now I see a gray squirrel at the feeder just about every day if the feeder is full. I guess it was just a young squirrel that had never before encountered a bird feeder, particularly one made from a plastic jug.
The feeder might also have smelled like us and our dogs when we first put it out.
Either way, now the squirrels like the feeder as much as the chipmunks do!

 

[Parabellum]

Hello, folks!
This isn't really a thread that I needed to post, but I guess I just kind of felt like posting it.
Where we live, we have not experienced eastern gray squirrels being pesky. In fact, I'm starting to miss them after we moved out of a location with loads of them!
We still have them here, but for some reason, it is quite uncommon to see them. I mean, they are not rare, but they are not an everyday sight either.
Given, we do not have many nut-bearing trees on our small lot. We are also still in the process of making our yard more wildlife-friendly.
I decided to put out a homemade squirrel feeder made from a milk jug with the hopes of attracting more squirrels to our yard.
Back in Connecticut, there was no way to keep a gray squirrel off of a feeder with sunflower seeds!

However, I've noticed something unusual.
The squirrel feeder rather quickly attracted black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, blue jays, and lots of eastern chipmunks.
I was pleased to see so many chipmunks in a yard with so few nut-bearing trees.
The chipmunks were chasing each other around over the sunflower seeds. This was what I expected to see, being acquainted with their behavior.
It took a while before the first squirrel showed up. I was so excited to see one finally find the feeder that I missed an opportunity to photograph a nearby eastern phoebe.
The squirrel took some time investigating the feeder. It sniffed the cap, ate maybe one seed, then left.
I was surprised to see a gray squirrel acting so skittish and uninterested in sunflower seeds. That would certainly explain why we never had a problem with them.

And no, they were not safflower seeds, thistle seeds, or hot pepper-flavored bird treats. They were plain black oil sunflower seeds!
It had occurred to me that maybe this individual squirrel had never before seen or tasted sunflower seeds.
Or maybe it was just more interested in finding acorns. It is autumn, after all.

This is certainly not how our local red squirrel behaves. It will often be one of the first creatures to show up at any bird feeder, whether it is pure suet, bird food, or food intended for squirrels.

View attachment 1471015
Here's the squirrel near the feeder. Notice it's not eating from it. The chipmunk above its head ate from the feeder several times.

I'm not going to ask for advice on how to win this squirrel over. If it wants to just forage for its own natural food, then that's its own decision.
Besides, I doubt that it will take very long for our resident gray squirrels to start raiding our feeders!
Still, I'm curious as to whether or not anyone else has experienced anything like this when it comes to feeding squirrels.
I always thought that they were bold and aggressive feeder bullies, but apparently birdseed is not always their greatest interest.

If anyone has a problem with gray squirrels at their bird feeders, I would gladly trade squirrels with you!
(Just kidding.)

We are constantly getting squirrels in our feeder and as neet as they are to watch they unfortunately leave a huge mess. Ive thought about potentially putting a feeder out for them as well. Ive never seen a timid one though

 

[Avon Avians]

We are constantly getting squirrels in our feeder and as neet as they are to watch they unfortunately leave a huge mess. Ive thought about potentially putting a feeder out for them as well. Ive never seen a timid one though

Yeah. It is interesting that it took almost a whole year for gray squirrels to start raiding our feeders. But now, in the wintertime, we have several gray squirrels in our yard raiding our feeders daily, and none of them are shy. They are obviously dominated by our backyard red squirrel, though, who defends the feeders from them despite being half their size.

 

[KC Foggin]

They drain my feeders faster then I can fill them

 

[Avon Avians]

They drain my feeders faster then I can fill them

They are no longer shy or timid in our yard, either! They are not as common as I am used to seeing, but they are certainly common enough to devour a significant amount of birdseed. What would you say are their favorite foods, other than sunflower seeds?

 

[KC Foggin]

They are no longer shy or timid in our yard, either! They are not as common as I am used to seeing, but they are certainly common enough to devour a significant amount of birdseed. What would you say are their favorite foods, other than sunflower seeds?

Mainly, the Sunflower seeds.

 

[Avon Avians]

Somehow, this following year, the opposite instance has occurred. The gray squirrels come every now and then to eat the sunflower seeds we leave out, but the chipmunks, which are living in a rock pile just a few feet from our feeding station, are not coming to eat any of our sunflower seeds. I don't know if they are still hibernating, but it sure is awful late for them to be dormant. I did see some chipmunk activity in the dense cover of our backyard.

 

[KC Foggin]

Has anyone else experienced eastern gray squirrels that are shy, timid, or otherwise not interested in bird food?​

I wish.

 

[tbassngal]

I never have a problem with squirrels devouring everything in my feeders. They will stay away if there are an abundance of red squirrels as they are very aggressive. It's gotten to the point where I will only buy safflower now to keep the squirrels and mean birds away. Safflower is a seed that only attracts the birds I'd like to see (and it doesn't seed in the ground often to create an abundance of weeds). When I was feeding other seeds, if the squirrels ate it, I never got to see my birds as they would usually be sitting in my feeder. I also got many mean birds who would bully the chick-a-dees, nuthatches, finches and every other bird I adore. Squirrels don't eat safflower. I have a separate feeder with shelled peanuts in it and they love their peanuts more than most anything I put out.

 

[Avon Avians]

I never have a problem with squirrels devouring everything in my feeders. They will stay away if there are an abundance of red squirrels as they are very aggressive.

I saw a single red squirrel guard a bird feeder table from gray squirrels last fall.
The gray squirrels clearly did not consider fighting to be an option.
The relentless red squirrel didn't only chase off the other squirrels when it was at the feeder.
It would watch the feeder from all the way in the woods, and if a gray squirrel tried to sneak in, it would charge from the woods over to the table and attack and chase the gray squirrel all around the lawn! It wasn't even hungry and would go back into the woods afterwards.

It would even descend a tree in the woods if it saw the gray squirrel at the feeder while it was in the tree, just to show it that it is always watching and waiting to attack if the gray squirrel even touches the feeder!

But the red squirrels can be trouble, too. One red rascal was responsible for damaging our feeder a few winters back.

It's gotten to the point where I will only buy safflower now to keep the squirrels and mean birds away. Safflower is a seed that only attracts the birds I'd like to see (and it doesn't seed in the ground often to create an abundance of weeds). When I was feeding other seeds, if the squirrels ate it, I never got to see my birds as they would usually be sitting in my feeder. I also got many mean birds who would bully the chick-a-dees, nuthatches, finches and every other bird I adore. Squirrels don't eat safflower. I have a separate feeder with shelled peanuts in it and they love their peanuts more than most anything I put out.

I've heard that squirrels hate safflower seed while chipmunks practically prefer it. So I tested this out in our own yard, back when our backyard was much bigger in Connecticut. I put a trail camera out and put out sunflower and safflower seeds. Sure enough, a gray squirrel ate all the sunflower seeds and abandoned the safflower. But a chipmunk came and collected all the safflower seeds.

And all other experiments I've done have gone the same.
The squirrels show up and eat the sunflower seeds, dominating any chipmunks. But the chipmunks come after and eat all the safflower seeds that the squirrels ignore.

This works well for me, because I love chipmunks and dislike when squirrels keep them from coming to feed.
But if chipmunks bother you, then safflower won't be a solution that will be of any use.

(Some people, often because of stupid bear problems, don't even feed birds from spring-fall. Chipmunks can't bother them because they aren't active during the bird-feeding season.)

 

[Avon Avians]

I saw a single red squirrel guard a bird feeder table from gray squirrels last fall.
The gray squirrels clearly did not consider fighting to be an option.
The relentless red squirrel didn't only chase off the other squirrels when it was at the feeder.
It would watch the feeder from all the way in the woods, and if a gray squirrel tried to sneak in, it would charge from the woods over to the table and attack and chase the gray squirrel all around the lawn! It wasn't even hungry and would go back into the woods afterwards.

It would even descend a tree in the woods if it saw the gray squirrel at the feeder while it was in the tree, just to show it that it is always watching and waiting to attack if the gray squirrel even touches the feeder!

But the red squirrels can be trouble, too. One red rascal was responsible for damaging our feeder a few winters back.


I've heard that squirrels hate safflower seed while chipmunks practically prefer it. So I tested this out in our own yard, back when our backyard was much bigger in Connecticut. I put a trail camera out and put out sunflower and safflower seeds. Sure enough, a gray squirrel ate all the sunflower seeds and abandoned the safflower. But a chipmunk came and collected all the safflower seeds.

And all other experiments I've done have gone the same.
The squirrels show up and eat the sunflower seeds, dominating any chipmunks. But the chipmunks come after and eat all the safflower seeds that the squirrels ignore.

This works well for me, because I love chipmunks and dislike when squirrels keep them from coming to feed.
But if chipmunks bother you, then safflower won't be a solution that will be of any use.

(Some people, often because of stupid bear problems, don't even feed birds from spring-fall. Chipmunks can't bother them because they aren't active during the bird-feeding season.)

To feed chipmunks without arousing bears in the spring/summer, we try to put out tiny servings of seed that they can nibble on without the bears noticing. Bears are attracted to feeders full of seed, but tiny chipmunk-sized servings are unlikely to draw a bear from long distances.