I used to think they were cute. I still do, actually, but now
I’m more apt to view them as Hitlers in a teddy bear suit. They
have no sense of aesthetics or boundaries. They act like they
own the place. And while that’s true in a sense, it’s an out of
date and unpopular opinion.
A few years ago I tried growing a tomato plant on my patio.
I babied that plant, checking the soil in the pot every day to make
sure it was not too dry, not too wet. I fed it food pellets. I talked
to it in a gentle voice, telling it how beautiful it was. And it rewarded
me. It bloomed, sprouting sweet little yellow flowers.
Then tiny green tomatoes appeared. And they got bigger. And
bigger. And the color began to change from green to red. First
just a tinge, a blush, a promise of what the plant was striving for.
I watched that tomato blossom, grow and ripen until it was nearly
ready to pick. “A ew more days,” I told myself every day for
several days. Finally I decided, “Tomorrow, tomorrow is the
day of harvest,” and my mouth began to water.
totally unforgiveable thing – he dropped the half-eaten tomato on the
patio and ran off.
plants are in another part of the yard now and are covered with
netting, the squirrels continue to come to my patio to bury the peanuts
someone in the neighborhood gives them.
If I knew which neighbor it was, I’d tell them how foolish and
counterproductive it is to feed these semi-wild animals. Not only are
they carriers of bubonic plague, when that person who is feeding them
leaves, the squirrels won’t have any experiencee at foraging on their
own. Because, of course, the mama squirrel brings her babies to the
food source. And the food supplier encourages her. “Oh, aren’t they
cute?” “Come here, sweetie and I’ll give you a peanut.” And what they
learn is to come to humans for their food. We are surrounded by natural
food sources for squirrels, but the easier path, the one of less resistance
and energy depletion, is to go to the never ending handout.
Cute as they are, if you’re a squirrel feeder, please stop. Do not feed
the squirrels. It’s better for them and it’s better for all the rest of us
who have to live with the results of your short-sighted actions.
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