# Squirrels--am I the only person that likes them? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654 "2012-08-25T23:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/41 "2012-08-26T17:44:13Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I am quite fond of them. I like them baked in aluminum foil with butter garlic and a little salt. Properly dressed, 2-3 make a great Brunswick Stew. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/42 "2012-08-26T19:10:44Z")
I put out food for squirrels, they keep my dog entertained. he has to run about 75 feet to the feeder, they have about a foot and a half to the top of the fence where they sit and taunt him. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/43 "2012-08-26T19:15:28Z")
I think squirrels are adorable. Of course, I’m also staring at my own cage of domesticated rats right now – descriptions of them as ‘tree-rats’ don’t put me off at all. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/44 "2012-08-26T19:28:16Z")
I put out food for wild animals. Birds, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, possums, foxes, deer, whatever. (Strangely, rabbits are rare.) I’d rather not have mice in the basement or squirrels in the attic, but since I keep the holes plugged, that’s not a major problem. It’s all good. Whatever eats the “bird” food is entitled to it and it keeps me entertained. I find it hard to understand why someone likes birds but hates squirrels that come to the feeders. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/45 "2012-08-26T19:29:53Z")
I have a squirrel feeder out on the deck. I buy 50 lb bags of whole field corn for them from the local farm goods store, it used to be about $8.00 a bag but the price of corn seems to have gone up this summer, it’s around $13.00 now. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/46 "2012-08-26T19:43:33Z")
I love squirrels too – we never minded when they’d use our birdfeeders, and the cats liked to watch both of them through the window. However, we had to stop putting out said feeder, because the deer kept coming into our yard. Stupid deer. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/47 "2012-08-26T19:57:38Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > Squirrels are arboreal rats. > > Nobody but you likes them. Not true. I like squirrels a lot myself. I feed them dried corn. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/48 "2012-08-26T20:20:38Z")
I like squirrels just fine. They don’t bother my bird feeder because I only put out safflower seed (which tastes bitter and is not very popular with squirrels). They have eaten some of the garden bulbs I’ve put out, but I am a “live and let live” kind of gardener so I don’t mind that much (my garden also gets visited by deer and rabbits, which has been annoying at times, but I know they’re just trying to get by). ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/49 "2012-08-26T21:07:12Z")
I don’t dislike squirrels - although the dog will take out the fence some day charging them - but I am violently and vociferously opposed to feeding any wild animal. If you feed them, they breed beyond the natural capacity of their environment; their waste may contaminate water supplies, private yards, and public parts; they lose fear of human and become pests; and their genetic profile may shift to a more dependent, less capable one. Okay, I might be pushing it on the last one, but I believe “A fed one is a dead one” applies to more than bears. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/50 "2012-08-26T21:11:56Z")
They are fun to watch. They carry fleas and destroy property (bird feeders, food storage bins, etc.). They are good fried with gravy. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/51 "2012-08-26T23:15:25Z")
A squirrel is Walt Disney’s idea of a rat. ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/52 "2012-08-27T00:01:34Z")
I like squirrels. They’re so cute with their floofy tails. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/53 "2012-08-27T00:21:06Z")
I’ve been reviewing things on this thread and repeating to the SO. (Including the ‘they’re good with garlic, etc’ thing) Him: I don’t think any of the squirrels around here are very meaty. I mean, a couple look fat and sassy, but not much meat. Me: Omg, I’m posting that! ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/54 "2012-08-27T11:14:40Z")
Squirrels are adorable. Once I was sitting in the park on the phone and I was holding my debit card in my other hand because I was giving the number to the person on the other end. A squirrel on the bench put his little paws on my hand and tried to take the debit card. He probably wanted to charge lots of snacks. Another time this enormous black squirrel tried to get inside the bakery where I work. We lured him over to a tree with a cookie which he devoured. He never came back- I hope the cookie wasn’t _that_\*\* bad for him. Squirrels do [eat pizza](http://gothamist.com/2012/02/14/squirrel_prefers_grimaldis_will_set.php) after all. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/55 "2012-08-27T14:11:20Z")
> [@highrollinwooded](#): > > No squirrels here, but dealing with a family of racoons robbing/destroying my feeders every nite, causing me to go through the hassle of taking them down/putting them up daily…PITA!! Chipmunks we have, and I thought they were cute until I realized they were eating up my flower bulbs, and that will NOT do, so hubby brought out the 22…As far as squirrels, if I had them robbing my sunflower feeders in the daytime, when I obviously can do nothing about it, they would need to go! I am an animal lover, so there is a fine line …and at the cost of 31.99 for a 50lb bag of sunflower seed in this neck of the woods, they would be on the receiving end of a gun or a live trap for sure!! Not so cute!!! So you’re “an animal lover,” except you hate the racoons, had the chipmunks shot, and would kill the squirrels because of the price of sunflower seeds? ---
**Author:** ![Bass\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@Bass\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bass_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/56 "2012-08-27T14:34:46Z")
I saw a squirrel pluck a cicada off a tree. He turned it over and over in his paws like an ear of corn and chewed off the wings. :eek: Then he bit off the head. It was one of those things that was really gross, but I just couldn’t look away until I’d watched him eat the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/57 "2012-08-27T16:05:21Z")
I think they’re cute and great, but if they decide to chew on the wrong thing they are a lot of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/58 "2012-08-27T19:22:12Z")
I’ve posted this story before, but what the hey. I have a bird feeder in my back yard, one that was advertised as squirrel proof. I know better than to take such claims seriously, but it WAS pretty effective… for a while. But one day, I saw a squirrel on my back patio, looking up at the feeder. I could see the little wheels turning in his head! Seriously, the little rodent was sizing up the contraption and figuring out the best way to approach it. When he thought he had it figured out, he climbed up the tree, out onto the branch, shinnied down the wire toward the food… and then fell to the lawn. Unperturbed, the squirrel sat up on my lawn, looked up and again, and the wheels started turning again. Bingo! THIS time, he had it. He went back up the tree, climbed down the wire with his BACK FEET only, then hung upside down by his back feet, while holding on the the bird perch with his front feet, and ate the seed from the feeder while dangling like Tom Cruise in _ **Mission: Impossible.** _ Even if you didn’t LIKE the squirrel, you HAD to admire the hell out of him! I didn’t even bother to chase him away- I figured he’d EARNED his snack! ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/59 "2012-08-27T22:46:23Z")
Plant bulbs in cage. Plant sunflowers for sunflower seeds. Get a cat and a terrier. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654/60 "2012-08-27T23:28:10Z")
I like squirrels. They’re cute. I wonder what a pet squirrel would be like. I mean, I’ve had gerbils, mice, and rats, and they remind me most of rats. Which would be a good thing. But even if you raised from birth and it was tame, you’d probably need a _huge_ cage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-am-i-the-only-person-that-likes-them/632654.md?page=4)