Photo by Stuart Freedman
It is extremely hard for me to ignore the cute little faces of squirrels that greet me every morning begging for treats! Yet I admit I think it was a mistake to start feeding our local wildlife. It all started when a golden furred squirrel would come begging at our back deck door. By the end of the summer, my husband could hand feed him nuts. Soon others came begging, standing on their hind legs, and even climbing up on the screen to stare me in the eye. The problem is now we've conditioned several generations of squirrels to come to our deck for treats and it seems too cruel to break this habit! I feel bad that we are feeding the local wildlife but I also can't ignore their begging faces! We have Goldy, Stumpy (for the squirrel with a missing leg), Scratchy (poor things all seem to have fleas), and Black Bart to name a few of our squirrel gang that come up on our back deck for peanut butter handouts. My sons keep trying to convince me to stop cold turkey. I say others feed the birds - I feed squirrels. I know I should stop - help! Any thoughts?
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