Carver, 64, lives in an RV full time and works as a campsite host in national parks and national forests. Some days, he says, he feels like he’s surrounded by the enemy.
We are of course talking about squirrels.
“They are capable of causing enormous damage,” he says. They chewed through his insulation and the lid of his grill. They tip over his propane tanks and leave piles of walnut shells on his steps and picnic table. He fears they will chew through electrical wiring, or worse, sewer pipes. “It’s an ongoing battle,” Carver says. “Constant vigilance and worry. »
Carver has even expressed his frustration on social media, where he runs a small Facebook group called “Squirrel Haters of America,” although he concedes that “hate” may be too strong a word: “I like watching their antics. They are incredibly intelligent and athletic. It’s a strange love/hate story, I guess.
Squirrels are everywhere (there are over 200 species worldwide and the total population is estimated to be in the millions to billions) and despite the fact that they are cute, most of the attention they receive is negative. People worry about keeping them out of attics, bird feeders and garden beds, but “we don’t really think about their more complex roles in our ecosystems and our daily lives,” says Alex Potash, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Science at the University of Florida. Ecology and wildlife conservation.
Even within the scientific community, these creatures receive little attention. “In fact, very little is known about them ecologically,” says Noah Perlut, professor and director of “Project Squirrel” at the School of Marine and Environmental Programs at the University of New England. “When I started the project, I looked at the literature and couldn’t believe there wasn’t a single published ecological study on gray squirrels in New England.”
Experts say if people learned more about squirrels, they might find them much more adorable. North America is home to gray and red squirrels, fox squirrels, flying squirrels, and other members of the Sciuridae family (think chipmunks, groundhogs, woodchucks, and prairie dogs), and they all provide important ecosystem services.
One of the most important things squirrels do is probably also what they are best known for: hiding acorns and nuts. Because they don’t hibernate, Potash said, squirrels spend much of the year squirrel-ing. pack food for the winter. In the fall, that means collecting and burying as much as they can find. And although they have an uncanny ability to remember where their stash is, some of these nuggets inevitably don’t stay collected.
“Maybe the squirrel dies or can’t find it,” Potash says, “but for some reason that acorn stays in the ground and germinates and grows into a tree.” His research found that squirrel behavior is one of the main factors influencing how forests regenerate and where trees – and many other plants – grow.
“They need to eat all year round, that’s true, so it’s not just about acorns,” Potash adds. “They distribute a lot of seeds because they eat a lot of other plants and berries. They even spread fungi: when they dig, they become covered in fungal spores, then they dig elsewhere and scatter them.
Thanks to their size and abundance, squirrels have another “incredible ecological value,” Perlut says, “but in a way that makes people a little disgusted.” They constitute an essential food; it’s just part of being a small mammal. Predators include foxes, coyotes, bobcats, birds of prey (like owls, hawks and eagles) and even alligators.
How to make peace with squirrels
Many people find squirrels annoying, and of course it’s frustrating when they dig holes in your lawn, chew things they shouldn’t, steal into your yard and bird feeders, and sometimes even make their way into your home. But the first step to living more peacefully alongside them is to understand why they do these things.
“They are very sociable and spend much of their day watching, learning and observing,” says Perlut. “They have adapted incredibly to our presence. Think about how difficult it is, for example, for a squirrel to live in a big city park, and how dangerous that is. Between cars, foods that could kill them, people that harm them, other animals that eat them; the fact that they can survive and even thrive despite all these threats is quite remarkable.
Because they have adapted so well to sharing their habitat with humans, squirrels have learned that a garden or bird feeder provides a safe and reliable meal. And, as any homeowner knows who has heard the telltale crackle through their ceiling, they have learned that an attic can be a nice, warm place to raise a family of squirrels. However, many of these inconveniences are easy to avoid.
Most species only need a 3-inch hole or less to enter the house, so be sure to seal any small gaps around gutters and attic windows, repair any rotten wood that They can chew and place a mesh or hardware cloth behind openings like vents.
“If we can keep our homes airtight, squirrels will find plenty of natural habitats to nest in,” says Perlut.
As for your garden, a netting or hardware cloth can help keep them away, but there are other natural repellents you can try. Planting alliums – think garlic and onions – around the edges of the garden, for example, can give squirrels an unpleasant odor. The same goes for some flowers, like marigolds and geraniums. And if all else fails, squirrels are sensitive to capsaicin, the compound that gives peppers heat. Plant a few spicy varieties or simply sprinkle a generous amount of chili powder around the perimeter as a deterrent.
For bird feeders, there are many models that claim to be “squirrel-proof,” but the aforementioned intelligence (not to mention their climbing and jumping capabilities) makes it difficult to truly keep squirrels away. Putting a baffle – a cone-shaped barrier – on the post can prevent them from climbing, but experts agree that the best way to deal with squirrels at the feeder is simply to pick them up.
“People who own bird feeders tell me their frustrations all the time,” Perlut says. “I’m always curious why they don’t like squirrels. Don’t you feed wildlife because you want to see them? Why do you want to see just birds, rather than birds and squirrels together? They are wild animals that deserve our love, appreciation and study.
Potash says people should feel lucky to be surrounded by squirrels. “If I want to see a bear, I have to go out into the middle of the woods and stalk it and do all these things,” he said. “But I can walk right past my door and see squirrels.”
Kate Morgan is a freelance writer in Richland, Pennsylvania.
