A bold member of the backyard tribe.

Cute, squirrels—and don’t get me wrong, there’s almost nothing more adorable than a litter—or whatever they are called--of babies, practicing their acrobatics, rejoicing in spring and the abundance of seedy snacks falling from the maple trees. One spring, my best buddy and I were having a cuppa tea and watching the antics of a troop of young ‘uns as they chased, rolled, and swung from impossibly small branches like trapeze artists, when she came up with the best quip of all time: Cirque de Squirrel-lay! which described their play-time to the letter.

Yes, squirrels are smart, and creative--but just hell on my birdfeeders and on my flowerpots. It’s really a drag to come out onto your porch to see flower sets you just planted tossed or leaning at odd angles because some tree rat has decided he needs that pot for his storage. It’s easier to dig up nice soft potting soil than our hard clay yard. Frankly, I’ve never lived anywhere with such aggressive squirrels. These guys have a look in their eyes that makes me feel they are planning a mugging. Perhaps it’s that we live in a semi-urban area where annoyed gardeners can’t use them for .22 practice as they might in the country, but we do seem in need of a predator.

I’m not exaggerating about the mugging. These squirrels do mug my housecats. Of course, cats are not the nicest animals on the planet, either, if you are a chipmunk or baby rabbit. My dear soft little orange Elizabeth loves to find a new bunny nest and eat them, one by one. I’ve started to curtail her a.m. forays out-of-doors during bunny nesting period, because once she has located their hiding place, she is remorseless.

Our squirrels, however, are a lot harder to tackle. They jump on her back and hang on if she attempts to chase them—and so, wisely, she doesn’t do this anymore. I wouldn’t want to be chomped on by teeth which can piece walnut shells, either!