More squirrels!

The squirrels in our yard are getting used to having birdseed put out. We've seen six, even seven or eight at a time out on the patio or the yard nearby! They have begun to notice that there is also seed in the squirrel-proof bird feeder hanging over the patio, and have begun to test it... It's been fun to watch.

At first the challenge was that of getting up to the feeder in the first place. Quite a few times we would look out just as a squirrel was trying to climb up the pole - only to be unable to get to the feeder once he was at its level! Although the funniest was on a rainy day, when the pole was wet, and evidently slippery - resulting in a frantic scramble of "climbing in place", ending with a hopeless slide back to the ground...

Now they have gotten to the point of getting onto the feeder itself - sometimes by climbing the pole, sometimes by leaping from the top of the cinder block nearby. However, as I mentioned, this is a squirrel-proof feeder - the wire cage around it slides down when something as heavy as a squirrel lands on it, and this covers up the holes. So I now keep seeing squirrels who have made it onto the feeder but cannot understand why they can't get any food out of it...

They also jump down really fast when you suddenly open the back door!