Squirrels, Raccoons, Birds - They're All Fun To Watch!

We’re now officially into summertime and we’re getting lots of backyard visitors. We love all critters and this week it’s our list of the Top 10 Backyard Visitors. See our favorites and vote for yours!

We love all critters great and small. And we’re a bit odd in that we love to feed birds and squirrels. That’s a conflict for many since squirrels tend to mess with the bird food and break into practically any bird feeder known to man. But we have found if we feed the squirrels peanuts that keeps them away from the bird feeders. And besides, watching the antics of the squirrels is amazing.

And you “anti-squirrel” people should consider this. We have three primary types of squirrels in the Metro Detroit area:  Small red squirrels, huge Fox squirrels, and eastern gray squirrels which come in brown and black colors and a blend of each. And squirrels aren’t dummies. When they harvest various nuts from trees (and you’d be surprised that many trees have some type of edible nuts), they bite the embryos off the nuts before burying them. Otherwise they’d sprout and the food source would be lost. Plus, squirrels are smart enough to eat the nuts first that are the first to go bad.

Of course we love all kinds of birds and have feeders for various types. A thistle seed bag attracts beautiful goldfinches during the summer. Oiler sunflower seeds attract purple finches, house finches and, of course, sparrows. Suet attracts woodpeckers – mainly downy, hairy and red-bellied although when food is plentiful in the summer, woodpeckers aren’t as common at the feeder as they are in winter.

Robins are welcome visitors during the spring, summer and late fall. Cardinals are beautiful year round. They always chrip for food very early in the morning, just after sunrise, and during the evening just before it gets totally dark although they can be seen cavorting around at all times of the day.

Chipmonks are a blast to watch. Ditto for raccoons and ‘coons are very intelligent. And yes, both can become destructive or cause trouble.

Some of the above mentioned critters can be menacning but we still love ‘em. When we lived in Farmington Hills, red squirrels would chew their way into our attick and one even chewed right through a wall and emerged in the house. We had to scoop him up in the living room with a fish landing net!

Okay, here’s our list of the Top 10 Backyard Visitors. Compare our list and vote for your favorites!

Past Top 10 Lists:

• Top 10 Made In Detroit
• Top 10 Irish Pubs In Metro Detroit
• Top 10 Steakhouses In Metro Detroit
• Top 10 Cheeseburgers In Metro Detroit