Monday, July 11, 2005

Scrappy the most evil squirrel in all the world

Last week, I noticed shreds of wood near the spigot for the hose. I thought it was odd, but then we get so much construction debris from the new condo building next door that I figured it came from something they were doing.


Then, I found this- with telltale knaw marks:

I looked up at the four stained glass windows on the side of the building and I could see the first floor looked okay, but suspected the knarled wood trim had come from above and I don't mean heaven.

On the bright side, one of the advantages of this new 3-story condo building is that Steve asked the guys if he could go in and look at our windows from their building rather than pulling out the 30 foot ladder (not something you want to do on a Monday morning)

and here's what he found:


Here's a close up:


We know who did it of course: Scrappy. Yes, we name our neighborhood squirrels silly names and we feed them peanuts in the winter and this is the thanks we get.

The guilty party: beware Scrappy-the most evil squirrel in the land


Seriously, yet another project for Steve will be rebuilding the frames on the 4 stained glass windows (2 per floor) but obviously he hasn't time this year. We will probably end up screwing a storm window onto the moulding to protect the window till next year.

And if another houseblogger posts on shredded wood this week, I say we've got a theme going.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, and I thought my tulip top eating squirrel was nasty. Too bad I can't send a few of my man-eating crows your way. They certainly have rid my neighborhhod of squirrels. On a more practical note though, pepper wax spray (sold in garden centers) gets them to stop chewing.

Greg said...

That is weird. I wonder why, after all these years, the window started getting munched on? I like StuccoHouse's idea of the pepper wax spray.

As a side note: StuccoHouse - If you do move to Blogger at least it means I will be able to comment on your blog from time to time. I don't know way AOL limits that to AOL members only.

Jocelyn said...

I am wondering if our feeding them has contributed to the problem. We only feed them in winter, but they have a field day at the bird feeders too. They have started sitting on our window sills sometimes and they don't jump off when we approach. City squirrels get pretty bold sometimes.

Also, you can comment on aol, you just have to create a login, which you can do even if you aren't a member. Just fyi.

Anonymous said...

Yeah- he looks cute, but he's not very nice. I hope the pepper wax spray works. Bummer.

Scott in Washington said...

Yes, I'm trying to imagine what on earth would induce a rodent to chew up old wood like that. Do you know if its just the one squirrel or are there multiple culprits?

Derek said...

I could see if there were bugs in the wood. Or maybe they sharpen their teeth on wood? like beavers

Jocelyn said...

I don't know if it's one or not actually. Maybe he wants to come inside and raid our fridge!

Lisa said...

Holy Cats! That IS an evil squirrel! Sheesh!

Anonymous said...

I feed the squirrels year round - you can get those dried corncobs and the squirrels take longer to eat those than the peanuts.

The only thing they and the chipmunks have destroyed is the rubbermaid container where I keep the birdseed - they ate right through the lid. Next year, I'll get a metal container!

And I love your windows!!