Squirrel Feeder

In two days time I shall have completed the report. I will have to push squirrels to the back of my mind as I study for final exams. This is my chance to show one or two interesting snippets of my findings.

Number of hairs from either red or grey squirrels on a peice of sticky tape.


Statistical tests show that there is a 'strong' link between the number of grey squirrel hairs and how many red squirrel hairs there are. Does this mean that less red squirrels will use the feeder when more grey squirrels are using it? To be honest this is the least conclusive result I have. Maybe it doesn't show that at all. But I think that it's interesting all the same.

# posted by henry @ 2:02 pm

The grey squirrels in Kelvingrove are eating through my sack of peanuts in no time. It cost £27 and weighed 25kg which seems a lot after the first mile in a back-pack... It's all worth it tho. I'm taking recordigs every ohter day from the counters which are showing about 100 lid-lifts a day form each feeder. Although the squirrels in one spot still haven't leant how to lift the lid and insist in chewing through whatever defences I add to the feeder... Stupid squirrels.

# posted by henry @ 11:13 am 29 comments

After working on their construction all week, I've finally had an afternoon climbing the trees of Kelvingrove to install 6 brand new squirrel feeders. Each is complete with tally counter and sticky tape to record exactly how many squirrels lift the lids to access the peanuts, and whether the number of hairs they leave behind is a good indicator of this.

# posted by henry @ 4:16 pm 3 comments

Installing tally counters under the squirel feeder lids has brought to light an interesting squirel phenomonom: It seems that tho red squirrels appear happy to use the selective feeders they may prefer to take the easy option if there's a normal one around. Last week I put up 2 feeders without any selective mesh and not surprisingly the grey squirrels starting using them -they must be well happy to be able to steal red's nuts again. However -the reds have just about stopped using the feeders that were excluiselvy for them and are sharing at the same ones that the greys are using. Do they like sharing with greys or is is simply too much effort to squeeze through the mesh to thier special feeders?

Both the hairs caught on sticky tape under the lids and the tally counters are recording this. The cameras are pretty defunct just now and need an overhall..

# posted by henry @ 1:39 pm 3 comments

Caught grey-handed: A grey squirrel un-able to fit through the mesh but activating the camera by sticking a paw through and lifting the lid. I don't think he can have reached any nuts but he had a good attempt -I've got 12 photos of him!

# posted by henry @ 12:59 pm 4 comments

Another day with a camera that functions beautifully taking one automatic photo after another and then seizing up. And I have to leave the project to start a new lecture course tomorrow morning... I leave the cameras in my brothers hands. He has high hopes for his mini-soldering iron in solving the last technical issue!

# posted by henry @ 10:49 pm 4 comments

At last; 2 squirrel feeders are up and running taking automatic squirrel photos. They may be a little erratic and require some fine tuning so that they actually work all week between photo-downloads, but here are some examples of what they produce when they decide to work:

# posted by henry @ 8:55 am 2 comments

I have at last discovered a small pocket of red squirrels! Right under my very nose, just over the hill in the next valley a little family of squirrels is fed in a garden on the edge of the woods. I hear reds have also been seen in neighboring gardens. What's more, they're even used to being fed using the weighted-door type of squirrel feeder -great potential for using my size selective one. But the hazel nut season is just beginning making shop bought nuts seem very unnapeailing to the squirrels...

# posted by henry @ 9:21 pm 3 comments

I'm sitting in a Cambodian version of an Internet Cafe so sadly can't provide any nice squirrel pics just now. I can at least apologise for the lack of recent updaters. My excuse is the travels through SE Asia that have been rather absorbing my attention over the last 6 weeks. I do return in early September to continue squirrels and squirrel blogging! And I have seen a few Asian squirrels now and again in recent travels; a dull brown colour but full of energy and just as fun to watch as their British counterparts even if they have not the looks.

# posted by henry @ 1:53 pm 2 comments

Still a bit of reliability required to add into the squirrel-activated--cameras (need to come up with an acronym!) so my latest set of a squirrel feeding -just with my fully Henry operated camera - to post meanwhile.

# posted by henry @ 9:19 pm 1 comments