I love this discussion. My boss says we need to shoot the squirrels and have them for lunch. i like to watch them. Mine are picky eaters. They do not like the bird seed type food or corn. They will take it or leave the peanuts behind with the shells. Boy they were making a mess, the boys were. My old momma squirrel was more grateful and would be sure the shells fell to the gravel, not on the porch. She got killed and we had to rescue her babies from a wire spool on the top rung. They all survived and released into the wild. We now have another momma and she has babies, have not found her nest, but watching to be sure they survive. I know, crazy as it seems, the boss tolerates the squirrels better than the birds. One woodpecker put a hole in our warehouse and built a next in there. What a mess they make. The small chickadee type built a next in our job trailer. Had to clean that up. When I put out squirrel food, the birds come and eat it before the squirrels get there. My DH built me a squirrel feeder so the ugly crows would not eat their food. To me they are very entertaining and make my day at the office go much brighter. In fact, one day my old momma squirrel came into the office onto the file cabinet to get the food. Sat there and ate it then left. she was not afraid. When she was pregnant, she got on the railing to eat and leaned on the post for about 15 mintues taking a break. It was so adorable. I do not have the advantage of beautiful birds here so enjoy yours.