Wild squirrel question?

[furrybaby]

Hello.

I have always been a squirrel lover, in fact I like all wild animals. I have been helping out the wild grey squirrels that live in my area. I had one squirrel come up to me a couple years ago and he looked hungry so I gave him a walnut. He loved it. Well he started coming around daily. Fast forward, now I have like 12 or more wild greys ( and one black) coming to my back porch all the time to eat:gigg.

I told myself that I was going to wean them down once summer came but, well that never happened Lol. I usually feed them shelled walnuts, hazelnuts, and roasted peanuts. I know peanuts are not the healthiest for them, but I try and mix it up. Now that fall is approaching( I live in the city of Chicago) I figured I might as well keep feeding them as it is going to grow colder and now is when they try and fatten up for the winter I think.

One issue I am having is that I have so many that come to my back porch. They are SOOO messy!!!! I have pee's and poo's all over my back porch and have to constantly sweep up. The worst is the pee as it is leaving a smell. I have a wooden back porch so naturally the pee is soaking in and making it smell, well much like a zoo. The problem is that they hang around most all day. They even crawl on my kitchen windows to get my attention when they want to eat. Here is the kicker, we also have a pigeon who hangs around and she must have been watching the squirrels come to the window and beg so she has started coming to the window and knocking on it with her beak!! Lol, it is so funny. These animals are very smart.

Any suggestions on how to lessen the squirrels pee'ing and poo'ing on my back porch? I don't want to stop feeding them altogether like Since I said, fall is here. I usually feed in the morning and the evening. But they all keep coming during the day and begging all day long. They sit on the back porch because it probably is a safe haven for them. I don't mind that at all, but the constant poo and pee puddles is really getting annoying and the stinky zoo smell is not to great either:shakehead. Any advice is appreciated.

[TubeDriver]

Hi and welcome to the TSB! :)

Squirrels really enjoying pooping and peeing and there is really not a lot that you can do to prevent them from doing this.

You can place the food/treats on the ground off your deck and NOT leave large amounts of food out all day, this will reduce the amount of squirrel traffic on your deck. My deck is concrete so I do not worry as much about poops/pee but I still have to blow the deck clean weekly with a leaf blower. The leaf blower works far better than a broom! I also started to offer unshelled almonds and walnuts and that reduced the mess a LOT since their are no leftover shells.

I tend to give more food in the winter when their natural food sources start to dwindle.

You may want to consider getting your deck restrained with some type of water resistant finish which will make it easier to rinse off but squirrel pee does a pretty good job of staining stuff.

I am sure they appreciate your treats but living with squirrel means you have to get used to some messiness! Squirrels themselves are very clean but their nests and eating areas are a mess!




Hello.

I have always been a squirrel lover, in fact I like all wild animals. I have been helping out the wild grey squirrels that live in my area. I had one squirrel come up to me a couple years ago and he looked hungry so I gave him a walnut. He loved it. Well he started coming around daily. Fast forward, now I have like 12 or more wild greys ( and one black) coming to my back porch all the time to eat:gigg.

I told myself that I was going to wean them down once summer came but, well that never happened Lol. I usually feed them shelled walnuts, hazelnuts, and roasted peanuts. I know peanuts are not the healthiest for them, but I try and mix it up. Now that fall is approaching( I live in the city of Chicago) I figured I might as well keep feeding them as it is going to grow colder and now is when they try and fatten up for the winter I think.

One issue I am having is that I have so many that come to my back porch. They are SOOO messy!!!! I have pee's and poo's all over my back porch and have to constantly sweep up. The worst is the pee as it is leaving a smell. I have a wooden back porch so naturally the pee is soaking in and making it smell, well much like a zoo. The problem is that they hang around most all day. They even crawl on my kitchen windows to get my attention when they want to eat. Here is the kicker, we also have a pigeon who hangs around and she must have been watching the squirrels come to the window and beg so she has started coming to the window and knocking on it with her beak!! Lol, it is so funny. These animals are very smart.

Any suggestions on how to lessen the squirrels pee'ing and poo'ing on my back porch? I don't want to stop feeding them altogether like Since I said, fall is here. I usually feed in the morning and the evening. But they all keep coming during the day and begging all day long. They sit on the back porch because it probably is a safe haven for them. I don't mind that at all, but the constant poo and pee puddles is really getting annoying and the stinky zoo smell is not to great either:shakehead. Any advice is appreciated.

[furrybaby]

Hi Tubedriver,

Thanks for the response. I already feed them nuts without out the shells as well. You are right, that does lessen the mess. Our back porch is treated, but still the pee does soak through it. Maybe we need to look into treating it though( we bought it this way so not sure how well it was treated). I would think the people who built it would have had to treat it to protect it against water since it is outdoors. However, I do notice the pee pee soak in after while.

Yes, I think you are right, I need to stick to a specific feeding time. They all keep coming individually to my back door all during the day though and it is sooo hard to ignore them. You know what I mean, they give you that "I'm hungry" look.

I just worry about the whole disease thing with the poops and pees being on my porch where we walk. I know it is not sanitary at all. Maybe if I try just feeding them in the morning and in the evening. I will just have to say no if they come all during the day I guess( that will be rough since I am a huge softie Lol).