Squirrels Peeing on my Balcony sliding door when there's no food!

[LyndaOliveWise]

Hi there. I'm just wondering if this urination behaviour is their way of letting me know they're annoyed with me OR is it their way of marking territory and saying they Own me as their food source or something.

They only scamper up the screen door - and go all the way to the top, then position themselves just so and then they squirt their best Amber water onto the screen door which of course passes through the screen onto the glass and then drips down the glass leaving long piss streaks.

LOL!

I'm tolerating this behaviour good-naturedly but I'm wondering if squirrels are being asshole like to me here.

They ONLY do it if I'm late putting out their food. As in, 8:30AM is my cutoff every morning!

Thank you.

[EdgeNut]

I put nuts out on my front porch which is slightly enclosed and my back porch which is very small and more open and gets most of the squirrels. I work mainly night turn and am home before the squirrels are out, but when I work afternoon turn, I don't get nuts out early on the back porch and I do see some pee where I usually put the nuts. If I put stuff out too early, I do have some raccoons here in town that may get the stuff. I've never seen pee on my front porch, only on my small back porch. I'm not sure if it a territory thing or being mad.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Sorry, but this really made me laugh.

I guess you'll be getting the food out there earlier in the future.

to TheSquirrelBoard

[island rehabber]

I'm dying here, too, because squirrels can be such assholes sometimes, but we still love 'em!!
I would say that's both territorial and 'controlling' behavior you're seeing. What a bunch of brats!

[EdgeNut]

Unfortunately I may be seeing a lot of pee on my porches in the coming months.... something I posted on another thread.....
Unfortunately I'm having thoughts about turning my back on my local squirrels after 10+ years of feeding them. The neighborhood is changing and they have lost another tree that was a safe route to my yard. Their safety coming here is not what it was a couple years ago and they have to come across ground. A couple years ago, squirrels coming from the west could go 100 yards by tree, but 2 trees in that path are gone and I just lost a NE tree this past week that was in a neighbor's yard. I have enough peanuts and almonds, pecans, walnuts, and hazel nuts in the shell to last me 2 more months and get them through the winter. I have no plans to buy anymore for now and maybe my squirrel feeding phase is coming to an end. They will survive without me and since they have short life expectancies in a city, they will forget about me and maybe live longer not being tempted to run across open ground. I'm not in the same class as the rest of you... I just put out food and watch them run away with it. You rehabbers devote a lot of your time and life to them and that's not something I would want to do, but I applaud you all for it. If I stop being a feeder, then I'm not sure what my part on the TSB would be. To be honest, I'm a cat lover at heart and if I weren't renting a house with a "no Pets" policy.. (the birds and squirrels are OK since the landlord grew up in this house and his mom did the same thing as I do)... I would have a cat. But that's another dilemma since I live alone and work shifts and probably wouldn't be good enough company for an indoor cat to be stimulated enough... it would probably be bored here.... loved but bored most of the time. I do have a "Cat Window Seat" in storage that I bought maybe 12 years ago in case I ever needed it. I have tons of stuff that I may never use, but you can't help hoping. Best to have stuff you don't use instead of needing stuff you can't get.
Anyways, this is a Squirrel site... once my nut stockpile runs out, I may still keep some on hand for the squirrels that remember me and come close if I'm sitting out, but the days of putting out about 1 1/2 lb of nuts and bird seed every day are coming to an end here soon. Will they miss me, probably not. Will I miss them? Yes but mostly I just put out stuff and look out and it's gone later. The one I really was close to and had no fear of me... would lay flat out beside me until I gave her something to run off with.... disappeared 5 yrs ago and since then it's just been the local beggars. Anyways, the trees to get here are disappearing and they are in more danger crossing the ground and heaven forbid some new neighbors move in that just love to kill anything that moves and lives. This town has tons of squirrels everywhere and if they lose my small area, then there are other places they can move to. In my years of feeding and watching them, I feel that they are their most happy running off with something big in their mouth to hide for the future... doesn't matter to them if they live to eat it eventually as much as their planning to come back to it someday. Maybe squirrels are the ultimate optimists considering their short life spans.

I'm really surprised no one posted a reply to what I posted on that thread.

[Nancy in New York]

Hi there. I'm just wondering if this urination behaviour is their way of letting me know they're annoyed with me OR is it their way of marking territory and saying they Own me as their food source or something.

They only scamper up the screen door - and go all the way to the top, then position themselves just so and then they squirt their best Amber water onto the screen door which of course passes through the screen onto the glass and then drips down the glass leaving long piss streaks.

LOL!

I'm tolerating this behaviour good-naturedly but I'm wondering if squirrels are being asshole like to me here.

They ONLY do it if I'm late putting out their food. As in, 8:30AM is my cutoff every morning!

Thank you.

I know exactly what you mean.
I've had to removed my screen during the winter months for this very reason. (After this photo op. )
See all the "pee streams" coming down the window?
If you notice, they are smart enough NEVER to pee when their head is down,
only when they're climbing UP!

[TubeDriver]

Yup, you have a brat or two hanging around!

I have one pretty annoying squirrel, Fred, who will pee on my door/glass. Most of the other squirrels are better behaved but Fred will stare at you until you feed him. He also pees on my door, I think it marks the door as his despite the fact that he is a relative newcomer.

[Mommaluvy]

Yep. Same here. I eventually stopped feeding on the deck. I waited till the spring. But now I feed somewhere else.

Little stinkers !

[Lighten-Up]

I put food out on tables and benches. Everyday I see pee puddles on just about all the surfaces, it dries and then becomes a bit of abstract art; it's like the squirrels are painting everyday with their pee. Once a puddle was so big, I had to take a photo of it. :-0 I couldn't believe that entire amount came out of a squirrel.

I will also see pee puddles when I go out to put out morning seed/nuts, from the ones who have obviously already come through, and were letting me know, hey, I was here and you weren't. But then there are more pee puddles after they all ate, so it's not just about peeing when there is no food.

It's my guess that they are marking territory; or just having a whole lot of squirrely fun. I enjoy their company and presence so much, I've decided to live with it. But I do wonder if they will always do it. When I sit outside, the few that are friendly will climb into my lap and pee on my leg, or on the papers I am writing notes on.

The mystery of squirrels, I guess that's part of what I love about them.

[Mel1959]

No worries about pee freezing on any windows or screens here. But since they use the top of the screen enclosure over the pool as their "flyway" they often pee when they are sitting up there eating a snack. I have learned to not stand underneath any of them! . What's even funnier is when we have had a heavy rain and the water accumulates on top of the screen. The squirrels run across the screen first thing in the morning and the water showers down on our cats that are lounging around the pool. . It's payback for all the times the cats stalk the squirrels on opposite sides of the screen!

[czarina]

Passive/ Aggressive squirrels!

[Lighten-Up]

Thought of this thread and decided to post this...

Was out in the yard working today. A squirrel I know came up to me to see if I had any nuts. I said no; and held out my open hand to show that I had nothing concealed. My glance turned away as I was distracted by something, and the squirrel crawled onto my hand, and the next thing I am aware of is my palm filling with the sensation of very warm pee, on this quite cold day. :-0 Seriously?

She deposited the entire contents of her bladder, and left. I don't completely understand, but am choosing to keep a very open and gracious mind about it all.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Well there you go... the message was pretty clear!

[Squeekhart]

Thought of this thread and decided to post this...

Was out in the yard working today. A squirrel I know came up to me to see if I had any nuts. I said no; and held out my open hand to show that I had nothing concealed. My glance turned away as I was distracted by something, and the squirrel crawled onto my hand, and the next thing I am aware of is my palm filling with the sensation of very warm pee, on this quite cold day. :-0 Seriously?

She deposited the entire contents of her bladder, and left. I don't completely understand, but am choosing to keep a very open and gracious mind about it all.

Hee, one can never know, but the thought came to me that possibly she is indeed "marking" you in ownership, at least, of the hand that feeds her. Check this out: Other animals do it as territoriality, right? Well. She may have deduced that The Hand is NOT s'posed to be EMPTY; thus some OTHER animal may have gotten to what she considers her stash, a regular place where she gets her food.

Heek. It is possible, you know. So she may have marked you to cover her bases: If another squirrel stole from The Hand what she believes is for her, she wants the other squirrel to realize: This is HER The Hand.


I know. Hee, maybe not. But it is possible! I am discovering that squirrels tend to have a reason that makes sense for every thing that they do.

[Lighten-Up]

Hee, one can never know, but the thought came to me that possibly she is indeed "marking" you in ownership, at least, of the hand that feeds her. Check this out: Other animals do it as territoriality, right? Well. She may have deduced that The Hand is NOT s'posed to be EMPTY; thus some OTHER animal may have gotten to what she considers her stash, a regular place where she gets her food.

Heek. It is possible, you know. So she may have marked you to cover her bases: If another squirrel stole from The Hand what she believes is for her, she wants the other squirrel to realize: This is HER The Hand.


I know. Hee, maybe not. But it is possible! I am discovering that squirrels tend to have a reason that makes sense for every thing that they do.

Very interesting insight. Since I don't really know, I could believe that could be entirely possible. Thanks for sharing it. :-)

I do believe when you said that squirrels do have a reason that makes sense to them for every thing that they do. They just think in squirrel ways, and it doesn't always make sense to us, unless we train ourselves to look through their lives... :-)

[DaSquirrelMom]

I've cared for two gray squirrels that enjoyed "marking" my husband. Out of all the places they could relieve themselves during their evening playtimes in our basement, they would run up his jeans and then soak his shirt.