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The squirrels that I love to see scampering through the backyard from tree to tree have become a little less delightful as of late. When they seemed very determined to munch out on the birdfeed that we faithfully put out for our feathered friends, we found a way to deter them.

Mike purchased an apparatus for the feeder that keeps them from being able to climb the pole. It is in the shape of the Starship Enterprise or some other spaceship, but it doesn’t look too bad, really, and it gets the job done. That was our first squirrel challenge, I believe, although I’m beginning to lose count since they are adding up to a pretty large number.

A while back, I heard something that sounded like a horse tramping on the sunroom roof. Upon investigation, it turned out to be some of our squirrel friends. My son, Robby, had previously had the misfortune of a family of squirrels setting up housekeeping in his attic which required an exterminator and a repairman, so I knew we didn’t want them on our roof.

Mike trimmed the shrubbery so they couldn’t climb up and jump to the housetop. This helped for a while, but I noticed the other day that our squirrels seem to be of the acrobatic sort. They aren’t flying squirrels exactly, but they take a running jump from the live oak closest to the back porch and make a determined effort to make it to the roof. I really wasn’t ready to trim our beautiful oak tree, but it looks like that’s now on our list.

If that wasn’t enough to make me turn my nose up at my rodent buddies, they have stepped it up a notch. I noticed that my wicker furniture on the back porch was beginning to show signs of wear, but it happened all at once. First, the material wrapping the legs on one of my rockers just turned loose. Then, I noticed the other rocker had a similar situation going on. Next, my little love seat began to show wear.

“Mike, the back porch furniture is really looking rough. I was a little surprised that they didn’t hold up better than that, but I guess when you think about it we have had them for quite a while. I wonder if you could try a little repair job so we don’t have to replace them just yet?”

“Sure, dear. I’ll have a look at them.”

After investigating the problem Mike realized that those squirrels had decided to sharpen their teeth on the legs of the wicker. I was definitely not happy about that news, but he softened the blow a bit by telling me he could fix them. Mike has since trimmed off the damaged part and glued the rest of the material back on. Actually, the furniture looks almost as good as new, but I’m wondering if a nice squirrel stew should be on our fall menu?

Jan Penton Miller can be reached at lilsisjan@yahoo.com.