Wild furry friends ...

[Lavender2]

Furry and cute doesn't always mean great gardening companions, and then there's times ya just have to stop and say "awwwe" ....

This tree is at the edge of our woods, I guess the woodpeckers are done with it.

 

[Smart Red]

Good photos. Very 'awwwwe' worthy. And a very good place for the critter. Just don't let them get into the garden -- flower or veggies. I keep my place full of varmint appropriate habitats and adhere to the "Live and let live" philosophy, but they need to stay out of my flowers and food supply or I go to war.

 

[Nyboy]

Everyday I would find a wild rabbit on my front lawn. I enjoyed seeing him. Passed 2 days i haven't seen him, hope he didn't end up dinner. Red another LIve and let live camp here.

 

[journey11]

Aww, he's adorable! I love squirrels. I rehabbed a baby squirrel once and it was quite a memorable experience. They've never given me any trouble in the garden, but it must be due to the plentiful goodies they have available in the woods here.

ETA: Here's some pics of "Gilbert". This was in 2005. He was released back into the wild at about 4 months old.

 

[Lavender2]

Awwe, @journey11 ... what a fun experience with your baby squirrel!
This little one is a chipmunk. We seem to have a bunch of them this year. They're fun to watch, not so fun when they make their burrows in my gardens or around the foundation of the house.
The squirrels just like to empty the bird feeders, and occasionally during a drought year I've had trouble with them taking bites out of my tomatoes.

 

[annageckos]

I don't mind the critters taking a nibble of my plants here or there. I've found if I feed the squirrels they will leave my gardens alone. We get deer, foxes, skunks, rabbits, opossums and all kinds of birds. I love watching them all, even the deer. I haven't seen any chipmunks, but I know they are there.

 

[MuranoFarms]

Awwww, so cute! I love how he's peeking out through the hole!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm kind of in the other camp. A couple of years back I took 16 rabbits out of my garden before they stopped eating the beans as fast as they sprouted. That was 16 rabbits OUT of my garden. I did not touch any that I did not see in my garden that year, but I no longer maintain those standards. Still, I don't go out of my way to remove any that are not in my garden.

When I lived outside New Orleans many years back, it was pretty normal to look out the kitchen window and see 5 squirrels playing back there. If I disturbed the soil to plant anything, they would dig it up. Still, I did nothing about it until one stormy night. A squirrel chewed the flashing off a roof vent, going for the salty metal. That flashing slid down into my gutter, blocking it. When that storm hit, water started dripping through the den ceiling. I went up into the attic and rigged a bucket to catch the water pouring through where that flashing should have been. In the meantime that blocked gutter backed up and water was splashing over near my back door, then splashing up under that door into the den. During a lightning storm, I took out my ladder and removed that flashing from my metal gutter. Oh, the thrills of maintaining your home in a south Louisiana thunderstorm!

The next day, I bought two squirrel sized live traps and started a trapping program. In a month I removed more than 50 squirrels from my back yard and hauled them over 10 miles away for release near a petroleum refinery on the Mississippi River levee. I know it was illegal to release them like that but some squirrel hunter or predator got a feast. In the suburbs I did not have a good way to dispose of that many bodies. The squirrel pressure was so great, as soon as I'd remove two, two more would move in. It took a month to get the numbers down to where I only saw one or two at a time when I looked out my kitchen window.

Cute! Fuzzy! Adorable! Awww! Until the numbers get out of hand and they become pests.

 

[Lavender2]

I love living in an area with so much wildlife, even with it's challenges, most of the time. Like yesterday, I found a tunnel in my large planter box by my deck. Hoping it was an old tunnel, I dug around and started planting. Sure enough, the soil started moving and out popped a chipmunk face. 'Cute' was NOT the word I used!
I have found several burrows around the house and some of the sweet things will be relocated.

@Ridgerunner, I agree, you have to keep it acceptable for everyone. The hawks around here have been doing a pretty good job keeping the squirrel population livable, but if I see a red squirrel I have to act fast or the house is at risk. Haven't seen a rabbit in years, but I see more fox lately. When predators are down sometimes some control is necessary. Speaking of control, got to make up some deer repellent today!