This isn't about what type of squirrel, but about a feeder that we had. We owned a cabin at Big Bear Lake in Calif. with another couple. When we bought it one of the things I loved about it was this little "mailbox" thing that was attached to the porch. We soon realized it was a feeder. You put raw peanuts in the shell in the top. A squirrel could come and sit on a little perch and the squirrel's weight would open the lid and he could help himself. It had obviously been made lovingly by hand. It was painted red.

It used to drive the bluejays and other birds crazy. They would watch the squirrels get all of the nuts they wanted and then they would fly on to the perch and nothing would happen. We would laugh as they actually jumped up and down trying to open the lid.

Sadly one snowy winter some kids vandalized it. My dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I shocked him by asking him if he could rebuild the feeder. It was a tricky little thing and it had to be weighted just right or it wouldn't open. Dad went around asking everyone how much a squirrel weighed. Dad was now in his 80's and was having fun.

In the Spring we had a nice surprise, all of the parts had been on the ground under the snow and the mystery of how it was made revealed itself and Dad was able to build me a new one - just in time for my birthday. My Dad is gone now, but this is one of my fondest memories of things he did for me. Oh, and the squirrels were grey and they had the entire property "mined" with nuts.


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