bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Squirrels

And I thought I had it bad. Recently I have spent most evenings on returning home from work replacing moss on many of my bonsai. Sometimes this has been thrown 3 to 4 feet. I suspected it was birds.

It was in fact one bird, a rather young Black bird, very healthy looking with a bright orange beak. I had been getting increasingly mad until I caught the little blighter red handed. He popped up over the fence chirped at me and followed me round the garden for about five minutes chirping all the time, then went straight to one of my bonsai and off with the moss. I couldn't help but laugh.

Any how the moral of the story. You are not going to stop wild life doing what they do best, that is forage for food, to ultimately survive. So what I would suggest is provide alternative food for them. For squirrels, nuts, Black birds love raisons and apple. Hopefully if you provide them with enough irresistible food to fill them up, they won't even look twice at our bonsai as a source of nourishment.

As bonsaists we all appreciate nature, that should extend to the animals in our gardens and yards too. A Bee or wasp may sting you, but it will probably pollenate the the blossom on your crab apple bonsai first, which will in turn provide a superb display of miniature apples in autumn. Also don't forget, without squirrels there wouldn't be so many Oak trees, they don't remember where they buried all the acorns. And finally birds eat berries along with the seed which in turn is deposited with a small amount of organic fertilizer to help the seed germinate.

I'm devastated for you robinpla, that looked like a nice tree too, but try nuts before shooting the little blighters. A nut feeder in a tree at the other end of your garden may just work.

3-Apr-2008	#8
NJF Tree Hugger Join Date: Feb-2008 Location: East Midlands Country: United Kingdom (England) USDA Zone: 8 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 100	And I thought I had it bad. Recently I have spent most evenings on returning home from work replacing moss on many of my bonsai. Sometimes this has been thrown 3 to 4 feet. I suspected it was birds. It was in fact one bird, a rather young Black bird, very healthy looking with a bright orange beak. I had been getting increasingly mad until I caught the little blighter red handed. He popped up over the fence chirped at me and followed me round the garden for about five minutes chirping all the time, then went straight to one of my bonsai and off with the moss. I couldn't help but laugh. Any how the moral of the story. You are not going to stop wild life doing what they do best, that is forage for food, to ultimately survive. So what I would suggest is provide alternative food for them. For squirrels, nuts, Black birds love raisons and apple. Hopefully if you provide them with enough irresistible food to fill them up, they won't even look twice at our bonsai as a source of nourishment. As bonsaists we all appreciate nature, that should extend to the animals in our gardens and yards too. A Bee or wasp may sting you, but it will probably pollenate the the blossom on your crab apple bonsai first, which will in turn provide a superb display of miniature apples in autumn. Also don't forget, without squirrels there wouldn't be so many Oak trees, they don't remember where they buried all the acorns. And finally birds eat berries along with the seed which in turn is deposited with a small amount of organic fertilizer to help the seed germinate. I'm devastated for you robinpla, that looked like a nice tree too, but try nuts before shooting the little blighters. A nut feeder in a tree at the other end of your garden may just work. __________________ The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.