Having run out of birdseed, I put some muesli on my bird table.

Suddenly there's an entire family of four squirrels enjoying the banquet.

Fortunately, not going along with the "rats" theory, I quite like squirrels.

You'll have every squirrel within a five mile radius beating a path to your back garden now. They simply adore muesli.

I love squirrels.

No No No. Grey squirrels are vermin. Don’t encourage them. Up in Cumbria we still have red ones!
JK - You need to get some proper bird feeders. That ensure the right creature gets the food.

When the dog came in last night, we had an owl perched on our garage roof. It wasn’t there this morning, but hopefully it will come back soon. Lots of Buzzards around too at the moment.

I know. Red squirrels good; greys bad (especially when, as one did a few years ago, they decide to nest in the crawl space beneath the roof and keep you awake all night scampering).

But I think they are sweet!

I'm all for preserving the red squirrels, but it's an uphill task. The grey have been here for so long that they are now possibly more native to Britain than many of the people.

Grey squirrels are beautiful, intelligent and highly adaptable animals and yet there appears to be an intolerance ..even a hatred of them by some people.
Demands for their death come largely from just two sources: those with vested interests, and so-called conservationists who whimsically favour one animal over another.

We should not forget that, not so long ago, red squirrels were accused of all things for which the greys are now blamed. As a result, hundreds of thousands of reds were killed, driving them to near extinction.

It is not the fault of grey squirrels that they were brought to this country 130 years ago and, despite everything, have thrived. To kill en masse such a hardy species flies in the face of Darwinism.... it is the killing of the fittest.

Finally and most importantly, squirrels feel pain. That they can legally be beaten to death in a sack, trapped, shot or even drowned by 'pest' controllers, is an indication of how unfeelingly savage our society has become.

When you've watched four squirrels almost with napkins around their necks tucking into a banquet in front of you, one is tempted to indulge them.

Spread a little happiness!