Good pic, Misty! They really can be fun to watch---at least when you're not pulling your hair out because of the damage they're doing! Right now they're busily digging all over the one end of my perennial bed, burying their winter stash---and I'm out there every day filling in the holes and smoothing out the mulch! I'm sure I'll find some Gamble oaks coming up again next spring!

About 10 years ago, at the last house where I lived, I had some pumpkins sitting out on the back deck, and I had a lot of squirrels there. I actually fed them over there for a while--until they started to gobble down all my bird seed as if somebody were paying me to take it! When they got "too expensive" they weren't as much fun to watch! Anyway, they started to chew on my pumpkins too, and since I didn't really care about them anymore, I just let them! Little by little they ate their way into each pumpkin, and when they got to the biggest one they ate a hole in the side and would actually go all the way inside of it to eat the seeds! It really was kinda fun to watch them when they were doing that!

Most of the neighbors have dogs at this house, and with the dogs terrorizing them, they don't tend to come into the yard that much, except for that one corner where there are two big cottonwood trees right next to the fence, and the dogs in that yard are rarely out!

Glad they didn't get to your pumpkins till after Halloween,
Skybird

I think the squirrels in this neighborhood are in a little bit of trouble. The 2 big walnuts across the road must have had a very poor crop. It may be just as well if these Eastern Grey squirrel ranks are thinned a little.

Last Fall, a male moved into the yard. I don't know if the resident female was the same over the last few winters but she decided to find a home, elsewhere.

Bad Boy was something of a pain. I certainly didn't appreciate cleaning the poop and pee off the deck. This Spring, he discovered the seed basket! The first thing he was interested in was the packet of sunflower seeds! The seed basket became the seed bucket, with a lid . . . which he couldn't quite chew thru!

His winter nest was remarkable and certainly not up to the female's standards. Her big nest really must have been comfy! He . . . well, I could see a little daylight looking up into his nest. If he wasn't at home, that is. Good thing we had a mild winter last year!

He was constantly scattering stuff from the compost bucket around the yard. The female was quite selective about what she ate out of the bucket and wouldn't carry it into a tree, anyway.

We will see how it goes with them. There are very few walnuts being buried around the yard so they may not even show up to spend the winter. I might buy a bag of sunflower seed for them. It is amazing how Bad Boy passed up everything else to get at them and then nearly chewed thru a plastic bucket lid to find them again.

Steve
whose jack o'lanterns remain, untouched

Squirrels are cool.. After living in the UK I know that this is suspect because the introduction of the Grey Squirrel has seriously impacted the native red squirrel (BTW a very cute animal!) They consider them worse than RATS!!!!!

I saw pictures the other day from a classmate who now lives in Arizona. The javelinas took her pumpkins (and got into the trash too). She had about 15 of them out there.

I think I'd prefer squirrels...

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia - Javelina

Last year I found a rabbit eating my pumpkin. Although it might have been the squirrels who actually broke it open.

greenbean08, skunk pigs, huh? I have nether pigs nor squirrels nor rabbits. I guess I'm grateful for the coyotes (as long as they stay clear of the yard) and pheasants, ducks and hawks.
A few gals at work are collecting everyone's carved halloween pumpkins to feed their goats. It's nice when they don't go to waste.
Great picture Misty!
Barb

My sister lives in Tucson, greenbean08, so know what you mean about javelinas! She says they see them often, as they live on the outskirts of town near a gully/wash. We often slept out in my sisters fifth wheel when we had a large family group visiting. I never saw one of the javalina's, but my other sister who was visiting and sharing the fifth wheel with me was terrified to go out at night for fear she'd run into one. :^D 'course, they come out in the day time, too, but at least you'd have some warning since you could see them so didn't worry about them during the day.

How funny seeing a rabbit in the pumpkins, foxes_garden!