Deter marauding squirrels by keeping them well fed - really!

Squirrels are both the gardener's friend and enemy. With their antics and acrobatics, squirrels give us hours of entertainment. They can twist their ankles 180 degrees so they can face any direction when climbing, even climbing straight up and down a tree trunk. Squirrels can leap approximately 10 times their own body length. If they lose their footing, squirrels can fall unharmed from nearly 100 feet, because their fluffy tail acts like a parachute that catches air, slowing their fall, giving them time to snag onto a branch. This doesn't even include the flying squirrels that glide from tree to tree.

Squirrels help the environment – they’re constantly planting trees by burying acorns and forgetting where they hid them. Up to 70% of the seeds and nuts they bury are abandoned.

Yes, squirrels do wreak havoc with bird feeders, so you may want to give them their own separate squirrel feeders, set away from your bird feeders. Squirrels enjoy eating sunflower seeds, which is why they scatter bird feed around, trying to fish out the sunflower seeds and leaving the rest. Try giving them unroasted, unsalted peanuts, corn kernels, and fruits such as slices of apples, watermelons, and grapes.

To feed the birds but not the squirrels from a feeder, try stocking seeds that squirrels do not like, such as safflower seeds. Safflower seeds will attract lots of songbirds including black-capped chickadees, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, evening grosbeaks, house finches, indigo buntings, mourning doves, northern cardinals, red-bellied woodpeckers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, tufted titmice and nuthatches.

Well-fed squirrels are less likely to raid your bird feeders or attack your garden.

There are many plants that rodents such as squirrels will not eat, such as daffodils, bleeding hearts, hyacinth, iris, geraniums, snowdrops, lily of the valley, and alliums.

A source of fresh water will attract both birds and squirrels, and squirrels don’t mind sharing their water source with other creatures.

You can plant some squirrel-friendly trees, such as a mix of evergreen and deciduous types including pines, aspens, spruces, and willows. As a bonus, your yard will have a bit more shade to help cool the summer air.

During the winter, when squirrels hibernate, blood flow to their brains slows down, similar to the reduced blood flow to a human brain that happens with an ischemic stroke caused by a blocked blood vessel . Scientists are trying to figure out why humans have strokes from the lower blood flow to the brain, but squirrels don't.

So, instead of fighting the squirrels, try making your yard squirrel-friendly. Give them feeding areas away from bird feeders, plenty of trees to play and nest in, and just enjoy their antics. To do otherwise is just nuts.