How do you get a squirrel to come to you?

Question

I have had a squirrel feeder for several years. Here In l, Houston I get them pretty much all year. I would like, however to be able to see them without them scurrying off, all the time. Some don't seem to mind me in thegeneral area but the minute i start toward them they run off. How can I calm them. I don't necesarily want to hand feed or hold them, just to be around them withowut scaring them.

Answer 1

Squirrels are naturally skittish. Although, what you can do is bring a lawnchair outside with you. Start relatively far off, and just sit there. You can just be there to read a book, do whatever. And slowly, move your chair closer. If they run off, let them. Just go back to sitting on the chair and completely ignoring them. They will come back if they are hungry enough. Once a few of them feel comfortable, put a few nuts around your chair, scattered here and there. Slowly, they will be accustomed to you being there.

Just don't handfeed them. Because then they become more and more domesticated, and either more dogs will get them, or they start attacking humans cause they think the humans have food for them.

Answer 2

Squirrels are naturally skittish so this might be hard to do. Heres the problem though, you start getting friendly with them and they'll be more dependent on you. Which means you'll have squirrels coming into your back yard and even coming up to your back door all day long. If you don't mind that then why don't you see what time they usually come into your backyard and go out around that time and just sit there and see how they react then.

Answer 3

Unless you are hand feeding them, they probably will always scurry off. Just their nature.

When I was in Washington, DC, the squirrels were so used to people feeding them that they would come right up to you to see if you had any food. I was sitting on a bench and 3 squirrels jumped up on the bench with me waiting for a handout. And those squirrels are very well fed!

Answer 4

My dad feeds squirrels on the back deck of his and my mom's house he'll throw some out and a few squirrels come up and he talks to them really sweet and kind and they don't run from him. They are so used to him feeding them. I don't think he could ever actually touch them since they are wild but they come up to him and get the peanuts he puts out for them. I think one time he even got one to take one from his hand. I guess all you got to do is be very gentle and quiet and talk to them really sweet. Don't make any noises my dad doesn't do that and it's possible you'll have them come up to you. It's better if you try to feed them peanuts out of your hand. That's all I can suggest.

Answer 5

The squirrels at UVA think they own the place. A particularly fat one used to harass us when we sat under the tree and read. His favorite food was my friend's yellow highlighter. She went through a pack in a semester because the rodent with the bushy tail would actually come up to her and grab it from her hand.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should feed them highlighters...

Answer 6

That's pretty hard, because squirels are wild animals. They have a natural instinct to view humans as potential predators. But it's not impossible, it just takes a whole lot of patience(more than I have, lol.)

Answer 7

squirrils r very skidish u need to move slow and spend alot of time and paintaince with them good luck dont get bet it hurts lik h--- HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR LV OUT

Answer 8

Put out a trap with some nuts in it. When you catch the squirrel, dispose of it. They are evil little creatures heading up the animal conspiracy to destroy mankind. If you don't believe me about the animal conspiracy, check out Tim Bedore's website.

Answer 9

Whistle and they will come to you.