curse the fuzzy earwigs!

To the creatures of the outdoors I've always been a fairly reasonable guy, for the most part. I've fed the birds for several years, and added corn cobs for the squirrels to keep them from raiding the seeds. Everybody's happy right? 

Well I'm sure not!!

A few weeks ago I noticed that the majority of our string of Christmas lights had gone out. Soon thereafter we had quite a windstorm blow through, and I noticed that a piece of the strand was lying broken on the deck. I figured that a part of our fence had fallen off the deck and the string was stretched to its breaking point. Then I remembered that part of the fence was already down so it wasn't the cause. Curious!

Then a day or two later, I saw a squirrel sitting atop a post on the deck. He was holding a rather large globe in his hands - a blue one. Yes, he had nibbled the strands off the perceived nut and was claiming it! I stode out furiously but he made off with it - perhaps I'll find it at the base of a tree soon? Part of me wishes the lights ran at a higher voltage so other squirrels would see the stunned or dead one and decide those nuts are poisonous..

I promptly stripped the remaining fragments of light from the deck, to prevent loss and to stop wasting the squirrels' valuable time eating wire and hoarding light bulbs. Damn idiot vermin.

I missed the lights though, so I moved a set of very not-bulbous LED lights to the fence. Your basic small and pointy white lights.

Yep, they're being stolen now too. Off they came!

I've re-ordered a new set of pointy white LED lights, and they will remain hooked on nails just beneath the gutter-line where the beasts cannot reach from above or below. Nice, but less personal.

And the corn-cobs are all distributed. Will I buy some more and encourage the beasts? 

Don't bet on it.