Boy, it's been cold lately. As we go to homes taking care of Squirrel problems,
we've noticed how Deer are now feeding heavily on shrubs and plantings around homes.
While needing more calories to combat the cold temperatures, the animals are also faced with a lack of mast, or nuts, like acorns this year. It is normal for the acorn crop to cycle and in a lean year, such as this, they get pretty hungry come mid winter. Deer can eat just about anything including tree bark but some things they are forced to eat have no nutritional value. They will also be active around bird feeders as well.
While wrapping in Burlap can help protect your ornamental, it is also costly and inconvenient for a homeowner and, it's only part of what is happening.
Deer will also consume saplings and Browse, (the ends and tips of branches) as big as a pencil in diameter. Native plants that emerge in the spring will be ravished altering the natural balance of the forest. Forrest regeneration is altered, especially in areas where there is no hunting to control the populations overall numbers. A good example of this in our area is watershed or water company property such as lake Saltonstall in Branford.
It all goes to show how adaptable Deer are and in even adverse conditions, can survive to give birth to a new generation, starting the cycle all over again. They really are a remarkable animal.
A link to a list of Deer resistant plants
http://www.woodstockconservation.org/deer_resistant_plants.htm

Squirrel down the chimney

Branford Ct Squirrel work, November/December 2008
Most often, when a Squirrel goes into a chimney, it becomes stuck. If it is able to come out of the fireplace or heating unit flue, it can and will cause considerable damage to the windows and door frames of a home, trying to chew it's way out.
In the following pictures, a home in Branford Ct. had a improper chimney screened installed by a handyman. The Squirrels easily went around this and entered the room below, through the fireplace. They chewed all around the windows and the wood trim as well. the only thing that saved the rest of the house was the door to that room was shut, thereby preventing the Squirrel from getting into the rest of the house. One Squirrel can chew a dozen or more windows in a single day in an attempt to escape. Once we removed the Squirrels from the property, we removed the stone top on the chimney (Heavy!) and installed a U.L. listed chimney top, or cap. This is a permanent solution.
The first line of defense for a home when it comes to wildlife is a proper chimney cap.

Squirrel season!

Its January and that means lots of Squirrel activity. In Connecticut, we have three species of Squirrels. The Gray Squirrel, the Flying Squirrel (pictured on left) and the Red Squirrel. The most common are the Gray and flying and therefor the ones we deal with on a regular basis. The Flying Squirrel is a Nocturnal animal with a very healthy population this year.
Squirrels are now entering their breeding season and you will soon see the Grays chasing each other up and down trees.
An important factor in this winters Squirrel population is that there was almost no Acorn production this fall and certainly none left now in our area. This will force the Squirrels to find other food sources.