Stop in for a cup of coffee
Yes ! Squirrels will chase them off becouse they eat there babbies, I have about 20 in my yard, I feed them corn and fatten them up .. Yep ! I get the pun :thumbsup:
I feed mine also...
I don't have a garbage disposal in my sink... This house has never had one.. The plumber says it makes the drains clog easier...
I just throw my old food in the front yard, and something will eat it... There are two shifts - day and night... Day shift is the squirrels and chip monks... Night shift is the raccoons, deer, and coyotes... Whatever the day shift leaves, the night shift usually will get by morning, if not the next day... It won't sit more than two days before it's all gone... Sometimes I put out alot and I think they either get full, or spooked away by a predator, then come back the next night to see if there is any more left... What is too old/spoiled for the dog to eat, I throw out in the yard...
I have the dog trained not to eat the food in the front yard... But I think that he's figured out that having the food out there is like chumming the water and attracts the critters... He usually asks to go out more often when I put the food out for them because as soon as he goes out, he runs to the edge of the porch and goes full alert and looks for something to chase... Then will give a little "squirt" to give me the illusion that he's going out to go to the bathroom, and not play me so he can chase something... I know sometimes he asks to go out so he can look for something to chase... I give him a hard time when he "plays me" and asks to go out, only so he can chase something and doesn't have to use the bathroom... He will try to pull that every 15 - 30 minutes if I let him manipulate me... Sometimes I tell him that he can't go out because he just went a little while ago - I'm on to his games...
But he's good about asking to go out to go to the bathroom... He will even ask in middle of the night... There are only two things that he will get out of bed for in middle of the night - food and emergency bathroom. If it's not an emergency, he will hold it until morning (sun-up)... If he has to go real bad, he will bark at me until I get out of bed and run to the door to ask to go out... As soon as he gets out the door, he gets right to business... That's how I know he really had to go - when he doesn't have to go too bad, he looks for something to chase, then does business if no "customers"... My dog rarely has an accident in the house...