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Squirrels & Wildlife

Pros and Cons of Feeding Squirrels: An Honest Accounting

Feeding squirrels is enjoyable and mostly harmless to them — the costs land on your roof, your bird feeders, your neighbours and your bulbs.

By Salma 3 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
Feeding squirrel hand
Photo: Anrita1705, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay
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Mostly harmless to the squirrels, if the food is right. The costs land on your roof, your bird feeders, your beds and your neighbours.

The honest ledger

What you gain and what you take on
ForAgainst
Genuine enjoyment and close observationBolder squirrels — less wary of people and pets
Helps individuals through hard wintersMore pressure on bird feeders, not less
Good for children’s interest in wildlifeDigging in beds, pots and new turf
Keeps them in one visible spotRoof and loft interest near a reliable food source
—Neighbours, who may not want them
—Bulbs, which get lifted and eaten
—Possible local restrictions on feeding wildlife

The diet question, which is the one that matters for the animal

Peanuts and bread are the real risk

Metabolic bone disease is a recognised problem in heavily fed urban squirrel populations. It is a calcium deficiency caused by a narrow diet of peanuts, corn or bread — foods with poor calcium relative to phosphorus — and in advanced cases it causes seizures and paralysis.

It is caused by what is fed, not by feeding as such.

Reasonable:

  • Nuts in the shell — walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, almonds. The gnawing wears teeth that grow continuously
  • Raw unsalted sunflower and pumpkin seeds
  • Fresh water, which is scarcer than food in many gardens
  • Variety, which is the actual protection against deficiency

Avoid:

  • Peanuts as a staple — a legume, calcium-poor, and aflatoxin risk if damp
  • Bread, cereal, anything sweetened
  • Salted or roasted nuts
  • Corn as a staple

The bird feeder argument does not hold

The common theory is that a fed squirrel leaves the birds alone. In practice a reliable food source brings more squirrels into the garden, and those squirrels also work the bird feeders.

If the aim is keeping them off bird food, the things that work are baffles, pole placement away from jumping-off points, and feeders built to defeat them — not a diversion feeder.

If you do it

  1. Feed away from the house, so the food source is not next to your roofline
  2. Small amounts, cleared daily. Leftovers attract rats
  3. Vary it, and keep nuts in the shell as the base
  4. Provide water
  5. Check local rules — feeding wildlife is restricted in some areas
  6. Think about neighbours before establishing a feeding station near a boundary

And know that the population will adjust upward to the food available, which is the thing most people do not anticipate when they start with one squirrel on a window ledge.

Common questions

Is it bad to feed squirrels?

It is not usually bad for the squirrels themselves, provided the food is appropriate, but it reliably creates problems around them. A fed population becomes bolder, loses its wariness of people, and concentrates in one garden, which means more pressure on bird feeders, more digging in beds and pots, and a higher chance of animals investigating roof spaces. In some places feeding wildlife is also restricted by local ordinance, so it is worth checking before starting.

What is the healthiest food for squirrels?

Nuts in the shell — walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans and almonds — along with raw unsalted sunflower and pumpkin seeds. The shell matters because gnawing wears down teeth that grow continuously. Avoid peanuts as a staple, since they are legumes rather than nuts, are low in calcium relative to phosphorus, and can carry aflatoxin if stored damp. Never give salted or roasted nuts, bread, or anything sweetened.

Does feeding squirrels make them dependent?

Not in the way people fear — squirrels are opportunists with excellent spatial memory and continue to forage and cache naturally even when fed. Stopping abruptly does not leave them helpless. What feeding does change is distribution and behaviour: more animals concentrate where food is reliable, and they become notably bolder around people, which is the real change rather than dependency.

Does feeding squirrels keep them off bird feeders?

Generally no, and it often makes things worse. The usual argument is that a well-fed squirrel will leave the birds alone, but in practice a reliable food source attracts more squirrels to the garden, and those squirrels then also work the bird feeders. If keeping them off feeders is the goal, baffles, pole placement and squirrel-resistant feeder designs do the job; a diversion feeder rarely does.

Can feeding squirrels cause health problems for them?

Yes, if the diet is poor. A squirrel fed largely on peanuts, corn or bread can develop metabolic bone disease, a calcium deficiency that leaves bones weak and in advanced cases causes seizures and paralysis — it is a recognised problem in heavily fed urban populations. The risk comes from a narrow, calcium-poor diet rather than from feeding itself, so variety, nuts in the shell, and keeping bread and sweet foods out of the picture largely avoids it.

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