I can still remember the excitement when we hung our bird feeders outside several years ago.

My wife and I envisioned that numerous different kinds of birds would come and enjoy sunflower seeds, and we would enjoy watching them up close.

At least that was the way it was supposed to work.

Reality offered a whole different story.

Although plenty of cardinals, tufted titmice, chickadees and the more migratory birds have enjoyed our feeders over the years and have given us plenty of pleasure, we have also had some more frequent and less welcome guests.

To give you a hint what they are, they have fuzzy tails.

Yes, we are talking about squirrels.

From the crack of dawn until sundown, one of the seemingly 4,000 squirrels in our backyard can be found sitting at one of our feeders eating food that we spent our hard-earned money on for the birds.

We originally tried banging on the window to get them to go away, but then we realized we would have to do that 24 hours a day. So now we just sit and helplessly watch them, knowing we have been defeated.

They seem to care little that we are watching them. All they want is to be able to eat the food, our food.

And then after dark, we have some other non-flying guests eat up the rest of the food that the squirrels could not.

The second thievery suspect I am talking about is the raccoon.

Usually around 9 or 10 p.m., I will hear the feeder bang against the house and I know the raccoons have come for their evening meal. I will turn on the light to get a closer look at sometimes as many as two raccoons, and they are about as concerned as the squirrels that I have caught them in the act.

They seem so at ease around me that they would likely come inside for punch and cookies if invited.

For all I know, a couple of black bears come and finish off the feeder’s contents during the middle of the night while we are asleep.

The next morning, I am back out filling up the two feeders. I used to tell my wife I was going out to feed the birds, but reality has since made me say that I am going out to feed the squirrels, the raccoons and any other creature that wants a free meal.

Do not get me wrong. The few times during the day when the birds do have opportunities to get to the feeder are quite entertaining. I love watching them take quick bites of food.

And during the spring and fall migratory seasons, I see birds I do not regularly see. For example, last spring I saw a really beautiful bird that we finally identified as a rose-breasted grosbeak. It has now become one of my favorite birds.

I am always looking for a new bird to try to identify.

But I believe I have pretty much identified what a squirrel is. I would classify it as a pest.