April 01, 2020

If you build it, they will come...


(UPDATE: I've made a tutorial for this picnic table, which can be found here: Squirrel Picnic Table Tutorial)

Firstly, I cannot take credit for this little squirrel picnic table idea. Several people sent me photos of one that someone made and said I really need to make it (being a crazy squirrel lady and all).

Here is a link to the original: Squirrel Picnic Table by Rick Kalinowski



I saw the photos and immediately thought, squirrels + woodwork = my perfect hobby project!

I wanted my picnic table to look a little more "authentic" (and I also had pretty much ZERO scraps of wood to work with) so I spent way too much time working on this little thing. My sister suggested adding an umbrella to keep the birds away from the squirrels, and I loved that idea. (I took a trillion photos of the process, so I will try to make a tutorial if anyone is interested.)



I had a warped board that I had bought with the intention to use for shelving (not seeing how warped it was) until I realized that it just wouldn't look right. It's been sitting in my garage for a while. Thanks to my handy dandy table saw, I was able to cut it down to make all the pieces I needed for this cute little squirrel picnic table!

This was a make-it-up-as-you-go-along project, so I spent as much time building it as I did taking it apart and redoing several pieces. I probably spent about 12 hours on this goddamn thing! But I loved every moment of it :)

And I just KNEW my squirrels would love it.

Well, joke's on me! Once I finished it and I hung it up (yes, my deck is TOTALLY in need of repair/cleaning/staining/anything at all), I set some walnuts on it and made the clicking noise I do with my tongue to call the squirrels. Sometimes several of them come, sometimes none at all.

But today, just one of them came. I call her Rumples, because the fur on her head is always kind of rumpled, like she just got out of bed.



So, I spent HOURS working on this picnic table for the squirrels, and here is how I imagine the commentary went when Rumples showed up.














And then less than five minutes later...



The squirrels crack me up. Most of them are totally comfortable taking food from my hand, but this picnic table just screams trouble, apparently ;)

I'm going to keep trying, though! I just want one adorable photo...

9 comments:

  1. That is a VERY cute picnic table, and Rumples is adorable.

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  2. Omg this might be the cutest thing I've ever seen! I hope they warm up to the idea because I would love to see a pic too!!

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  3. HAHAHA! Loved this post and the squirrel commentary!

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  4. That is just hilarious. Love your little picnic table. Told my husband about your 'pet" squirrels, and as a big bird feeder, he wants to tame the squirrels too, so he's been buying peanuts, trying to encourage our squirrels to get tame like yours and come up on the porch. So far, the blue jays eat all the peanuts. Loved the commentary on the adorable pictures. Maybe your pet squirrels will figure out there's no catch eventually--Walnuts--Who could resist??

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  5. Best squirrel picnic table I’ve seen since I went down this rabbit hole this morning! Would you mind providing a few dimensions for me? Looks like you used a 1”x2” furring strip board. I assume it was 8’ to begin with. I’m thinking 6”-8” lengths for the table & bench slats? Maybe about the same for legs? (With angled cuts, of course. Maybe 30 degrees?) About twice as long for the horizontal supports?

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    Replies
    1. I wrote down all my dimensions while I was working on it, so I will check them and give you the details tonight! I didn't use a furring strip board. I actually used a 1" x 12" x 6' board that I cut down to all the pieces. It was just what I had on hand!

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    2. What is the details for this?

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  6. I built It! I love your design, thank you so much fir clear dimensions!

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  7. I’m sorry if it’s posted but I can’t find the dimensions. You did a beautiful job!
    Thank You

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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