Coronavirus has consumers scurrying to buy squirrel feeders

Sheltering in place is causing Americans to get a little, well, squirrelly. So many folks have time on their hands because of coronavirus-spurred joblessness and lockdowns, they’re paying more attention to the bushy tailed rodents scampering outside their windows — and opening their wallets to make them happy, according to a Wall Street Journal story Friday. …

Sheltering in place is causing Americans to get a little, well, squirrelly.

So many folks have time on their hands because of coronavirus-spurred joblessness and lockdowns, they’re paying more attention to the bushy tailed rodents scampering outside their windows — and opening their wallets to make them happy, according to a Wall Street Journal story Friday.

Sales of squirrel feeders have jumped and amateur hobbyists are having fun building pint-sized outdoor furniture for their little high-energy friends, the WSJ reported.

“They should call this the karma virus,” Beth Wheeler, owner of the Birdhouse Chick in Atlanta, told The Post. “Nature wanted us to slow down and take a look.”

Wheeler says that squirrel feeders normally represent 5 percent of her sales, but since the coronavirus pandemic, they’re up to around 20 percent.

“The whole industry has never seen anything like this,” said Wheeler, whose retail business sells squirrel feeders priced at $25 to $75, including the Squngee, a bungee-like cord that attaches to a corncob. “Squirrels are a nuisance, but the bottom line is their antics are fun to watch.”

Wheeler also pointed out that the squirrel boom benefits bird watchers, because it keeps the chipper four-legged creatures away from bird feeders.