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JOLLY ENGLAND — Hobbies that involve some form of building something are a dime a dozen. There are hundreds of online shops, YouTube channels and TV shows dedicated to woodworking, sewing, home repairs, robotics, Legos and much more.
But Steve Barley’s backyard building hobby is unique. Barley says on his YouTube channel, “If it involves squirrels (and) madcap assault courses … I’m your Englishman!” And that’s not a joke.
He creates the complicated obstacle courses with household items from bits of trellis and screens to plungers and ironing boards. The payoffs are feeders full of treats at the end.
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Barley strings the courses up in long lines across his backyard, gets up early in the morning and films squirrels as they traverse the obstacle courses for their reward while he does sports-like commentary.
The results are charming and hilarious as Barley describes each move the squirrels make.
Barley has at least five squirrel obstacle course-related videos on his site, and they each have their own surprises.