PALMYRA, N.Y. — Mike Herrick has become quite the craftsman during the pandemic at his Palmyra workshop. This truck driver turned quarantine downtime into quite the side hustle. He makes squirrel-sized picnic tables from scrap wood.

“I was just bored," said Herrick. "COVID hit and I was putt'n around the garage and had free wood and what the heck. Next thing you know it took off. I lost track of how many I made.”

What You Need To Know

  • Mike Herrick makes squirrel-sized tables from scrap wood in his Palmyra workshop

  • He's made hundreds and sold them to people all over Greater Rochester

  • Squirrel tables are for sale for $12 or two for $20 at the Macedon Farm Stand, 1442 Canandaigua Road

Herrick guesstimates he’s made and sold hundreds of squirrel picnic tables on Facebook Marketplace.

I admit I was skeptical. Sure, I saw squirrel pictures at tables on social media, but wouldn’t you know it, right there just outside Herrick’s workshop, a hungry squirrel stopped by for breakfast.

Herrick is selling even more tables these days thanks to another entrepreneur the next town over. JD DiGiacomandrea buys them by the dozen and sells them at his Macedon Farm Stand on Canandaigua Road.

“We are selling so many that I was going to his house twice a week and filling up the back of my car every two to three days with 20 or 30 of squirrel tables. We could not keep up with demand it was selling out every single day,“ said DiGiacomandrea.

 So, he keeps reordering tables from Herrick and restocking his busy corner stand.

“I was very surprised when it just kept going," DiGiacomandrea said. "I figure there was only so many customers but apparently everybody loves feeding squirrels in their backyard.”