Posted on 05/23/2015 11:41:36 AM PDT by Textide
My Dad's been experimenting with ways to prevent squirrels from accessing his bird feeder. Mounting it in another place would be too easy.
Any other ideas?
Heheh.
Actually, squirrels are incredible athletes and are smarter than most humans. Hence this thread.
Was that you in the story? Very funny!
LOL...that is hilarious.
We had that kind of feeder for a while. Squirrel managed to get inside and was trapped there ;-)
I don’t doubt that at all.
In fact, almost any squirrel can out run and out maneuver my German Shepherd, who is extremely athletic and very fast.
She has as of yet been unable to catch one, unlike my last Shepherd who killed two of them, one of them he bit clean in half across the bottom of the rib cage.
Apparently he ate the bottom half, and he brought me the remaining top half, at which point he earned his nickname,Scissorfang.
Good dog!
But in the end, the squirrel will go for the easiest access food, so just tossing some scratch on the ground will save the feeder.
At least that has been my experience with them.
No, not me. I found it some time ago. I pull it out and re-read it once a year or so and it always makes me laugh until I have tears in my eyes!
those are f’en great
We find shooting them in the head with our Gamo works best. :-)
May I suggest an air rifle. It clears out the pest problem & puts some meat on the table.
We had a feeder hung from under an eave. Squirrels would hang off the gutter and jump upside down and flip in midair to grab the feeder. There wasn’t much to hang onto, so they would fill up their mouth and drop to the ground, then do it again. Never stopped them but it was entertaining to watch, and the birds still got their chance.
Nowadays we just sprinkle the seed on the ground and let our cats have fun stalking the birds. Their to old to catch them anymore, but they still like it.
LMAO! I’d love to see my naybor’s reaction from squirrels launched into her backyard! :-)
This almost exactly what we use. 22 shorts get the job done.
I made a feeder that holds 50 lbs of seed. I just let the squirrels eat.
We have success using the metal poles with 3 or 4 forked feet that are pressed into the ground and with hanging segments and extensions to raise the feeds to any height. It also comes with a stove-pipe that can be mounted to prevent squirrels from climbing up.
I have corn feeders at the base of my bird feeder with fresh corn cobs in ‘em. Works for me.
You can’t win - they are too smart and persistent. You get rid of one and 2 more will show up. Also the bird feeder is imprinted on their brains and they will continue going there every day for at least one breeding cycle even if you stop leaving food for the birds. One method to fool the squirrels is to put the bird feeder in another part of the yard and then just put a few token seeds out on the ground for the squirrels at the original feeder site. It will take a while for the squirrels to realize the feeder has been moved.
Also, birds have plenty of natural food to eat now, so feeding them is almost pointless as they just aren’t that interested in seeds. Putting out fresh water is a better way to help attract birds in the summer. You could see if there are hummingbirds around and feed them. No competition with the squirrels and hummingbirds will sip sugar water even when there are other sources of food.
Awesome.
Tried just about everything including electricity.
Finally bought one of these,
http://www.amazon.com/Homestead-Super—Squirrel-Feeder-Texture/dp/B00005OU5Y/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1432410132&sr=8-8&keywords=bird+feeder+squirrel+proof+pole
Worked great for about 10-12 yrs.
Recently a couple squirrels have actually learned to defeat it.
They slide off the roof and catch the perch as they fall. Funny and inventive.
Even at that they can’t get much as their weight closes off the main supply.
My problem now is the suet blocks.
I’ve converted some squirrels into carnivores. Love the suet block w/ imbedded seeds. Tried cayenne pepper liberally sprinkled on them. So so results.
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