Bird (or better named Squirl) feeders

[RUSS-D]

I have been trrying to get a Bird feeder going in my backyard, but those damn Squirls keep eating all the food, and scaring the Birds away. I even went out and bought a "Squirl proof" feeder. Well , those pesky creeps just bent the metal, and broke the plastic. Now all they have to do is shake it a little, and the food falls to the ground. I have about 6-8 crappy little brown furry Rats, and no Birds. What, if anything, do you do to prevent the Marauders from ravishing the eats?

[Starbright]

Hi Russ and welcome to the bane of every bird feeder owner!! I do know that some folks use pellet guns or something more lethal. I just could never bring myself to do that. But, I have bought a high powered, pump action water gun. My feeder is close enough to the house that I leave a window open when I am photographing the birds and when I notice that the squirrel(s) is there, I quietly shoot the water at him and he takes an immediate leave. Of course it would scare the birds too, but that's the point, the birds are scared by the squirrel(s) and are not there at that time anyway. So far it has worked well for me. At night I have to bring my feeder in or the raccoons will eat all that is left in it.

[Booswalia]

After feeding the birds and the squirrels for many years, I have discovered that you need to get only high quality feeders. Unbreakable and with a weight trigger so the squirrel's weight will close the ports. They are not fool proof, but at least the squirrels can't break them.
I went through about 2 feeders a year when I was buying cheap ones, now I've had the same one for at least 8 years and it still does the job.

This one works well...
http://www.forthebirdsnatureshop.ca/store/product.php?productid=16237&cat=296&page=1

This one works better...
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=48756&cat=2,10719,33068&ap=1

And one of these will help as well...
http://www.forthebirdsnatureshop.ca/store/product.php?productid=16681&cat=355&page=1

Mind you, nothing is 100% so you can expect that some squirrels will find a way and what I do then is humanely trap them and bring them to the national park.

[joe9047]

My neighbor gets the biggest kick at my squirrel vs man battle. I found hanging the feeder off a high shephards pole and using a cone baffle to stop them from climbing up works well. The thing is it cant' be located near anything with height or they will jump on it.

I have to do this even with the feeders with the protective cage, because like you said, they learned to shake the cage to empty the feeder.

Now however, the grackels have been hoarding my suet feeders during the day and the lard ass crows are finishing them off in the early AM.

I have just dusted off my sons airsoft gun for the grackels and will now have to bring in the feeder at night like Starbright.

Good luck :)

[chopper5654]

a combination i am saving up to try is a shepherd's hook (3 pronged) with a torpedo baffle on it. i will plant the pole 10 feet away from anything. i also plan to buy a corncob wheel that spins ($20) or a bungee that will keep the buggers entertained (for my photo pleasure) as well.

if you cant beat'em, join'em.

however, i did see a great idea if they really piss you off. some guy on youtube rigged a clay pigeon launcher, loaded it with a corncob, and fired numerous squirrels off the hillside and into his woods. those little guys must have flown 50 feet through the air. very funny, and the videographer swore the squirrels were not hurt and came back for more!! (that's my new dream gift. ;) )

....now if i could find a GrackleLauncher....

[joe9047]

....now if i could find a GrackleLauncher....

LOL. Me too. This is the first time both Google and eBay has let me down :)

[chopper5654]

LOL. Me too. This is the first time both Google and eBay has let me down :)

not to hijack russ' thread, but have you seen the obstacle courses squirrels can navigate on youtube? holy cow.

[katodog]

Sorry to tell you, you won't baffle the squirrels for too long. I did the whole gambit of squirrel-proofing, and the only thing that works is this...


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a399/katodog/WellMB05.jpg




And yes, it works on Grackle too.

[chopper5654]

i have too many kids in my neighborhood to ever get away with this. i wish i backed up to woods.

[Stormin_24]

I have the 18" cone baffle on one of my somewhat open feeder, that seems to work ok... I also have 2 Stokes cage feeders with a tube in the middle that works very well... (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754757) The red squirrels can get in but the gray's cannot... (Only seen one red around) I have 3 dogs so the squirrels don't stay very long... Birds are usually back within minutes though...

I tried the pellet gun once, never again will I bring myself to kill an animal, unless it's destroying my property.. I had to go out and give it a proper burial, which wasn't to my liking.... I learned a very important lesson about myself that day...:cry:

[RandyMN]

I have all squirrel proof feeders and now the squirrels happily eat from the ground only, which is fine to me.

Three different types I have found work

1. The dome on top prevents them from climbing down to a feeder as they slip off.
2. the cone on the pole keeps the squirrel from getting up a pole to feed.
3. The weight bearing feeder that closes from weight works if you get a good one. Usually squirrels either just shke them and knock food to the ground or they learn to feed from the side without tripping the weight. I find the ones with the bar that drops work better than the feeders that have the entire cilinder drop.
4. The cages around feeders prevent the squirrel from getting to the food.

The squirrels always try at first but eventually give up and are happy with what they find on the ground.

[snyderman]

Lifted from Booswalia's response:

This one works well...

http://www.forthebirdsnatureshop.ca/store/product.php?productid=16237&cat=296&page=1

I have two of these just off my deck out back. For a couple of weeks, I'd see the squirrels sittng in close proximity to the feeders, staring longingly at the food ... then they'd leave. I'm guessing that the number of birds we have and lack of squirrels, these were a pretty good investment!

However, I think raccoons have been visiting lately as the feeders have been knocked from their mountings a couple of times.

dave

[kenyc]

I ended up getting a couple of this style, but they only work for the smaller birds (like sparrows!!!!)

http://www.forthebirdsnatureshop.ca/store/product.php?productid=17014&cat=296&page=1

[Methodical]

I ended up getting a couple of this style, but they only work for the smaller birds (like sparrows!!!!)

http://www.forthebirdsnatureshop.ca/store/product.php?productid=17014&cat=296&page=1

That's the exact same one I have and it has been squirrel proof. I also purchased a cage suet feeder for the smaller birds and downy WP. It has kept the Grackles, cowbirds and starlings and squirrels at bay

[kenyc]

I have not had nearly as much trouble with the suet, but a couple of times I have found the feeders (wire cages) on the ground and empty. -- could as likely been the flickers as the squirrels. I get mostly flickers and downeys eating the suet.