Non-motoring > Squirrel proof bird feeders	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Ambo	Replies: 25

New Tue 27 Jan 15 11:18   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Ambo

Can anyone recommend a truly squirrel proof feeder please? I have three Gardman feeders but birds scarcely get a look-in. Squirrels empty the two smaller ones in a day, the larger in two days. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 11:28   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Crankcase

Depends on your layout, but we got round that problem by using what's grandly called a "feeding station", (which is basically an expensive hook on a stick if you want to make your own) sited well away from trees. Squirrel can't climb the pole or leap to feeder if it's in the right place. Like these: www.gardman.co.uk/sites/all/themes/gardman/downloads/WildBirdCareCatalogue_FeedingStations.pdf Edit: I see at the end of that catalogue they also do a "squirrel baffle", that might be an idea. Not used one of those. Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 27 Jan 15 at 11:30 Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 07:56   Squirrel proof bird feeders - IJWS14

Ours can, and do, climb them. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 11:31   Squirrel proof bird feeders - helicopter

Scotts of Stowe supplied ours ,a pair come in at around £24....I cannot post the link from my tablet but I can say that our local squirrels climb allover them but retire eventually swearing in defeat........ Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 11:32   Squirrel proof bird feeders - BiggerBadderDave

Similar problem here but it's the Jays that are nabbing the nuts from the Blue Tits. The Jays have starting clinging upside down. They never did it before. It's evolution. Natural selection with man's input. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 11:38   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Crankcase

Talking of nuts - for our birds, sunflower hearts go like crazy, as do fat balls and niger seeds, mixed bird seed goes kind of ok but definitely second rate, peanuts - totally untouched. Tried different feeders, different position - no interest in them at all this year. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 11:45   Squirrel proof bird feeders - henry k

GARDMAN SEED FORT WILD BIRD SQUIRREL PROOF FEEDER Widely available. It has served us well but not sure if it is Jay proof. ( We have so few birds in our garden) Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 16:13   Squirrel proof bird feeders - WillDeBeest

It's evolution. Natural selection with man's input. Don't think so, BBD; more likely to be learned behaviour. Corvids in particular are great innovators and improvisers - google the film of one in Japan dropping nuts in the road, then waiting on a traffic light pylon for cars to run over them - but it's the adaptability that's heritable, not the behaviour itself. No less remarkable for that, of course. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 16:25   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Cliff Pope

>> No less remarkable for that, of course. >> There's an experiment where they learn how to haul on a dangling piece of string to get to the food tied on the end - standing on the string after each pull to stop it slipping down again. After they had mastered that they discoved that if the string was firstly led upwards over a pulley, they needed to pull downwards in order to raise the food. But many creatures and children are cleverer than they are given credit for. One of our cats knows how to create a false alarm by the pantry door, causing another cat to vacate the favoured hot-spot by the stove, tricked into expecting food. Last edited by: Cliff Pope on Tue 27 Jan 15 at 16:25 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 19:23   Squirrel proof bird feeders - legacylad

In a previous life I must have sold several dozen different types of bird feeders. Like the cobblers children, I did not use any of them, preferring to make a squirrel proof feeder of my own invention. A long metal bar, bashed into the lawn. At waist height a 24" diameter piece of light metal, flying saucer shaped, held in place by a clip underneath it, then bird feeders fixed onto metal bars soldered on at 90 degrees to the upright. The squirrels could not get around the very slippery 'flying saucer' as they had no purchase with their claws. How we laughed. Hours of fun watching them try. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 19:30   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Armel Coussine

Saw a grey squirrel today hanging upside down to get at Herself's seed for the nice little garden birds. The small birds don't dare come close to a squirrel, although they are in and out in a flash when they get the chance. There are too many of the little brutes. Must borrow an air rifle or the silenced .22. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 19:46   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Zero

My Squizzer mangling Goldie is for hire. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 20:18   Squirrel proof bird feeders - henry k

I have a neighbour with a trap who sorts out the squirrels ! Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 27 Jan 15 21:21   Squirrel proof bird feeders - MD

They eat quite well! Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 07:53   Squirrel proof bird feeders - IJWS14

Cayenne pepper mixed in with the seeds - after one experience they don't come back. The birds can't taste it. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 09:16   Squirrel proof bird feeders - NortonES2

Might attract parrots:) I use a robust steel mesh cage sold by Jacobi Jayne to fit tubular feeders. So far the squirrels haven't got through. Haven't needed to mix in ground little dried chilis so far, except the ground feeder. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 09:30   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Bromptonaut

Does anyone know of a product to stop squirrels climbing drainpipes? My mother has trouble with one accessing the balcony of her second floor flat by that route. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 09:34   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Slidingpillar

Does anyone know of a product to stop squirrels climbing drainpipes? Grease? :o) Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 09:40   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Bromptonaut

>> Grease? :o) Actually there might be something in that; at least it's DIYable. I was thinking of something that went round the pipe that squidge would need a belay technique to bypass. Being a flat it's leasehold. She's tried to get the managing agent to deal with it but gets fobbed off with a 'nothing we can do' response. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 10:04   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Zero

>> >> Grease? :o) >> >> Actually there might be something in that; at least it's DIYable. I was thinking of >> something that went round the pipe that squidge would need a belay technique to bypass. Squizzers carry rope, pitons, carabiners, in their fur and wear crampons. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 10:27   Squirrel proof bird feeders - CGNorwich

youtu.be/32JO345jALk Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 19:56   Squirrel proof bird feeders - NortonES2

Think rats and hawsers... IIRC, most ships hawsers are fitted with something like an Elizabethan collar. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 10:36   Squirrel proof bird feeders - VxFan

>> Does anyone know of a product to stop squirrels climbing drainpipes? Air rifle. Shotgun. We got rid of our bird feeder yonks ago as it was attracting rats and the like from where the birds dropped the the food onto the deck below. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 09:39   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Ambo

I will try mixing in spices. My large Gardman feeder is a 4-perch flip-top feeder. Opposing pairs of perches are held in place magnetically but the bond is not strong enough to bear the weight of squirrels and the two halves may break away and fall to the ground. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 29 Jan 15 10:05   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Zero

>> I will try mixing in spices. My large Gardman feeder is a 4-perch flip-top feeder. >> Opposing pairs of perches are held in place magnetically but the bond is not strong >> enough to bear the weight of squirrels and the two halves may break away and >> fall to the ground. The cat that gets the bird vindaloo is in for a nasty shock. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 7 Feb 15 10:53   Squirrel proof bird feeders - Ambo

I tried adding chili powder. They don't like it up 'em. Birds are unaffected so thanks for a simple and economical remedy. Reply to this message | Report message