A good starting point, however is at least four feet off the ground and about ten feet from above for the daring aerial acrobats. I could give readers specific distances that the feeder station needs to be away from objects where the squirrels are capable of leaping from, but I think every situation is unique and needs a certain amount of individual experimentation. The key is to keep the feeding station away from areas that allow the squirrels to jump up or down on the feeders. These include everything from simple hopper feeders to suet feeders and compressed seed cylinders. Although there are a lot of trees around the feeder, any limbs are kept cut back enough that even an Olympic calibre squirrel can’t score a medal with its best jump.īy using a bird feeding station rather than individual feeders, I am able to use a number of different, less expensive feeders and specialty feeders that the squirrels can’t get to. My approach to keeping the squirrels off my feeders is a simple one and involves a single, centralized feeding station in an area where the squirrels are unable to access from above or from ground level. Maybe the squirrels like to go for a spinny ride once in a while, but I can’t help but think that the spinning feeders go just a little too far to protect a handful of bird seed. I don’t use the hot, spicy bird seed and I refuse to use the spinning feeders that just seem cruel to me. So it goes without saying that my vigilance is paramount at all times.įirst, let me say that I never harm our squirrels in any way. Our resident red fox has taken care of some of them but the squirrels and chipmunks are always ready to restock with their kin whenever the numbers get manageable. Grey, black and red squirrels with a good mix of chipmunks thrown in just for fun. There are always a handful of squirrels looking for a handout. Winter, spring, summer, fall, it doesn’t matter.
The problem is when the entire neighbourhood has access to my expensive feed.Īnd, I can say with great certainty that there are very few yards with more squirrels than mine.
I can live with one squirrel occasionally getting up on the feeder. He may not respect me, but I have the utmost respect for him. I call them my Olympic calibre squirrels and right now we have one that comes in the form of a large grey male squirrel that, I swear, has no respect for me, my expensive bird feeders or the baffles meant to keep him on the ground. We can try to keep squirrels at bay with a host of elaborate combinations baffles, cages and pressure sensitive feeders, but in the end there is always that one squirrel that accepts any challenge we throw at it with great gusto. There are feeders that work well most of the time and baffles that stop them in their tracks – for a time anyway – but there is nothing that can guarantee that squirrels aren’t getting fed on any given day. They know what so many of us fail to accept – there are no squirrel proof bird feeders. So how do we keep squirrels out of our bird feeders?
KEEPING SQUIRRELS OUT OF BIRD FEEDERS FULL
Like the ultimate Olympian, they don’t seem to give up, don’t feel fear, and don’t seem to care about a little pain or even feel sorry for us when they win gold and walk away with a full belly of our finest bird food.Ī cage helps, so do weight-sensitive feeders, but it takes more than just throwing them up in the nearest tree to guarantee successs. Our squirrels train everyday to beat us at our own game.
KEEPING SQUIRRELS OUT OF BIRD FEEDERS HOW TO
Best squirrel proof bird feeders: How to set up a feeding station and cages to keep them out
0 kommentar(er)
