Even though squirrels are very cute little fellows, they’re also intelligent and very devious. Instead of spending their time foraging for food they’re easily clever enough to spend their time raiding the bird feeders that you’ve put in your garden instead!

Any wooden, tube, or ground feeders in your garden are in danger from these little thieves, and the answer to your problem may be squirrel proof bird feeders.

For those of you with normal bird feeders you should really position your feeder in a clear and open area where there is at least 10 feet between the feeder and the nearest tree or other object from which the squirrels can jump on to the feeder. The feeder should also be mounted on a pole so that it’s at least 5 feet or more off the ground.

This position may help to keep your bird feeders safe, at least for a little while. Unfortunately this is unlikely to last for very long, and you will probably have to resort to tricks like keeping black oil sunflower seeds in a pile some distance away from your feeder. However, no matter what you try and whatever tricks you use, the squirrels will eventually find where you’ve kept the bird feeder and they’ll begin to eat again. A specially designed squirrel proof bird feeder maybe just what you need.

By the way, have you looked in our new Bird Feeder Store for squirrel proof bird feeders? There’s usually a great selection and you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding something.

You’ll be glad to hear that there are many squirrel proof bird feeders on the market today. These feeders have become more sophisticated and actually more entertaining for the bird watcher, although I’m sure that’s not their purpose. The long running battle between man and squirrels takes a turn for the interesting as the Yankee Flipper becomes the bird feeder manufacturing industry’s answer to the squirrel problem.

Squirrels have the size, strength and the intelligence to take over any unprotected bird feeders, so a feeder that can use their own size to repel them is a great innovation. These squirrel proof bird feeders are battery powered, and the motor is activated by the heavier weight of the squirrels. When the squirrel comes and sits on the perch its own weight triggers the perch to spring shut. This closing action can send the squirrel flying through the air. After the squirrel has left and his weight has gone, the feeder opens up again.

You can also try using baffle and feeder combos to try and keep the squirrels away from the bird feeder. Large domes or tubes are used to stop the squirrel reaching the bird food. Because the squirrel can’t jump over or around the dome or climb around the tubes, they have trouble getting to the bird feed.

Another type of squirrel proof bird feeder is the caged feeder. These keep the squirrels out of the seeds by surrounding a tubular feeder with a wire cage that has only small bird-sized openings to the food.

So, even though no bird feeder is guaranteed squirrel proof, your bird visitors can more than likely enjoy their bird seed in peace and the latest squirrel proof bird feeders will send the thieving squirrels flying – literally!

Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders is from Bird Feeders

As squirrels love to eat most if not all of the food on the feeders, bird lovers are always on the lookout for bird feeders that are squirrel proof, or at least those which will deter them.

The bigger relative size of the squirrels enables them to take over any unprotected bird feeders and drive the birds away. This has made the bird feeder companies take a close look at how they can make their bird feeders more squirrel proof. One company has cleverly developed a bird feeder that uses the squirrel’s own weight against it.

With this feeder, when the squirrel sits on the perch its weight causes the battery powered motor to activate. The motor makes the perch flip up and close the feeder against the squirrel. The squirrel’s own weight causes it to go flying through the air (the squirrel really only tumbles off of the feeder perch).

One squirrel proof bird feeder is called the Yankee Flipper Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder. I know that’s quite a mouthful, but you only need to remember “Yankee Flipper” and the main point is that it does the job very well. You can always find them, and most other squirrel proof bird feeders, on eBay. Here’s a small selection of what’s available right now;

Besides these there are many other ways that have been tried in the eternal war against squirrels. Baffles and feeder combinations are one of the more common ways bird feeder manufacturers have tried to address the problem. With these, a squirrel proof baffle is put on a pole mounted feeder below the feeder.

The baffle should be above the feeder if the bird feeder is being hung from a strong chain. The baffle is actually a large dome that the squirrel has to somehow jump over or climb around. It has great difficulty doing this because the surface is so smooth and slippery.

Another type of squirrel proof feeder is a tube feeder. These have the food enclosed by a wire cage, and the idea is that the holes of the cage are too small for the squirrel to get to the seed, but they are just the right size for birds to eat their seeds in peace. This feeder is called a Caged Bird Feeder.

If you’re creative at all, you can squirrel proof your own feeder by putting it on a wire mounted platform. You’ll need to attach the two ends of the wire to two sturdy and strong walls or posts. Between the feeder and the posts you should put some plastic or PVC tubing on the wire. Do this so that when the squirrel tries to walk over the tubing to get to the feeder the slippery tubing will spin, thereby causing the squirrel to lose its balance.

One of the main things to keep in mind throughout your “fight” with squirrels is that they are persistent, agile and acrobatic. One of the best ways to squirrel proof your feeders is to put them in a spot away from things such as trees, railings and roofs that squirrels can launch themselves from. This means at least eight to ten feet away from those places, and your feeder should also be kept at least four feet above the ground, in the way that pole bird feeders are.

This is the most important way to squirrel proof your bird’s food from squirrels. At the end of the day, if none of this works, you could always just throw in the towel and start feeding the squirrels as well!

How to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeder is from Bird Feeders