You may be one of the many lovers of birds who become frustrated when instead of your expected birds you see squirrels eating all the bird food.
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.
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!
