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Gardening

Effective anti squirrel bird feeder

(11 Posts)
NanKate Tue 25-Jun-19 11:26:57

We wondered why our many bird feeders were going down so quickly and the culprit revealed himself today - a cheeky squirrel ?. Any suggestions on how to stop them stealing the garden birds’ food please ?

Grannyknot Tue 25-Jun-19 11:36:40

NanKate sorry this isn't going to be helpful - we had the same problem and I bought a bird feeder from the local Pets at Home that had a cage around it, the idea being that bigger birds and/or squirrels wouldn't be able to get to the seeds. What happened? The squirrels would cling on to the feeder and swing it, spilling all the seeds to eat off the ground. Eventually, they broke it ...sad

shysal Tue 25-Jun-19 14:23:43

Don't bother to buy this style of squirrel-proof feeder!

goldengirl Tue 25-Jun-19 16:20:41

'Our' squirrels did something similar in that they gnawed the wire of the peanut cage until it gave way - and hey presto! found the food easily accessible. They also gnawed the plastic seed cylinder too!!! I love watching their antics but by goodness they get through a lot of food and it ain't cheap.

Just an aside. At the weekend we had 2 jackdaws on our bird feeder and along came a pigeon and pecked one of the jackdaws until it flew off whereupon the pigeon had a right old beanfeast. I'd not seen that before!

Beammeupscottie Tue 25-Jun-19 16:23:38

don't buy ANY anti-squirrel feeder. They can defeat any of them!

HootyMcOwlface Tue 25-Jun-19 16:28:34

How on earth did he get in there Shysal! He looks much too fat to squeeze in one of the holes. We’ve had a visitor too and watched his antics, practically doing the splits holding on to the stand and the bottom of the feeder. He is emptying the sunflower hearts and costing me a fortune !

SpringyChicken Tue 25-Jun-19 16:33:21

This may solve your problem

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/3440454/Use-chilli-powder-to-repel-squirrels-householders-told.html

SpringyChicken Tue 25-Jun-19 16:35:39

pics.me.me/im-sorry-to-bother-you-but-the-bird-feeder-isempty-13599728.png

NanKate Tue 25-Jun-19 19:44:53

Many thanks SpringyC my DH is very impressed you have come up with the answer. We love your photo and ShySal’s one.

SpringyChicken Tue 25-Jun-19 20:33:03

smile

Grannybags Tue 25-Jun-19 20:53:26

We bought something called a squirrel baffler which is made of clear plastic and attached to the feeder pole below the feeders. Obviously wont help if you hang feeders in a tree though!

They sell them on Amazon