Well, after eight years of watching nifty birds at my feeders,
suspended from my eaves, the squirrels have figured out they can just
climb up my siding and leap to the feeders.
This started when cowbirds began to use the feeders a few months ago,
flinging vast quantities of seeds to the ground, which attracted the 5
squirrels who then noticed that the manna from heaven wasn't from
quite as high up in the sky as they'd thought.
I've noticed that the squirrels reach the feeders from various places
on the siding, and from the screened porch roof, landing on various
parts of the feeders.
My (faulty) ideas to date:
-Chicken wire between the feeder and the house:
1. they would just land on it and crawl around to the other
side.
2. it's ugly and would also be between the window and the
feeder, and impossible to refill the feeder.
-Chicken wire around the feeder:
1. DOH! Then the birds couldn't reach it, either
-Slinkys (which I heard possibly here, are entertaining to watch as
the squirrel grabs it to climb onto the feeder, and goes falling):
1. They aren't coming up a pole, but leaping from various
angles onto various parts of the feeder.
-Standing near the window, with fly swatter stuck through small
opening at top, yelling and hitting at squirrel:
1. Works great for aprx. 3 minutes
-Showing Mingus (my Plott Hound) the squirrel through the window,
getting him all psyched whispering "LOOK Mingus, squirrel!" and
letting him out the door.
1. Yeah!!! Fun show. Ming gets good exercise. Squirrel never
gets caught, so never have to feel guilty. Lasts a good 15 minutes,
and then they are back.

I would not use guns or poison. Traps? Are squirrels territorial?
If I relocated them, would they die or be killed? Darn! I have
really enjoyed watching the squirrels cavort among the trees all these
years. I even liked them cleaning up the seeds from the ground. But
they have overstepped their boundaries.
Kira

Pepper in the bird feeder. Have you ever watched a squirrel sneeze? After a few
pepper experiences, the squirrels are not nearly as enthralled with the bird
feeder (or planters since my squirrels feel it is their duty to "unplant"
anything in a pot on my deck.)

A neighbor has rigged plexiglass plates on top posts of his feeders and below
the feeders. The squirrels jump on the plexiglass plate then slide off because
their weight tilts the plate downward. It's great fun to watch the squirrels
try to land and be balanced on these "plates."

Kira,

What about one of those weight-sensitive bird feeders, where the weight of
any critter heavier than a bird causes the feeding port to shut?

I'm not sure if these work for an animal on top of the feeder (as opposed to
putting its weight on the perches next to the feeding port).

There's a selection at Yardiac.com
http://www2.yardiac.com/show_categor...s-squirelproof
-- the prices seem high to me, but you can get an idea what's available.

I bought some corn-on-the-cob in effort to keep the squirrels off the
feeder, but what I ended up with was twice as many squirrels (although not
on the feeders)!

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Kira Dirlik" !! wrote in message
...
Well, after eight years of watching nifty birds at my feeders,
suspended from my eaves, the squirrels have figured out they can just
climb up my siding and leap to the feeders.
This started when cowbirds began to use the feeders a few months ago,
flinging vast quantities of seeds to the ground, which attracted the 5
squirrels who then noticed that the manna from heaven wasn't from
quite as high up in the sky as they'd thought.
I've noticed that the squirrels reach the feeders from various places
on the siding, and from the screened porch roof, landing on various
parts of the feeders.
My (faulty) ideas to date:
-Chicken wire between the feeder and the house:
1. they would just land on it and crawl around to the other
side.
2. it's ugly and would also be between the window and the
feeder, and impossible to refill the feeder.
-Chicken wire around the feeder:
1. DOH! Then the birds couldn't reach it, either
-Slinkys (which I heard possibly here, are entertaining to watch as
the squirrel grabs it to climb onto the feeder, and goes falling):
1. They aren't coming up a pole, but leaping from various
angles onto various parts of the feeder.
-Standing near the window, with fly swatter stuck through small
opening at top, yelling and hitting at squirrel:
1. Works great for aprx. 3 minutes
-Showing Mingus (my Plott Hound) the squirrel through the window,
getting him all psyched whispering "LOOK Mingus, squirrel!" and
letting him out the door.
1. Yeah!!! Fun show. Ming gets good exercise. Squirrel never
gets caught, so never have to feel guilty. Lasts a good 15 minutes,
and then they are back.

I would not use guns or poison. Traps? Are squirrels territorial?
If I relocated them, would they die or be killed? Darn! I have
really enjoyed watching the squirrels cavort among the trees all these
years. I even liked them cleaning up the seeds from the ground. But
they have overstepped their boundaries.
Kira

What about one of those weight-sensitive bird feeders, where the weight of
any critter heavier than a bird causes the feeding port to shut?

i saw one of these yesterday in either the walter drake or the improvements
mail order catalogs. both have web sites. the cost was less than $10.

robin

Something -- I'm not sure what! -- made me think of revisiting the
websites turned up when I initially googled for squirrel-proof feeders, and
I looked again at
http://www.beatylandscaping.com/feeders.html.

These people may be onto something! The elegant simplicity of the feeder's
design is that a squirrel's weight will cause it to slide off the feeder
entirely!!! Also, these folks have created a "squirrel feeder" which does
no harm to a squirrel, except for making it take its time getting into the
feeder! ("Oh, no, not that -- not another delay in getting to the food?
What is this? I-40?")

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh



"Kira Dirlik" !! wrote in message
...
Well, after eight years of watching nifty birds at my feeders,
suspended from my eaves, the squirrels have figured out they can just
climb up my siding and leap to the feeders.
This started when cowbirds began to use the feeders a few months ago,
flinging vast quantities of seeds to the ground, which attracted the 5
squirrels who then noticed that the manna from heaven wasn't from
quite as high up in the sky as they'd thought.
I've noticed that the squirrels reach the feeders from various places
on the siding, and from the screened porch roof, landing on various
parts of the feeders.
My (faulty) ideas to date:
-Chicken wire between the feeder and the house:
1. they would just land on it and crawl around to the other
side.
2. it's ugly and would also be between the window and the
feeder, and impossible to refill the feeder.
-Chicken wire around the feeder:
1. DOH! Then the birds couldn't reach it, either
-Slinkys (which I heard possibly here, are entertaining to watch as
the squirrel grabs it to climb onto the feeder, and goes falling):
1. They aren't coming up a pole, but leaping from various
angles onto various parts of the feeder.
-Standing near the window, with fly swatter stuck through small
opening at top, yelling and hitting at squirrel:
1. Works great for aprx. 3 minutes
-Showing Mingus (my Plott Hound) the squirrel through the window,
getting him all psyched whispering "LOOK Mingus, squirrel!" and
letting him out the door.
1. Yeah!!! Fun show. Ming gets good exercise. Squirrel never
gets caught, so never have to feel guilty. Lasts a good 15 minutes,
and then they are back.

I would not use guns or poison. Traps? Are squirrels territorial?
If I relocated them, would they die or be killed? Darn! I have
really enjoyed watching the squirrels cavort among the trees all these
years. I even liked them cleaning up the seeds from the ground. But
they have overstepped their boundaries.
Kira

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll start with the cayenne
pepper solution, and see how that works.
Kira