Bird feeder food

[KnittyNorah]

There are too many squirrels round here, although I have no trouble with rats.
There is a Mr Tom - large, and in his youth a keen hunter, but he is not let out until late morning, and is called back in overnight. He does a useful rodent patrol at dusk, this time of year, but due to his age, he's more of a 'watchman' than actively policing ...
I currently put mixed bird seed, sunflower hearts, suet pellets and mealworms out at the base of a hedge, early in the morning, just as dawn breaks, and a handful of broken peanuts at one end. Then as I tramp through the grass in my wellies and PJs back to my front door, I sprinkle a few mealworms and suet pellets. The little birdies are waiting for me in the hedge, Mr Blackbird waits on a lamp post and a pair of magpies wait on the roof above my front door. By the time I'm indoors again, the small birds and Mr BB are hoovering up their breakfast, the squirrels are making their way to the peanuts and Mr and Mrs Magpie are searching in the grass for mealworms and suet pellets. Quite often I am happy to see either Mr or Mrs M divebomb the squirrels to get at the peanuts. The blackbird/s and robins often venture onto the grass for more mealworms and suet pellets, and later on a big fat woodpigeon plonks itself down to search for any remaining scraps. There's very little left by late morning, which is when the woodpigeon arrives to clear up.

I am considering getting a catapult, though, to dissuade the squirrels.

I'd like to keep a fully-stocked birdtable and feeders, but unless I can dissuade/prevent squirrels, that's not going to happen.

 

[Slick]

There are too many squirrels round here, although I have no trouble with rats.
There is a Mr Tom - large, and in his youth a keen hunter, but he is not let out until late morning, and is called back in overnight. He does a useful rodent patrol at dusk, this time of year, but due to his age, he's more of a 'watchman' than actively policing ...
I currently put mixed bird seed, sunflower hearts, suet pellets and mealworms out at the base of a hedge, early in the morning, just as dawn breaks, and a handful of broken peanuts at one end. Then as I tramp through the grass in my wellies and PJs back to my front door, I sprinkle a few mealworms and suet pellets. The little birdies are waiting for me in the hedge, Mr Blackbird waits on a lamp post and a pair of magpies wait on the roof above my front door. By the time I'm indoors again, the small birds and Mr BB are hoovering up their breakfast, the squirrels are making their way to the peanuts and Mr and Mrs Magpie are searching in the grass for mealworms and suet pellets. Quite often I am happy to see either Mr or Mrs M divebomb the squirrels to get at the peanuts. The blackbird/s and robins often venture onto the grass for more mealworms and suet pellets, and later on a big fat woodpigeon plonks itself down to search for any remaining scraps. There's very little left by late morning, which is when the woodpigeon arrives to clear up.

I am considering getting a catapult, though, to dissuade the squirrels.

I'd like to keep a fully-stocked birdtable and feeders, but unless I can dissuade/prevent squirrels, that's not going to happen.

Loads of options for squirrel proof bird feeders.

We have the caged feeder that protects the birds from almost anything whilst they feed much to the annoyance of the beautiful sparrow hawk that likes to monitor it. We also have a feeder that closes automatically when anything larger than the smallest of birds lands on the perch, and it works a treat. We still get a number of red squirrels here, despite the competition from the grey and the appearance of a pine marten from time to time, and I've tried very hard to dislike the grey, but I've now given up as its not their fault and everyone gets a meal at my table.

Unfortunately, the mice have now found their way into my garage, but they don't hang around, they just come in to take what they want then go. I've now trapped 6 mice in the humane mouse motel traps with peanut butter and released them just over a mile away on a cycle path. I am very rural, so no sign of rats yet, but my tactics might change if they were to come on the scene.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Loads of options for squirrel proof bird feeders.

We have the caged feeder that protects the birds from almost anything whilst they feed much to the annoyance of the beautiful sparrow hawk that likes to monitor it. We also have a feeder that closes automatically when anything larger than the smallest of birds lands on the perch, and it works a treat. We still get a number of red squirrels here, despite the competition from the grey and the appearance of a pine marten from time to time, and I've tried very hard to dislike the grey, but I've now given up as its not their fault and everyone gets a meal at my table.

I've seen those supposedly squirrel-proof feeders being ... not squirrel-proof, at least round here. At my last house - literally a ten-minute walk from where I now live - I had to borrow a neighbour's bolt cutters in order to free a squirrel who'd got its silly self trapped in a cage feeder. I'd left him alone for several hours to see if he could work his own silly way out, but then there were a couple of magpies eyeing up his eyes, and seagulls too interested in what was happening - so we cut him free. Don't want to risk that happening again, when I'm maybe not around to save it from a horrible death. The feeders that simply don't open for anything other than the tinies look interesting, though - I've seen them advertised - but can they be turned upside down and then opened?

I am not averse to actually feeding squirrels - as you say, its not their fault some idiots brought them to what turned out to be their own particular land of milk and honey - especially if it keeps them from stealing all the bird's food, and the system I currently have works for that, with the fast-learning wood-pigeon usefully coming along to clean up before any rodents come out. But a table would be nice, if only to let me see the little'uns clearly, which I can't do at the base of the hedge. There again, I know there are lots of 'shy' little'uns who probably wouldn't want to venture out from the hedge, so it's swings and roundabouts.

Given the current and forecast hard frosts, I've got a public watering system on the go, too, for any passing wildlife ...

 

[Buck]

There are too many squirrels round here, although I have no trouble with rats.
There is a Mr Tom - large, and in his youth a keen hunter, but he is not let out until late morning, and is called back in overnight. He does a useful rodent patrol at dusk, this time of year, but due to his age, he's more of a 'watchman' than actively policing ...
I currently put mixed bird seed, sunflower hearts, suet pellets and mealworms out at the base of a hedge, early in the morning, just as dawn breaks, and a handful of broken peanuts at one end. Then as I tramp through the grass in my wellies and PJs back to my front door, I sprinkle a few mealworms and suet pellets. The little birdies are waiting for me in the hedge, Mr Blackbird waits on a lamp post and a pair of magpies wait on the roof above my front door. By the time I'm indoors again, the small birds and Mr BB are hoovering up their breakfast, the squirrels are making their way to the peanuts and Mr and Mrs Magpie are searching in the grass for mealworms and suet pellets. Quite often I am happy to see either Mr or Mrs M divebomb the squirrels to get at the peanuts. The blackbird/s and robins often venture onto the grass for more mealworms and suet pellets, and later on a big fat woodpigeon plonks itself down to search for any remaining scraps. There's very little left by late morning, which is when the woodpigeon arrives to clear up.

I am considering getting a catapult, though, to dissuade the squirrels.

I'd like to keep a fully-stocked birdtable and feeders, but unless I can dissuade/prevent squirrels, that's not going to happen.

I have a couple of these.
https://roamwildproducts.co.uk/products/roamwild-squirrel-proof-bird-feeders

As long as they are not close enough to a tree/fence where the squirrel can jump across, they work well. Has also stopped the larger birds raising the feeders in my garden, leaving more for the smaller breeds.

 

[wafter]

My sunflower hearts bring all the birds to the yard; and they're like "they're better than yours (peanuts)"..

In terms of volume we get through about three times as many sunflower seeds than peanuts.

Squirrels can be a right pain - be careful of caged feeders as they can trap other stuff inside them (such as a blackbird in our garden on one occasion).

IME the best are those that shutter off the feed ports when they're subjected to more weight than the average songbird. You need to hang them far enough away from adjacent branches / anything else that can support the squirrel's weight; otherwise they'll just stretch over and avoid activating the ports while feeding.

Feeders hung from smooth, slender, isolated poles can also work if outside jumping distance from taller objects.

Be wary of catapults and suchlike - many can carry a lot of energy and cause serious damage / injury (or easily death with an appropriately-placed shot). You either need to do the job properly by trapping / shooting them (which is legal for greys as long as done humanely) or deter them with appropriate measures taken with the feeders. Be aware that if intentionally trapped they cannot legally be released back into the wild.

Grey squirrels are extremely tenacious so attempts to scare them off rarely work; it just makes them more ballsy once they work out that you're not a genuine threat.

 

[geocycle]

Sunflower hearts are the most popular with our crew of great, blue and coal tits. The robin also has a go and the pigeon, blackbirds and dunnock clears up. Next choice for them is fat blocks and then peanuts. This banquet then gets upcycled into sparrowhawk food! The woodpeckers do occasional visits to peanuts and fat blocks. Jackdaws are a bit of a menace. We do have a squirrel and have from time to time had visits from ratty. We try and minimise the waste and bring the feeders in at night.

 

[Slick]

I have a couple of these.
https://roamwildproducts.co.uk/products/roamwild-squirrel-proof-bird-feeders

As long as they are not close enough to a tree/fence where the squirrel can jump across, they work well. Has also stopped the larger birds raising the feeders in my garden, leaving more for the smaller breeds.

That's the one I have, its a belter and works a treat.

 

[Slick]

I've seen those supposedly squirrel-proof feeders being ... not squirrel-proof, at least round here. At my last house - literally a ten-minute walk from where I now live - I had to borrow a neighbour's bolt cutters in order to free a squirrel who'd got its silly self trapped in a cage feeder. I'd left him alone for several hours to see if he could work his own silly way out, but then there were a couple of magpies eyeing up his eyes, and seagulls too interested in what was happening - so we cut him free. Don't want to risk that happening again, when I'm maybe not around to save it from a horrible death. The feeders that simply don't open for anything other than the tinies look interesting, though - I've seen them advertised - but can they be turned upside down and then opened?

I am not averse to actually feeding squirrels - as you say, its not their fault some idiots brought them to what turned out to be their own particular land of milk and honey - especially if it keeps them from stealing all the bird's food, and the system I currently have works for that, with the fast-learning wood-pigeon usefully coming along to clean up before any rodents come out. But a table would be nice, if only to let me see the little'uns clearly, which I can't do at the base of the hedge. There again, I know there are lots of 'shy' little'uns who probably wouldn't want to venture out from the hedge, so it's swings and roundabouts.

Given the current and forecast hard frosts, I've got a public watering system on the go, too, for any passing wildlife ...

Maybe the squirrels round here are just lazy but I've never seen anything like that, but I do have it right outside my patio doors as entertainment for my 3 indoor cats. I do have a small piano feeder for the squirrels below the feeder, so more likely the low hanging fruit is the reason for their disinterest of the bird feeder. It all adds up to quite a morning performance that my cats love.

 

[Greasy Gilbert]

Tabasco, jalapeno sauce or chilli flakes mixed into the seed/suet/mealworm etc. It doesn't harm the birds, they still eat it with no ill effects but squirrels hate it. They'll try it, then go somewhere else. It worked for me but you have to be patient. They WILL come back from time to time so be on your guard.
Link here for RSPB forum

https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildl...257/how-to-deter-squirrels-from-ground-feeder

 

[KnittyNorah]

My sunflower hearts bring all the birds to the yard; and they're like "they're better than yours (peanuts)"..

In terms of volume we get through about three times as many sunflower seeds than peanuts.

Squirrels can be a right pain - be careful of caged feeders as they can trap other stuff inside them (such as a blackbird in our garden on one occasion).

IME the best are those that shutter off the feed ports when they're subjected to more weight than the average songbird. You need to hang them far enough away from adjacent branches / anything else that can support the squirrel's weight; otherwise they'll just stretch over and avoid activating the ports while feeding.

Feeders hung from smooth, slender, isolated poles can also work if outside jumping distance from taller objects.

Be wary of catapults and suchlike - many can carry a lot of energy and cause serious damage / injury (or easily death with an appropriately-placed shot). You either need to do the job properly by trapping / shooting them (which is legal for greys as long as done humanely) or deter them with appropriate measures taken with the feeders. Be aware that if intentionally trapped they cannot legally be released back into the wild.

Grey squirrels are extremely tenacious so attempts to scare them off rarely work; it just makes them more ballsy once they work out that you're not a genuine threat.

As a child with an airgun, I made enough money for a pony in the 1950s by means of the grey squirrel bounty, but I know the folk in this block would not like the idea of me shooting the squirrels ... a catapult would be acceptable. People are strange ...

As said, I am happy to feed the little bustards/bush-tailed tree rats, but on my own terms - they just don't get to eat in the private dining room, so to speak, only in the cafeteria. I would like to make the private dining room extremely uncomfortable and difficult to dine at, while leaving the cafeteria open and well-stocked, with occasional treats. It's difficult/impossible here to keep squirrels away - lots of garden trees of various types and ages, old hedgerows, a nearby nature reserve and acres upon acres of semi-natural woodland leading down to the canal and more nature reserves. We have a big old dog fox marches around quite often - Mr Tom has squared up to him a few times - and there are occasional sightings of roe deer.
The pond in the nature reserve has a thriving population of the Great Crested newt and frequent visits from residents of the heronry which lies between the canal and the river. I am just under 3 miles to the city centre, and would love to get visits from the woodpeckers I hear hammering away ...

What happens if those feeders which are responsive to weight, get turned sideways or upside down? Do they then 'leak'? I may need to erect two tall clothesline posts, each with a baffle, and hang feeders from a line slung between the posts ...

 

[Slick]

As a child with an airgun, I made enough money for a pony in the 1950s by means of the grey squirrel bounty, but I know the folk in this block would not like the idea of me shooting the squirrels ... a catapult would be acceptable. People are strange ...

As said, I am happy to feed the little bustards/bush-tailed tree rats, but on my own terms - they just don't get to eat in the private dining room, so to speak, only in the cafeteria. I would like to make the private dining room extremely uncomfortable and difficult to dine at, while leaving the cafeteria open and well-stocked, with occasional treats. It's difficult/impossible here to keep squirrels away - lots of garden trees of various types and ages, old hedgerows, a nearby nature reserve and acres upon acres of semi-natural woodland leading down to the canal and more nature reserves. We have a big old dog fox marches around quite often - Mr Tom has squared up to him a few times - and there are occasional sightings of roe deer.
The pond in the nature reserve has a thriving population of the Great Crested newt and frequent visits from residents of the heronry which lies between the canal and the river. I am just under 3 miles to the city centre, and would love to get visits from the woodpeckers I hear hammering away ...

What happens if those feeders which are responsive to weight, get turned sideways or upside down? Do they then 'leak'? I may need to erect two tall clothesline posts, each with a baffle, and hang feeders from a line slung between the posts ...

I just hang mine from a hanging basket bracket and it has been fine.

 

[Gillstay]

As a child with an airgun, I made enough money for a pony in the 1950s by means of the grey squirrel bounty, but I know the folk in this block would not like the idea of me shooting the squirrels ... a catapult would be acceptable. People are strange ...

As said, I am happy to feed the little bustards/bush-tailed tree rats, but on my own terms - they just don't get to eat in the private dining room, so to speak, only in the cafeteria. I would like to make the private dining room extremely uncomfortable and difficult to dine at, while leaving the cafeteria open and well-stocked, with occasional treats. It's difficult/impossible here to keep squirrels away - lots of garden trees of various types and ages, old hedgerows, a nearby nature reserve and acres upon acres of semi-natural woodland leading down to the canal and more nature reserves. We have a big old dog fox marches around quite often - Mr Tom has squared up to him a few times - and there are occasional sightings of roe deer.
The pond in the nature reserve has a thriving population of the Great Crested newt and frequent visits from residents of the heronry which lies between the canal and the river. I am just under 3 miles to the city centre, and would love to get visits from the woodpeckers I hear hammering away ...

What happens if those feeders which are responsive to weight, get turned sideways or upside down? Do they then 'leak'? I may need to erect two tall clothesline posts, each with a baffle, and hang feeders from a line slung between the posts ...

I shoot the rats and the grey squirrels as they attack the bird boxes. The corpses I but on a bird table in the field for Buzzards, Ravens and owls.

 

[wafter]

As a child with an airgun, I made enough money for a pony in the 1950s by means of the grey squirrel bounty, but I know the folk in this block would not like the idea of me shooting the squirrels ... a catapult would be acceptable. People are strange ...

As said, I am happy to feed the little bustards/bush-tailed tree rats, but on my own terms - they just don't get to eat in the private dining room, so to speak, only in the cafeteria. I would like to make the private dining room extremely uncomfortable and difficult to dine at, while leaving the cafeteria open and well-stocked, with occasional treats. It's difficult/impossible here to keep squirrels away - lots of garden trees of various types and ages, old hedgerows, a nearby nature reserve and acres upon acres of semi-natural woodland leading down to the canal and more nature reserves. We have a big old dog fox marches around quite often - Mr Tom has squared up to him a few times - and there are occasional sightings of roe deer.
The pond in the nature reserve has a thriving population of the Great Crested newt and frequent visits from residents of the heronry which lies between the canal and the river. I am just under 3 miles to the city centre, and would love to get visits from the woodpeckers I hear hammering away ...

What happens if those feeders which are responsive to weight, get turned sideways or upside down? Do they then 'leak'? I may need to erect two tall clothesline posts, each with a baffle, and hang feeders from a line slung between the posts ...

lol - an excellent, rational and unexpected reply

As a damaging, invasive species I'm all for controlling them, but am mindful of how I convey this opinion as most urban-dwellers seem to deny any issues and cry barbarism just because they're furry. I'm sure they're less cute when they're casually chewing the face off a fledgeling blue tit..

I think anything to be done to prevent feeding them is a good thing; as you're only bolstering their numbers and as I'm sure you're well aware they can be very damaging to other flora and fauna.. not to mention the associated cost in bird food and knackered feeders. I think the only thing you can do to keep them out of the garden is remove access to all food sources..

Yes; while a generation or two ago those in rural communities wouldn't have batted an eyelid at youths off down the fields with an airgun / shotgun slung over their shoulders to get something for dinner, times have definitely changed. I agree that a catapult / slingshot is less politically-charged; but also a hell of a lot harder to hit stuff with and of course nothing deserves to suffer.

I think many would be shocked by the number of squirrels about - you might only see one or two in the garden at any one time, but chances are there are a lot more. A guy I used to know a couple of villages across started shooting those in his garden and I think he managed about 60-odd in a year.. that was in a relatively built-up location too - not out in the sticks.

Sounds like you have the privilege of a lot of nature on your doorstep - not much in the way of water around here but I occasionally find amenible toads in the garden, while we get regular woodpeckers, nuthatches and other interesting birds. I occasionally see foxes and deer on the land adjacent to the house and when I'm out for a walk. I actually saw a live hedgehog a while ago too; which I think was a first!

The "squirrel proof" feeders will spill their guts if knocked off; which of course is another concern. We had one that wasn't hung far enough away from the wall and they eventually chewed around the ports and knackered it. Your idea of the baffled line sounds like a grand idea if you have the space - unfortunately our garden is too small to really position anything outside of jumping range...

 

[Hicky]

If it’s bigger than a Starling, it can eat elsewhere for me apart from the Collared Doves we get around here. We oddly have a reasonable number of Robins which do tidy up the ground around the feeders as do the huge woodies.
I’ll get some hearts and mix them into the Niger seeds.

 

[wafter]

It's quite nice to see the blackbirds evolving to user the feeders in the garden..