Nickyboy v Squirrel arms race

[nickyboy]

I like to keep the bird feeder topped up in the garden. It's one of those "squirrel resistant" one.

Resistant is a bit of a misnomer though. It has a squirrel-proof cage but the lid is the device's weakspot and the squirrels know this. To take the lid off (for refilling) you have to twist then pull. It took the squirrels about 5 minutes to work this out. Head down in the sunflower hearts, gorging away.

So I came up with a plan. I would stretch a heavy duty rubber band over the lid to stop the squirrels twisting and pulling. That worked great for a few weeks. They were dumbfounded by my ingenuity. Then they found that a squirrel can easily gnaw through an elastic band. I only hope it pinged off and it hurt when they did it.

Back to the drawing board. Next plan; string. Same basic idea. This worked great for a few weeks too. Then the squirrels found they could gnaw through the string. Not as quickly as they could get through the elastic band but got through it they did.

Back to the drawing board. I had a brainwave. Wire. They can't gnaw through wire. All I needed to do was fashion some retainer made from wire. I unbent some paper clips, twisted them together and hey presto, squirrel-proof feeder. Except it wasn't. They had a go at gnawing through the wire and failed. Then they realised that if they pulled really hard at the wire it could create enough slack to get the lid off. Squirrels are surprisingly strong

Enough's enough. Here's today's effort. It follows the wire principle. But it goes across the lid in two directions. And I twisted it together indoors with pliers. I think I have the upper hand in the arms race now. Let's see

 

[Hill Wimp]

I give it 12hrs max. Those pesky critters love a challenge.

 

[ianrauk]

Then they found that a squirrel can easily gnaw through an elastic band. I only hope it pinged off and it hurt when they did it.

 

[Jayaly]

Looks like my final solution for stopping the dog opening the fridge. The squirrels will be having a meeting right now, with plans of attack sketched out on a tiny chalkboard.

 

[Drago]

You want me to pop round with my air rifle?

 

[GM]

I like to keep the bird feeder topped up in the garden. It's one of those "squirrel resistant" one.

Resistant is a bit of a misnomer though. It has a squirrel-proof cage but the lid is the device's weakspot and the squirrels know this. To take the lid off (for refilling) you have to twist then pull. It took the squirrels about 5 minutes to work this out. Head down in the sunflower hearts, gorging away.

So I came up with a plan. I would stretch a heavy duty rubber band over the lid to stop the squirrels twisting and pulling. That worked great for a few weeks. They were dumbfounded by my ingenuity. Then they found that a squirrel can easily gnaw through an elastic band. I only hope it pinged off and it hurt when they did it.

Back to the drawing board. Next plan; string. Same basic idea. This worked great for a few weeks too. Then the squirrels found they could gnaw through the string. Not as quickly as they could get through the elastic band but got through it they did.

Back to the drawing board. I had a brainwave. Wire. They can't gnaw through wire. All I needed to do was fashion some retainer made from wire. I unbent some paper clips, twisted them together and hey presto, squirrel-proof feeder. Except it wasn't. They had a go at gnawing through the wire and failed. Then they realised that if they pulled really hard at the wire it could create enough slack to get the lid off. Squirrels are surprisingly strong

Enough's enough. Here's today's effort. It follows the wire principle. But it goes across the lid in two directions. And I twisted it together indoors with pliers. I think I have the upper hand in the arms race now. Let's see

View attachment 89286

We've got the same problem. Thought I out smarted them by putting a wire mesh around the branch, but the little feckers have found a way round it.....did someone mention a air rifle

 

[Dave 123]

Chilli powder will deter them.

 

[KneesUp]

Chilli powder will deter them.

I was going to say just this - the RSPB recommend putting the seed in a bag with some chilli and giving it a shake - the birds can't taste it but the mammals can (it keeps rats away too) Don't use so much that it might get in the birds eyes.

We didn't have much chilli left, but we had quite a big bag of cumin. This also seems to work. Either that or someone else has killed the rat and three squirrels since I tried it last week.

 

[nickyboy]

I'm gonna see how the wire solution goes (although I don't hold out much hope tbh). After that we'll escalate to whatever we can find in Mrs N's spice rack. All else fails it's a PM to @Drago and his WMD

 

[Twinks]

I had a similar feeder. Came home to find two squirrels had knocked it down from the tree and were rolling it round the garden emptying the seed as it went. It almost looked as if the squirrels were cooperating in this task!

 

[fossyant]

Good luck. My father in law spent along time constructing devices. He once went into homebase to buy a kitchen bin rocker lid, he didn't want the bin. The cashier was dumbfounded. He used this as a flap to stop them climbing a pole. It soon failed.

 

[raleighnut]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMHeyDsnW54&feature=player_detailpage

 

[Andy_R]

I have a recipe for squirrel stew if anyone is interested.....

 

[Gains84]

Are you sure this isnt a child/other loved one just winding you up and enjoying watching you scratch your head and stealing the tv remote whilst youre gone?

 

[w00hoo_kent]