Squirrel-Proofing with a Stove Pipe Part II

Making a squirrel baffle with a stove pipe is easy. Just purchase a length from your local home improvement store. Get one at least 4 feet in length and 6 inches in diamter.
If you don’t want to get as fancy as hanging it on a pole, you could just put your pole through it and let the stove pipe rest on the ground.

The squirrels will eventually figure out that they can get inside it and crawl up the pole. To prevent this, make sure the bottom of the stove pipe is covered with snow in the winter, or dirt/gravel in the summer.

Suet Select

Suet Select Squirrel-Proof Bird FeederAnother variation of the cage squirrel-proof bird feeder is the Suet Select. It uses the same general principle as the other cage bird feeders; put the bird food in the center of the feeder and surround it with a metal cage. Make sure the food is far enough away so that the squirrels can’t reach through to it.
The Suet Select is one of these, but what’s unique about it, as the name implies, is that it is a suet feeder. The cakes of suet appeal to many variations of birds including woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees.

Unlike many smaller suet feeders, this one holds two cakes.

I like this type of squirrel-proof bird feeder (cage feeder) because there are no moving parts, no motorized mechanisms to fail or batteries to charge. It keeps squirrels out of your bird feeders simply by placing the food out of reach.

Here’s where you can find it online: The Bird Shed

Incidentally, here’s a great recipe for vegetarian suet.