Squirrel-Proofing Tips

Squirrels and Pepper

As many birders know, birds are not sensitive to hot (spicy) tastes, such as pepper, but mammals, including squirrels, are. Therefore some people mix pepper in with their bird seed to make it unpallatable to squirrels.

I personally feel this is cruel. If the pepper just kept the squirrel from eating the seed, well and good. [...]

How to Squirrel-Proof a Bird Feeder Using PVC

If you have squirrels that invade your bird feeders and want to keep the squirrels out of the feeders without spending a lot of money on a new squirrel-proof bird feeder, there are a few inexpensive remedies you can try to make the feeders you already have squirrel-proof.

If your feeder is on a pole, trying [...]

Make Your Feeder Squirrel-Proof by Raising it up

Did you know the average gray squirrel can jump 3 to 4 feet straight up and can leap horizontally a whopping 10 to 12 feet? This may seem like it makes it impossible to position your feeder out of the squirrel’s reach, but here’s one trick: put your bird feeder on an upper story of [...]

Squirrel Zen

Have you ever noticed that we often make up scenarios about people, play them out in our heads, and assign those characteristics to others? We have mental conversations with others and imagine what they would have said if we had said… Unfortunately, this often gives us an excuse to be unkind and even cruel.

Here’s a [...]

Squirrel-Proofing Overview

With so many different types of squirrel-proof bird feeders and baffles, it’s hard to know just where to start in the effort to squirrel-proof your feeders. Here are a couple of basics to get you going.

If you’re starting from scratch and can set up your backyard feeders any way you want, I recommend having a [...]

Halloween Contest

In the spirit of Halloween fun, I throw out this challenge (though I don’t really expect anyone to get it).

The first person to send the correct answer to this question will win a free munch box squirrel feeder. You won’t even have to pay for shipping.

Here’s the question.

What team plays here:

If you think you know [...]

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 [...]

Vegetarian Bird Suet Recipe

There are many species of birds that especially like suet: woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches are a few that come to mind.

The suet cakes you purchase in the supermarket are made with animal fat as a base. If you’re a vegetarian like me, you may have looked for vegetarian suet, only to be disappointed.

Well, fortunately making [...]

Tips on Pole-Mounted Bird Feeders

Some squirrel-proof bird feeders are pole-mounted feeders, such as the Absolute feeder. I’m referring to bird feeders that sit at the top of pole, not ones that hang from them. (If you have a hanging feeder on a pole, see Tips on Hanging Your Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder.)

Pole-mounted bird feeders tend to be more effective (and [...]

Squirrel-Proof your Bird Feeder Using a Flower Pot

A cylinder squirrel baffle is perfect to protect bird feeders that are on poles. When the squirrel climbs up the pole, he encounters the baffle and can’t get around it.

These baffles are sold commercially and are pretty inexpensive. We have one and it works great! But it is also easy to make your own. A [...]