Tips to Keep Squirrels Away From Bird Feeders
Most people find squirrels adorable… and they are until they decide to eat all your bird food and make a mess of your garden bird feeder. Unsurprisingly, birds favourite food is also a squirrel’s favourite: nuts and seed grains. So when you think of a bird feeder, your friendly neighbourhood squirrel sees as a full on buffet.
So, how do I keep squirrels out of the bird feeder without harming them? Keep reading for some tips to help you keep squirrels safely away from your bird feeders!
Bird Feeder Placement
Squirrels are little aerial acrobats, and can jump easily 10 foot horizontally. So placing your bird feeders near or below trees makes it easy for the little rascals to jump straight onto it.
Anything that looks like a suitable launch pad should be at least 10 feet away from your feeders for good squirrel proofing. Log piles, tool cabins, trees, houses… squirrels are fearless jumpers and very accurate.
The best way to keep squirrels away from bird feeders is making sure the bird feeder is not easy to jump to. Also, if you place it just right you can get a lot of amusing pictures of squirrels trying to make the jump… and falling short. If you can’t place the feeder in a suitably squirrel-unfriendly location, you’ll need to keep reading to get the best anti squirrel bird feeders tricks.
Buying New? Choose The Best Anti Squirrel Bird Feeders
There are different types of squirrel proof bird feeders that you can buy to keep your feeders safe.
The best anti squirrel bird feeders come in two different types:
Caged Bird Feeders
This type of squirrel proof bird feeder also keeps large birds away. The feed box is protected by a cage, which has openings too small for a squirrel to get in and reach the food. There is nothing mechanic about it and they can be hung from branches.
This is one of the best anti squirrel bird feeders if you want a simple, all-weathers feeder hanging from a tree branch without taking much space. No installation, no effort and your feed will be safe.
Weight Sensitive Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders
This type of feeder locks down if there is too much weight on the perch. It will stop squirrels and very heavy birds such as crows from eating. Smaller birds will be perfectly fine accessing the food.
Some feeders react to excess weight by spinning using a small battery. That sends the squirrel flying and gives them a good scare. They are very convincing for squirrels to leave the feeder alone forever.
Squirrel Baffles Are Simple But Effective To Keep Squirrels Off
The easiest way to keep squirrels off the feed is to install a squirrel baffle on the pole. This way you get a bird feeder squirrel proof pole without disturbing the birds, or looking ugly. But what is a squirrel baffle?
A squirrel baffle is a bow looking plastic or metal attachment that is really slippery. If you are protecting a hanging feeder from squirrels, you place it above the feeder. If your feeder is on a pole, you attach it to the pole below the feeder. The concave side should always be facing downwards.
And then grab your binoculars and prepare to be amused when Mr. Squirrels comes for a snack. When the squirrel tries to climb the pole, or drop down to the feeder, it will slip and fall. After a few attempts, most squirrels decide that the food is too much trouble and make themselves scarce.
Even the best climber will have issues with a feeder protected by a well placed squirrel baffle. They also can help discourage rats and other rodents from eating there.
Install A Slippery Squirrel Proof Pole
A slippery feeder pole will discourage squirrels and non-flying wildlife from snacking on your bird food. This is a very effective way of keeping the squirrels away from the bird food, and works great combined with a squirrel baffle. The best squirrel resistant bird feeders are rarely made of wood for this reason, as wood is very easy to climb.
PVC or metal poles are the best for squirrel-proofing. They can also be oiled with vegetable oil for extra slip. This method will keep your feeder safe as long as the squirrels can’t drop from above or jump from a nearby branch.
Do not use petroleum jelly or grease, please. Squirrels will eat it when trying to clean their coat, and it can harm them. Vegetable oil is the only safe way to keep the poles slippery and the squirrels healthy.
Offer Squirrels A Different Source Of Food
If you don’t mind squirrels in your garden and just want to protect your bird feeder from them… you can also install a separate squirrel peanut feeder for example.
Squirrels will love you if you offer them food, particularly as the weather gets colder and the search for food becomes more intense. They will avoid a baffle protected bird feeder and instead stick to their own. And this way you can also enjoy their climbing and bouncing displays while helping wildlife.
Word of warning though, do not think that this method will make the bird feeders automatically safe from squirrels. Squirrels are greedy creatures that will happily munch from the squirrel feeder and the bird feeder.
Always combine this method with another dedicated way to squirrel-proof your bird feeders.
Make The Food Less Tasty For Squirrels
Most people don’t know this, but birds have a very weak sense of taste and smell. Very much unlike squirrels. So if the bird food tastes spicy, the squirrels will leave it alone while the birds happily eat it.
You can do this by mixing a bit of cayenne pepper or other spicy spices with the seeds and nuts. Just a bit will do, but feel free to add more if the squirrels are undeterred. Come winter they can be more stubborn than usual, and happy to risk a bit of heat to get to the yummy nuts.
Alternatively, choose food that squirrels don’t like instead of their favourites.
- Cardinals, chickadees, titmice, and many finches love safflower seeds, whereas squirrels don’t. Blackbirds (another well known bird feeder pest) don’t like them either.
- Goldfinches love nyjer seed. Squirrels don’t care for it.
- Doves, juncos, and sparrows enjoy white proso millet but squirrels find it too small to bother.
Squirrels LOVE nuts, peanuts, large-ish seeds, corn and fruit. So if you don’t want to attract them to a particular feeder, avoid using too many of those on unprotected bird feeders.
Above All: Keep It Clean
If you want to avoid having a squirrel problem with your bird feeder, do your best to avoid attracting them. Always keep the bird feeders clean from spilled food and other debris. You don’t want anything that signals to the squirrels something is worth investigating.
The birds will also appreciate a clean bird feeder without rotting food which could also attract rats and rodents. So don’t forget to clean around every couple of days, particularly if you tend to attract messy eaters.
As you can see, there are many cruelty free ways to protect your bird feeder from squirrels. As much as they are really cute, a squirrel infestation in your garden is no fun at all!
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