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Squirrel -proof bird feeding

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
in Wildlife gardening
I gave up putting out feed for birds a few years ago. I was just feeding squirrels.

It occurs to me that there must be some things that squirrels don't fancy.
What about those wormy things or fat balls?

Can anyone suggest something that only birds would be interested in?
In London. Keen but lazy.
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  • Dave HumbyDave Humby Posts: 1,145
    We live alongside a large ancient woodland and are inundated with greys. We eventually opted for caged feeders for the peanuts and mixed seed so the small birds are catered for. Unfortunately it means we no longer get the woodpeckers who were daily visitors. The squirrels don't show any interest in the non-caged nyjer seed feeders which are the staple diet for the daily goldfinch visitors. 
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    I have two squirrel proof feeders that actually ARE squirrel proof. Had them for a few years - the squirrels investigate occasionally, then give up. The parakeets can't get in either. They're quite expensive (luckily they were presents), but they do work. The brand name is The Nuttery.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    I have The Nuttery feeders as well, also some very good, but very ancient, squirrel proof feeders for use when I am washing t'others. They do keep the squirrel out and the parakeets.

    I don't know that the theory of the fat balls not being attractive to squirrels is true. My brother swears 'his' squirrel waited until the magpies had taken enough to lighten the load and then swiped the whole thing!  Presumably to open and enjoy at its leisure. He threatened to search for its home to retrieve his cage.

    I laughed at his fanciful story ( imagine that Jaws music here) until a week later my suet block cage also went missing ????????
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    Fat block, peanuts and sunflower seeds are all in squirrel proof feeders. One of the feeders (seed) has a strong clip on it (the clip you get on the end of a dog's lead) as the squirrels discovered how to open the feeder.  They haven't succeeded with the clip.
    SW Scotland
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Looks like it might be worth trying. Although the birds can't taste it, is it certain that the chilli does them no harm?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    @Dave Humby - I found a couple of "caged" feeders in which the squirrel-proof outer cage is close enough to the inner food container for the woodpeckers to be able to use them, because they have quite long beaks.  I thought they were made by Gardman but they don't seem to be on their current list... worth looking out for though.

    The other solution, which works providing your feeder is on a pole, not hanging, and there's nothing nearby from which a squirrel can jump onto the feeder, is a squirrel baffle.  It looks like a large upside down plastic mixing bowl with a hole in, and you thread it onto the feeder pole just below the feeder and tighten up the collar which attaches it.  It's quite fun watching the squirrels running confidently up the pole, reaching the bowl and getting rather cross...

    And I've just seen an ad for the (expensive) Ark Wildlife "squirrel buster" peanut feeder, one of those which closes if the creature sitting on it is too heavy.  The blurb says the weight activated control can be adjusted.  First weigh your woodpecker...   :)
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • chickychicky Posts: 10,410
    I feed nuts in one of the heavy duty feeders - the mesh is the waste product stuff from punching out washers from sheet metal.  The squirrels used to have a go, but can only get tiny bits at a time, so soon gave up.  Mr and Mrs woodpecker are there most days 😀
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I've seen those baffle things but the price is extortionate for a flimsy bit of plastic. I think they  were £18.99 . That might have been for two. I was too disgusted to check.
     I wonder if you could drill a hole in a mixing bowl and use some sort of jubilee clip effort. There must be something that comes with dome-shaped packaging (probably a plastic mixing bowl). Where's excess packaging when you need it?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • chickychicky Posts: 10,410
    This is what I was talking about



    On the baffles, I use disposable plastic salad bowls from the supermarket - that thwarts the mice from climbing table legs to get to my precious seedlings 🌱 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited April 2019
    I wonder if the circumference of a salad bowl would be big enough  . I can see them happily climbing into a small one and thieving in comfort.
    They just flip the top off unprotected feeders and tip out the contents. The pigeons lurk nearby to clean up what they've missed.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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