So, it has been up since early September and it’s impressive indeed. Birds got used to it straightaway. Very little wastage from seed falling out too, but wood pigeons hoover that up anyway. Blackbird sized birds managed to have a feed too, but when a magpie had a go, the platform closed down. The marauding, ginormous alpha male grey squirrel, who does the majority of the stealing from all the bird feeders down our terrace, has been stumped! It is pure joy watching him try to suss it out and fail. He has now given up entirely. Result!! One word of warning- don’t place the feeder too close to a fence or wall though, as they could lean over from there onto the feeder and not activate the closing mechanism but other than that, it is totally and utterly squirrel proof, I am pleased to report 😁🐿😈 Oh, and it is HUGE! I laughed when the box arrived, as I hadn’t banked on its length, but it just means that one load lasts about 3 months.
I enjoy seeing these squirrels critters playing in the backyard. On the other hand, I don’t want them to sneak up on the bird feeders. Before the problem occurred, I immediately purchased a couple feeder from Merhoff & Larkin. I only used a Phillips screwdriver, put on the corn cobs, and it was all set. Have you ever imagined a family of squirrels having a picnic together?
I have a feeding station type feeder and attached a metal slinky, which seems to have stopped both the squirrels and the rodents from stealing the bird food. The theory is that as they attempt to run up the pole the slinky drops them back down to the ground. I haven’t actually seen them attempt it but my feeder no longer gets raided 🙂 I bought mine from Amazon for about £5 and lots of reviewers had bought the slinky with the same aim and report that it worked for them.
I have seen on tv an ingenious use for a slinky the feeder pole is put through the center of the spring and attached to the bottom of the feeder. When a squirrel climbs the pole and gets hold of the spring the animals weight expands the spring and it drops frightening the squirrel
Yes, having tried many, I have settled on LadyBird's guard 2 messages above and also the weight based one from RoamWild. There are other smaller guards like LadyBird's guard that work. However, Starlings get to all of them except LadyBird's guard.
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However, I'm asking the question directly - just to see
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
So, it has been up since early September and it’s impressive indeed.
Birds got used to it straightaway.
Very little wastage from seed falling out too, but wood pigeons hoover that up anyway.
Blackbird sized birds managed to have a feed too, but when a magpie had a go, the platform closed down.
The marauding, ginormous alpha male grey squirrel, who does the majority of the stealing from all the bird feeders down our terrace, has been stumped! It is pure joy watching him try to suss it out and fail.
He has now given up entirely.
Result!!
One word of warning- don’t place the feeder too close to a fence or wall though, as they could lean over from there onto the feeder and not activate the closing mechanism but other than that, it is totally and utterly squirrel proof, I am pleased to report 😁🐿😈
Oh, and it is HUGE! I laughed when the box arrived, as I hadn’t banked on its length, but it just means that one load lasts about 3 months.
..and is this another form of contraception too?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
https://rwinvent.co.uk/collections/garden-diy-tools/products/roamwild-squirrel-proof-bird-feeders