Here is a look at one of the chronic problems facing homeowners with bird feeders and bird houses, that is keeping the squirrels out of the feeder.
Millions of homeowners have brought a bit of nature to their backyard by the simple addition of a bird feeder. There is an endless variety of birds and bird feeders that you can create to add the activity and ambiance of birds singing and feeding in the yard.
But having bird food available in the yard also attracts other creatures, the most common being squirrels. While squirrels are welcome guests in many backyards, and many people will even put out feeders for them, they are a disruptive element in a bird feeder, both consuming the bird food and intimidating many birds from using the feeder.
So we would like to be able to keep them out, and most would agree that we would like to do it humanely. Let's take a look at some different approaches to keeping birds out of our feeders.
Location - The whole job is a lot easier if we pick a location that is difficult for squirrels to get to. Squirrels are great leapers, and it really works best to keep bird feeders away from tree limbs, roofs, and overhangs where they can leap to the feeder. They can easily climb a pole and leap over to a feeder hanging on an inverted J style hanging pole as well.
Squirrel Baffles - If you already have a favorite feeder which needs help, then after picking a good location, you may want to try a squirrel baffle. Most of these are similar in approach, they are a fairly large cone shape device that mounts either on the hanger above the feeder, or on the pole for pole mounted feeders. Some pole mounted baffles also include a spring type mechanism that makes it harder for the squirrel to climb over.
If you still have problems, there is a motorized baffle that acts as normal squirrel baffle, but if the squirrel manages to get around it and lands on the feeder, the weight of the squirrel will activate a motor in the baffle mount that gently spins then entire feeder to throw the squirrel off the feeder.
Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders - For those times where either you can't find a good location, or the squirrels are just too aggressive, you may want to invest in a squirrel proof bird feeder. There are four basic types of squirrel proof feeders, each with it's own advantages for keeping squirrels out of your bird feeder.