wooden bird feeders | Get Squirrels Out Of Bird Feeders

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How To Get Those Pesky Squirrels Out Of Your Bird Feeders!

I work hard at creating a natural, inviting dining area for the all my Titmouse, Cardinals, Chickadees, Warblers and Finches that regularly fly in for their daily seed at my two hanging feeders perched on my deck. They hang from a self-made pole I made out of a two by four and screwed planter hangers on the sides to steadily hold them up. I attached this pole to the far right corner railing of our deck, right in front of the kitchen window above the sink so I can see them eating every morning as I sip on my warm, soothing cup of French Vanilla coffee before I get the kids off to school. And then, I turn my back from the window for one second and there he is. The enemy, making his way slowly, one little gray paw at a time towards the first feeder, ready to steal away all of my little feathered friends food one seed at a time.

"Squirrel!" I scream to our dog Shawnee to announce his presence, "Go get the squirrel Shawnee!" I then rush to the door to release her out to attack the enemy . Shawnee runs up to the feeders barking wildly as I keep yelling "Go get the squirrel!" This always scares the crap out of the squirrel and he flies off the deck back to the tree branches that served as his bridge from the tree to the deck . This is one sure fire way to keep that pest out of my feeders but it's a continuous battle since it only lasts as long as I keep the dog out there on constant watch. The minute I let her back in the squirrel always comes back and sometimes with reinforcements. I tried this tactic using the cats once but they seem to have some kind of kinship with this animal and just sit there watching him eat up all the seed. I had to find some other way.

I read some articles on the internet on this subject and the experts said to get the feeders that had the squirrel proof plastic domes that hang on the bottom. Seems like a great idea since the squirrels slide off the dome as they try to climb up on it to reach the seed and are unable to. But I knew this wasn't going to work for me since my feeders sit only about a foot up from the deck railing

and the squirrel can reach right over that dome. Then they said to cut all the branches off at least nine feet back from the feeders since squirrels can only jump that far.

That's not going to work for me either because I just can't do that to my beautiful maple trees. Besides, the birds use those branches to perch on as they chip away at the seeds they take from the feeders.

So, instead, I threw rocks, apples, and even potatoes at him. He only found this amusing and starting throwing them back at me! The nerve of that squirrel! That really put me over the edge and into commando mode. Next plan of attack was the big gun, the water gun that is. After slowly opening up the kitchen window ever so quietly so as not to alert him of my intentions, I aimed and squirted out continuous rounds of water hitting him on the back side and occasionally his head. I felt pretty silly doing this and hoped none of the neighbors were catching any of this. Finally the bugger would scurry off back up the branches but always returned in just minutes of my ending the attack. It was hopeless, nothing I was doing was working for too long and I was out of ideas.

I was about to give up entirely and let that squirrel do whatever he wanted when it dawned on me. The squirrel wasn't really an enemy. He was just an animal looking for a meal just like my birds. The problem wasn't the fact that he was eating the seed but rather where he was eating it. So I decided to feed him but away from the feeders. Maybe by having his own feeder, he would let the bird's have their own without interruption. I filled a large bowl with sunflower seed and dried corn and put it out in the back yard far away from the feeders. A few hours later I glanced out the window and looked over to the white bowl in the back yard and to my amazement I saw he found his way to the bowl and was filling his cheeks with the food. I walked away feeling I had succeeded in my mission without having to revert to more drastic measures and as long as I keep that bowl filled I never will. Mission accomplished.