Harlem, GA on Jul 09, 2012

Does anyone have any good suggestions on how to keep squirrels out of my bird feeders?

I have tried the crushed red pepper in the bird seed, and have tried putting vaseline on the pole that holds the feeders....any other suggestions? I will at times have one or two in the feeders, with 5 or 6 on the ground below...I dont mind them on the ground, but they've broken a couple of feeders already this year for me.... :(

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Angela L Harlem, GA

Thanks Susan! I will try that! oh, and found the feeder this week at Home Depot!

on Jul 09, 2012 · Like 1
Angela L Harlem, GA

Thanks for the answers, but I'm still hoping for more ideas.

on Jul 09, 2012 · Like 0
Helen T

Well here is the squirrel proof feeder we got. it was fine till we installed the air conditioner then they jumped off it on to it reclining in the cage
- 1
on Jul 09, 2012 · Like 2
Walter Reeves Decatur, GA

before I got an Eliminator feeder from Wild Birds Unlimited, I hung my bird feeder on a cable between two trees. The squirrels couldn't jump that high.

on Jul 09, 2012 · Like 3
Steve G Fort Collins, CO

Someone here last week suggested cutting a hole in a frisbee and putting that on your bird feeder pole to keep the squirrels from climbing.

on Jul 09, 2012 · Like 2
Sharron W Memphis, TN

Unless they are jumping on from above... Honestly unless you put up a pole like a clothes line with a wire beween and small pieces of PVC pipe strung on the rope so that it rotates and the squirrels fall off...I don't know how to keep them out...I do know that switching to safflower seed in my feeders discouraged them greatly, but it also limited the number and type of birds that came to my feeders....I even bought a squirrel proof feeder and went out to see two squirrels trapped inside it ...»
one day....just stuffing themselves! The wild bird people told me to make a "cone" baffle out of sheet metal and put it on the pole...but it has to be high enough that they can't just jump on top ....

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 1
Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL

I also have the Eliminator feeder Walter mentioned. It's expensive, but it works. Otherwise, you have to combine height and distance to hang your feeder in a place they can't reach.

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 1
Sharon C Nashville, IL

Squirrels don't like to eat Safflower Oil Seed...Feed this, instead of what you are feeding!

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 1
Angela L Harlem, GA

Thanks guys! I will try these tips and see what works! These squirrels are not only driving me crazy, but my poor German Sheppard too! LOL.... he wants to get to them soooo bad, lol, I don't want to limit the birds that come to the feeder, because I have a mama bird feeding some babies in a birds nest in my back yard and I dont know what type of bird she is (she's in the pic above) and I dont want her to be one of the one's that would not come back because she didn't like the food....here's a pic of the babies!!!
on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 0
Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL

I would want to keep mama around and happy, too!

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 2
Sandi M Semmes, AL

We put out food for the squirrels, that way they have their own feast! They love corn.

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 1
Walter Reeves Decatur, GA

In my experience, putting food out for any nuisance animal (rat, chipmunk, deer or squirrel) just brings more to the area.

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 2
Popular Mechanics New York, NY

I had the same problem, until one of my fellow editors at Popular Mechanics assigned this story. Now I have a good time watching the squirrels try, try, try to reach the feeder...only to drop to the ground and try again. It's good for the birds, frustrating for the squirrels, and great entertainment! http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-...

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 4
Angela L Harlem, GA

Thanks Joe, we'll have to try this!

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 0
Troye M Orange, TX

I saw somewhere..where a person had put a pipe over the pole at the top, squirrels can't hold on to it and slide down !!!!

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 0
Kathy R Rocky Point, NC

I have the Homestead 3201S Super Stop A Squirrel Wild Bird Feeder. Had it for 20 years and never had one Squirrel in it. It sits under 2 huge pecan trees on a sheppard hook in the grass.

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 1
Eclectically Vintage - Ke... New York, NY

Joe - great article! Ahh, good times, sitting outside, sipping a nice cold margarita watching the squirrels try, to no avail, to reach that feeder! I need one of these!

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 2
Paul M Fairburn, GA

I have hung mine from a long tree limb about 15' below the tree and 6' off the ground using a nylon string. I first did this using a small rope and the squirrels were climbing down the rope and getting in the feeder. I changed it to a nylon string and they chewed the string in two and made the feeder fall then got into that. I finally used a stainless steel air craft cable, 1/8", and that was the end of the squirrels getting into my feeder. They can't climb it, they can't chew it, they ...»
can't jump that high so they can't get in it. I have seen them sitting on the ground looking up as if they were wishing they could jump that high but that is as close as they get anymore.

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 2
Jeanette Damascus, MD

I agree with the previous poster. A piece of pvc sunk into the ground around the pole, the feeders placed at least 4 feet from the nearest tree. Pole should allow the feeder to be at least 4 feet from the ground. Voila....problem solved.

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 0
Robin H Keystone Heights, FL

If you put a hole in the middle of the bottom of a 3 gal. or larger plastic pot you bought with a plant in it than have a stack of them somewhere, use them. place them up the pole about 12/16 inches from bird feeder. The little suckers can't figure out how to get around inside the pot, takes awhile to figure they can make the hole bigger by eating it , than u just replace it with another pot u have saved. Very simple, Very cheap.

on Jul 10, 2012 · Like 1
Sandi M Semmes, AL

@ Walter....I don't find squirrels a nuisance. We enjoy watching them play in the yard. I guess one man's trash is another man's treasure!

on Jul 11, 2012 · Like 0
Angela L Harlem, GA

checked on the babies...
on Jul 11, 2012 · Like 0
Donna R Lumberton, TX

Like Sandi, we enjoy watching the squirrels eating with the birds. We have a wishing well that is actually a bird feeder. It has a large tray on it and I put the bird seed on that. The squirrels can't break it. They all eat side by side and just get along.

on Jul 11, 2012 · Like 2
RUTH M Spring Hill, FL

OUR FLA. SQUIRRELS ARE NASTY RASCALS. CAN'T GET OUR FEED. WE HAVE A FEEDER W/ THE OUTER WIRE GRID LOWERS W/ THEIR WEIGHT BUT THEY OCCATIONALLY TRY! BUT THEY EAT MY HIBISCUS FLOWERS , DIG IN POTTED PLANTS , HANGING AND ON THE GROUND AND MAKE A BIG MESS. WE HAVE SO MANY , CATCHING THEM IS NOT AN OPTION. WE REALIZE THEY ARE GOD'S CREATURES BUT NOT MY FRIENDS !!.

on Jul 11, 2012 · Like 2
Sandi M Semmes, AL

@Ruth M. We only have a few squirrels so we don't have that problem. That would be a problem.

on Jul 12, 2012 · Like 0

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