Squirrels are ingenious creatures.
Sometimes I underestimate their resourcefulness. My lot have discovered that if
they wrap their tails around the tree branch that holds the bird feeders they
can swing down like monkeys. In an upside down position they can help
themselves to various seeds and the suet that my robins love so much.
I have two 'squirrel-proof' feeders that are ‘guaranteed’ to defeat the
little monsters, one that a squirrel can get in just by looking at it, and one with a huge dome that was supposed to be the answer
to my prayers.... except the squirrels started to chew the edge in an endeavour
to eat it all away, thus enabling them (eventually) to get at the birdseed.
Sheet determination on their part would make them keep gnawing through the
extremely hard plastic ... and it wouldn’t have taken long to achieve their
aim!
But hallelujah, my friend in
America tells me that she has a Yankee Squirrel Flipper; an ingenious gadget whereby
if the dear little animal puts one paw on the feeder he is flipped off. She
sent a photo of the action and I thought yes,
that’s for me, or rather him ... I
can’t think why but I always think of squirrels as male creatures!
On hearing the news that a
squirrel flipper might solve the problem I checked
The squirrels in my yard store and feast on the black walnuts from our 5 trees so well that they pretty much leave the bird feeders alone. They are busy little souls that drive the dogs to distractions some times.
ReplyDeleteSquirrels are clever little critters. They are my nemesis, along with the Grackles, Cats, Dogs, and sometimes kids!! LOL. Hang a metal baffle over the top of your feeder, see if that works.
ReplyDelete" What the inventor failed to recognise was that squirrels are great at lifting lids."
ReplyDeleteValerie, doesn't it amaze you at how resourceful (clever) squirrels are at getting food? No matter what kind of bird feeder is invented to keep them out, they somehow find away to get in!?!
And wow...that was one expensive squirrel flipper!
"I can’t think why but I always think of squirrels as male creatures!"
HA! I'm the same way. I always think of squirrels as male!
LOVE the photo of the squirrel grabbing apple. Did you take that? Great capture!
Have a super Saturday, dear lady.
X to you and Joe!
you totally need to take me a picture of the squirrels using the tails...ha....they are so funny...i am sorry but i love squirrels....i know they are a pest to others, i just cant help it...lol
ReplyDeleteSome people around here will put sheet metal about and sometimes under. Do not know if it works.
ReplyDeleteBrian, I wish I could take a picture. Trouble is the feeders are too far away and in bad light. I use binoculars if I want a closer look.
ReplyDeleteDan, I don't think anything really works... doh!
Ron, the photograph was taken by Rosanne. She's a better photographer than me.
ReplyDeleteI admit that deep down I admire the squirrels resourcefulness but it's a pain when I've forked out cash for bird food and the squirrel scoffs the lot.
Do you really think of them as male? Isn't it strange how our minds work, when we KNOW some of them are female.
My mind is strange. At our WI hall there are three separate institutes, one of them with the word Evening in their title..... for some reason I always think of them as being 'upstairs' and often indicate so when talking about them by pointing a finger at the ceiling. Don't ask, just accept the fact that I am quite mad....ha.
BC, you make me wish I had a walnut tree. Yes, I remember how our dogs went mad when the squirrels came into the garden.
ReplyDeleteMona, I haven't seen a metal baffle on sale anywhere, they're all plastic. I'll start looking in case I've missed something.
Loved your comment on my blog; thanks for stopping by! We only have one squirrel that stops by semi-regularly. I don't mind him eating what I put out for the birds, it's fun to watch his antics. I've gotten a few pics of him in the act. I once had a suet ball with a string on it. He grabbed it by the string and carried it up the tree. Good thing he hasn't found a girlfriend and made a family to come around too. LOVED the pictures of Italy your daughter took.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Val ...
ReplyDeleteI have been battling the squirrels for a long time...
and so far I have found a
simple solution ...
moved the feeder poles away from the tree/ branches and other poles... then put a 'baffle'... circular piece of metal around each pole.. the squirrels can not get around the metal...
it took a year for the squirrels to figure out my squirrel proof feeders... the very young and lighter weight squirrels ould hang down and not push on the trap to close the feeder... they are such sneaky pesks
new computer here and I am having problems getting blogger to work properly ... I will email you a photo of the 'baffle'
ReplyDeleteHi Faye. Thanks for your advice. I have used a plastic baffle and am now looking on line for a metal one ... shops don't seem to sell them where I live. We did once have a pole for the feeders but gave up on it when the squirrels donned combat uniforms and scaled up like they were on simple stairs! Our feeders hang from chains ... we have no other way to do it. Off now to check the on-line shops!
ReplyDeleteHi kden. I think if we had just one squirrel we might scare him off. It was just the one but the number has increased to three. I believe it's an adult and youngsters that come now. Wondering what squirrel stew tastes like... just kidding, of course.
ReplyDeleteThey are very clever creatures inded. We had one come into our back garden last year and devouring the seeds we left out for birds. Until the cats got wind of it and started roaming around. I never knew of cats chasing after squirrels. Apparently it's not because they eat them but scare them. So, it was birds to seeds, squirrel to seeds, cats to squirrel, cats to birds.
ReplyDeletenature, I lvoe it.
Greetings from London.
It has done my pride no good to recognize I've been outsmarted by some small rodents for years. And that's all I'm saying on that subject....
ReplyDeleteIt has done my pride no good to recognize I've been outsmarted by some small rodents for years. And that's all I'm saying on that subject....
ReplyDelete