quirrels
How do you keep squirrels from eating the birdseed in your feeder?
That is a continuing and confounding problem with few really good solutions. My own approach is to hang my tubular seed feeder from under my home’s overhanging eaves on my back deck. This usually works, but on rare occasions, a dynamic squirrel will leap from some storage container I forget to move and grab hold of the feeder.
Also, it is messy under the feeder where sunflower seed hulls are strewn around after the birds eat the inner meats. But a few sweeps with a broom fixes that.
Some folks use a pressure-sensitive feeder where the squirrel’s weight causes the unit to close and block entry to the seeds.
Another solution is to buy spicy, hot-pepper birdseed and suet. This also deters raccoons.
If you don’t want to feed squirrels, be sure you mount your feeder at least ten feet from trees so they can’t leap aboard. Also, the family dog can sometimes chase away these unwanted visitors.
By the way, the most common squirrel in our central Texas area is the eastern fox squirrel. It has rusty or reddish underparts and greyish or brownish upperparts, and makes dens in hollow trees or leaf nests.
Some benevolent birders take the charitable approach and put up feeders designed for squirrels. They say it’s worth it to see the little critters enjoying themselves.
To each his own.
