Please recommend squirrel-proof bird feeder

LadyDee

Well, as near as possible squirrel-proof anyway. I do like watching the squirrels but the poor little birds aren't getting a look in, and I need to replace my feeders.

The Gardman & Nuttery ones are too dear and I've found similar by Kingfisher but they get mixed reviews.

TIA

david39

We had problems with bird feeders - not from squirrels, but rats from the nearby canal. It's the same problem, though. In open daylight, they would climb up the pole from which the feeders were suspended and tuck in.

The way we got over it was to replace the food that we put in the feeders with fat-balls. We haven't seen a rat since as they cannot get their claws into the feeders.

Buy the commonest feeders, the tall cylindrical ones with wire mesh walls but make sure they have a wide enough mesh to allow the birds to get their beaks through and still have room to manoevre to prise the seeds out. Also, make sure they are about the same diameter as the fat balls you will be using so they are always in contact with the mesh.

This procedure has proved very popular with our feathered friends - we've never had so many birds in the garden - including types we've not seen before. Large birds (pigeons, rooks, magpies etc.) are too big to cling on, so we throw them some scraps onto our garage roof, which is flat and this stops them bullying the smaller birds..

LadyDee

Which mesh ones are you talking about - the ones with the cage around? This is the type I'm looking at, although for all of them some people report that the squirrels still find their way in, although others report great success.

savageHK

Solution for us was to put a baffle around the pole - not cheap, but works - provided the pole is situated away from anything the squirrel can jump from. We have used the Droll Yankees Giant Seed Tray.

ariba10

Try.


https://www.thenuttery.com

LadyDee

ariba10 wrote: »

Try.


https://www.thenuttery.com

I had actually commented that the Nuttery & Gardman are too expensive. Looking for a cheaper recommended alternative.

ariba10

LadyDee wrote: »

I had actually commented that the Nuttery & Gardman are too expensive. Looking for a cheaper recommended alternative.

If you want squirrel proof, you will have to pay for it.

LadyDee

ariba10 wrote: »

If you want squirrel proof, you will have to pay for it.

Well - that's a helpful comment. Thank you.

david39

Which mesh ones are you talking about - the ones with the cage around?

Yes, the wire mesh cage with holes large enough to push a pencil through.

It's not the mesh that stops the squirrels (or in our case, rats) it's the fat balls. They don't seem able to feed off the fat balls when inside a mesh screen because they don't have enough room to manoevre their claws or teeth. The birds just merrily chip away with their sharp beaks.