Squirrels raising havoc on the bird feeders

[absolutevil]

I deploy one of these a time or two every year and relocate them to a nearby woods where I hunt. Kind of like a restocking squirrel program.
SQUIRRELINATOR.COM

 

[Farmer17]

I heard my wife scream one morning and I came running out and our brand new, slightly expensive patio furniture was all ripped up by the squirrels. They wanted the stuffing out of the cushions to build nests. I bought an RWS .22 pellet rifle with a Hawke 4x airgun scope and after I eliminated 5 or 6 of them they the rest stayed away.

 

[SMSgt]

I bought a Havahart trap at HD. Squirrels cannot resist raw peanuts. I've hauled well over 100 squirrels away to the far side of the interstate. There are no "woods" around my S. FL home, just one empty lot now. I don't know where they keep coming from, but a Vacancy sign must come on every time I catch one.

 

[gwpercle]

I fixed that problem by setting up Squirrel Feeder's and started feeding the squirrels .
Since they now have their own food ... they leave the bird seed ... to the birds !

Squirrels are much more Fun to watch too ...
Squirrels need love ( and food ) Too !
Gary

 

[grover99]

Had problems with deer eating the seed out of the bird feeder. They could clean out a tall feeder in no time. It was in town and the deer got so bad had to have a controlled harvest of them with the meat being given to a food bank. Had a peach tree but never got a single peach from it because the deer would eat the peaches before they were ripe enough to pick. Never had much trouble with tree rats.

 

[Onomea]

Shooting them doesn't mean you need to kill or injure them. Get a Daisy BB gun and chase 'em off.

I do this and find it fun. The squirrels learn to keep out of my back yard. I won't shoot them if they are on top of the wooden fence which surrounds my yard — I am in a suburb environment and don't want an errant BB hurting someone — so they will run back and forth on top of my fence and into neighbors' yards, but, if they venture into mine...

 

[Drm50]

Cut the noble squirrel a brake, he got a right to eat too. Much more entertaining to watch than most birds. About half of them are evasive species anyway. The squirrel is a citizen of good standing and has worth.

 

[Golddollar]

I give the squirrels a pass because when my late mother was bedridden in her last months, watching the squirrels provided a lot of entertainment for her.

 

[444 Magnum]

Admit defeat. Enjoy the squirrels.

I think Phat Gus belongs in a Phrying pan.

 

[fiasconva]

I've got the baffle on my feeder too. It works great but those suckers never learn and keep trying to get to the bird seed every day.

 

[SMSgt]

I have watched grackles and jays empty my bird feeder faster than any squirrel could hope for. And now the black-bellied whistler ducks have learned to fly up on the feeder and shake it until empty. They're costing me a fortune in bird feed.

 

[Mainsail]

When we moved in this house almost a decade ago, the previous owners had a feeder on a 4X4 post in the yard. The squirrels would empty it out pretty quickly.

Now, I don't mind if they want to police up the stray sunflower seeds that the birds dropped, but I'm not paying to feed the squirrels.

I got a small and inexpensive fence controller and ran the output wires up the pole, bare copper house wire spiraling up from the bottom keeping them an inch apart.

There was a learning curve as they at first tried to climb the post like normal, only to get a robust electric jolt that would send them flying. They tried a hundred ways from Sunday to get up that pole, and now almost ten years later they never even try. A youth trash panda tried once and let out a scream and never tried again.

EDIT to add: Ironically, I noticed the fence controller finally gave up the ghost a few days ago. Not sure if I'll replace it.

 

[steelslaver]

We don't have any grey squirrels where I live which strikes me as odd, because there are lots of them in most Montana towns. There are the smaller pine squirrels around but if they come in my yard they best pay attention cause my cats will get them if they are not careful. They have brought me rabbits, a variety of birds, mice, voles, and pine squirrels. I used to see Buddy stalk and jump deer but, I think he finally gave up on that project. Him and the deer pretty much ignore each other now.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I don't feed the birds in the summer. There are enough bugs for them to do what they are supposed to feed on. Winter is different. I use my hav a hart trap and peanuts. I get one every day. I let Angel fess with it for a while before I let them out. She hasn't caught one yet, but she's getting exercise chasing them into the fence bushes. they're up in the trees flipping her off while she stands there watching them!

 

[Kevin J.]

Clay thrower works

 

[old bear]

Mace is your friend!!

 

[Faulkner]

I find it's easier to keep the squirrels away from the bird feeders by putting up squirrel feeders away from the house. When the squirrels do show up at the bird feeders they do that at there own peril with Daisy around.

 

[Tom S.]

Send for the "A" team:

 

[fiasconva]

I really don't need a squirrel feeder anyway. They are getting nice and fat just from eating the bird seed that the birds knock off onto the ground underneath their feeders.