Remember when I bragged that we’d solved the squirrel-eating-the-birdseed problem?
Well, it would seem the wildlife has outsmarted us.
Two nights in a row, two different squirrel-proof bird feeders were completely emptied. Apparently deer will stand and lick out the seed tongue full by tongue full.
So we bought some long iron hooks to attach the feeders to trees. You know, lift the feeder too high for the deer?
And it worked well. For a while. The squirrels would climb out, their weight slid shut the holes, and they clambered around the feeder, frustrated.
Then the squirrels began to outsmart us. They now climb out onto the feeder and don’t even bother prying at the holes. Instead, they leap back onto the tree, kicking. Seed scatters to the ground, which they collect at their leisure. And repeat. It took them about two days to empty the feeder.
And now the chipmunks are in on it.
Until this last week, I had no idea they could climb trees, wire rods and bird feeders just as well as squirrels. Then yesterday, I caught one perched on the bird feeder, his weight not enough to slam shut the holes. That cute little chipmunk filled his cheeks and headed home. He returned at least three times.
Apparently, this isn’t uncommon.
So it appears the war is still on.
My husband wants to install baffles.
I’m initiating chemical warfare (coating the seed in capsaicin aka chili pepper which birds can’t taste). This morning I mixed in my chili powder supply. If that doesn’t work well enough, I’m ordering this liquid additive.
Unless someone has any better suggestions?
Ah, looks like you’ve put black sunflower seeds in the feeder – of course you’ve got chipmunks. That’s the seed of choice for the ones I’m feeding. Yes, I actively encourage them in the yard. I know, I’m weird.
I’m not sure if it would help, but maybe you could put up a dedicated squirrell/critter feeder and get some critter food (it’s actually called that) then they might leave the bird feeders alone.
Oh and I’m not the least bit surprised you haven’t been able to out smart the squirrells. I saw a documentary a couple years ago on the BBC where some scientists tested backyard squirrells by building more and more elaborate feeders/mazes to see it they could figure out how to make it “squirrell proof” and they learned just how smart squirrells are. They will figure out virtually any system you build, it will just take some time and much testing, but they will get past it.
I love the chipmunks too. And I enjoy watching the squirrels outsmart feeders – the kids get a kick out of watching them. They certainly are a good advertisement for persistence. Sometimes I line up peanuts just outside the screen porch, ostensibly for the (inside) cat. I’d really just like to slow down their birdseed consumption with the chili pepper additive – and go back to feeding them peanuts. Somehow I think a dedicated squirrel feeder would only increase the visiting squirrel number. But if they’ll leave the feeders alone, I’ll go back to feeding them peanuts and look into the critter food.
The critter food I find is peanuts, corn, and seeds (large seeds).
And yeah, squirrells are great at emptying a feeder. Would getting a mixed bird seed help maybe? Maybe something without the sunflower seeds. I don’t look at bird seed much because we really don’t have a good place to put up feeders, unless we just want to hang them off shepard’s hooks in the yard.
Good luck with this.
I know it doesn’t help, but you almost have to admire their ingenuity. Squirrels are smarter than some humans I know…
Sorry, but I’d rather feed the critters than the birds. And Caryn’s right–squirrels are wickedly smart!