Want to feed the birds NOT the squirrels

[Anne40]

Does anyone know what to feed the birds that the squirrels don't like?We bought my Mum a lovely bird table for her garden. They back onto a park though full of squirrels and she can't feed the birds because the squirrels come and eat it first and - in fact the birds won't come near. Whatever food she puts out get's eaten by the squirrels, have nothing against the squirrels - just would like to watch the birds.

[Thunderbird+]

Squirrels will eat virtually anything the birds will eat, the secret is, to use special feeders that only birds can use and squirrels cant. you can hang these feeders (securely) from the bird table and the squirrels will still try to get to the food for a while but will eventually give up when they find it difficult. Look out for tsrong robust feeders 'Mason & Cash' make some good ones. You may also be interested in getting a squirrel "baffle" which can be attached to the pole/post, to stop the blighters climbing up, check out the RSPB site to get details. All this stuff costs money, I know, but its worth it in the long run! Good Luck.

[Thunderbird+]

Another avenue, you may wish to search is 'CJ WILDLIFE' which do a 0 - 5 squirrel defence rating on various bird feeders.

[Anne40]

Thank-you Thunderbird, I'll look into those suggestions, very helpful

[whiffey]

I have a squirrel-resistant nut feeder hanging in a tree. It has tough metal mesh which squirrel teeth can't quite penetrate. They try though ! They shin down the wire and hang upside down desperately trying to get at the nuts. They must get tired because they always give up after a few minutes. They manage to scrape the nuts, but that's about all.

The feeder attracts sparrows of course, different varieties of tit, and if I am lucky, green and lesser spotted woodpeckers. I've also got a pair of wrens nesting nearby, I haven't seen those for a while. All in the South London suburbs.

I absolutely agree with you about squirrels. I have a very tame pair of robins and nearly as tame blackbirds. These I feed just outside the conservatory door from a tray on a table. I only feed them when I am in, so I can keep an eye out for approaching squirrels. The food they love is fruit-flavoured suet pellets.

[Clanad]

Another solution is to mix some cayenne pepper with the bird food. It doesn't bother the birds at all, but the smell repels the squirrels. There have been reports of squirrels getting the pepper in their eyes, but we've used it here in the western U.S. for several years with no observed ill affects. The stories appear to be pretty much anecdotal. We have 4 varieties of squirrels and it's pretty well taken care of the problem with all of them...

[Breezy23]

You could always buy a squirrel feeder that would keep them occupied. They are basically a box which has a perspex window and a hinged lid which the squirrel needs to lift to get to whatever you put inside. If you attach the feeder to a tree or fence away from the bird table this may help. You can buy monkey nuts quite cheaply and by the time the squirrel has removed and buried them, one or two at a time, the birds should have managed to enjoy their food unhindered.

[lankeela]

You can get a squirrel proof feeder that looks like a metal rocket - it has a shiny metal sleeve that drops down over the wire mesh when the squirrel jumps on it - the squirrel then slides down and falls off the end. Great to stop them getting the food and entertaining too!

[Anne40]

Thank you very much everyone, very helpful.

I think the cayenne pepper sounds like great starting place and if that fails we might have to look at the different types of feeders. Thanks again