I cannot escape them no matter what sorts of bird-feeders I put up. There are lots of them in my neighborhood. They are cute and adorable but when they hog the feeders, birds cannot come near. According to one statistics, fifty percent of birds die during severe cold in the UK. I do not know about the USA statistics, but birds in our garden do need all the food that they can find to maintain their body temperature and survive. Here are some links -- Bird-Watcher Ireland and How Birds Cope in Winter by Audobon Society. So, I try to provide all sorts of feeders and hung in various parts of the garden. But, these tiny mammals are too clever.
This is what is happening in my garden now:
They come, eat to their content and leave the feeders to the birds. So, that's one good thing that they do not occupy the feeders for a long time. Also, they spread around lots of food as they eat, and that in turn helps all the birds that will feed only from ground, for example doves and juncos. The only feeder that is squirrel-proof is the one that I bought from Audobon. It has a cage outside; the openings are small -- perfect for birds' beaks; it also has a mechanism that the openings close down under weight of squirrels. And, here is a picture of that feeder. The only drawback is that it cannot hold that much seeds. You need to fill it up every two days.
I'm joining in the memes hosted by Eileen, Rambling Woods, St Germain's meme.
This is what is happening in my garden now:
They come, eat to their content and leave the feeders to the birds. So, that's one good thing that they do not occupy the feeders for a long time. Also, they spread around lots of food as they eat, and that in turn helps all the birds that will feed only from ground, for example doves and juncos. The only feeder that is squirrel-proof is the one that I bought from Audobon. It has a cage outside; the openings are small -- perfect for birds' beaks; it also has a mechanism that the openings close down under weight of squirrels. And, here is a picture of that feeder. The only drawback is that it cannot hold that much seeds. You need to fill it up every two days.
I'm joining in the memes hosted by Eileen, Rambling Woods, St Germain's meme.
Hi KL...I have a couple of those green feeders also...Winter is hard on all wildlife...I don't know if there are statistics on winter in particular, but it is hard to migrate also....Nice to feed the squirrels.......I live near Buffalo New York (Western New York) up in the Great Lakes area. We get lake effect snow when it gets cold and Lake Erie is warming and not frozen over and the cold air over the warm lakes produces lake effect snow until Lake Erie freezes over....Michelle
ReplyDeleteIt is frustrating ... you probably can get larger versions of the green feeders, and 'baffles' also work to prevent the squirrels from accessing the feeders. Enjoy your week!
ReplyDeleteIt can get expensive to feed squirrels -- besides being frustrating and not good for the birds. I remember that from back before we sold our home to travel. I know that there are some feeders with squirrel baffles and I am sure they are better than they were back when we were feeding them.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, the squirrels ~ they are a cagey lot ~ Neat photos ~
ReplyDeleteHappy Weekend coming to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
I can empathize! I've been engaged in an ongoing battle with the resident squirrels since we moved to our current location 7 years ago. I even bought a book entitled "Outwitting Squirrels." (The author admits that that's nearly impossible to do for long.) The squirrel buster feeders like the one in your photograph do work fairly well, although the squirrels never give up trying to access them. I got a larger version (which I think is called a "squirrel buster plus"), which holds 10 cups of seed, and I use a bird feeder pole that holds 3 of the squirrel buster feeders, which reduces the frequency with which I have to refill them. The fancy feeders are relatively expensive, though.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you as there is no easy way to keep them out!
ReplyDeleteLeft you an email on my Ipad, because what I wanted to explain is too long for a blog comment. - somehow I couldn't fill in the "subject" so I hope not it came into the spam folder. I wrote you because I saw you listed it on the bottom of this post as St Germain's meme. Don't know if this is for the Weekend Journal Page on Friday, or an early post for Sunday (All Seasons meme) Please let me know- thanks!
ReplyDeleteSquirrels can be very naughty - here too! Am glad you found one where only the birds can get to!