40 squirrels at the bird feeders

[evil dogooder]

  My uncle has been having with pesky squirrels lately and asked me to help.   He has 40 squirrels outside eating his bird seed and was a little upset.   He's tried all the gimmick feeders and it really didn't work.

 

 So out of the blue he calls and asked if I can come up and thin them a little.

 

   It's been the first time in almost a 6 months I could get out and just relax.  Kids had school.  Didn't have to work . Just sat out and enjoyed the day.. picked off nine of the buggers and had a good supper too

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I had several squirrel proof bird feeders. They well until a black bear destroyed them all.

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

A Gamo 177 is good squirrel medicine. 

[Pat Riot]

Squirrels can be tenacious little suckers. I dealt with them at my home in NC and it seemed like nothing I tried kept them from the feeders. It was almost like a game. What worked in the end was a found a company that sold 25 pound bags of unsalted peanuts in the shell, so I gave the squirrels nuts and they left the feeders alone. Kind of a whacky welfare system. Plus I had squirrels around in case times got hard…

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

Try mixing in safflower seeds with the usual.

Many squirrels find it bitter and look for better feed.

Gradually increase the blend if possible.

It worked for me.

Best

CR

 

[Eyesa Horg]

When 2 gray's showed up in the fall, I told em "so long as you only eat from the ground and deck, you're ok". They were good for a month or so, then, they started emptying 2 feeders within half an hour.

Well, out came Mr. Henry, and after 32 in the pot, I haven't seen one in almost 3 weeks.

[Yellowhouse Sam # 25171]

Try sprinkling cayenne pepper in with the feed.  Doesn't bother the birds but other critters sure don't like it much.

[Cactus Jack Calder]

1 hour ago, Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 said:

Try sprinkling cayenne pepper in with the feed.  Doesn't bother the birds but other critters sure don't like it much.

I buy suet that has cayenne pepper in it. That works. If I put out an untreated suet they find it quickly but they leave the treated suet alone.

 

The seed feeder is mounted on a thin pole high enough that they need to climb. I have a 2 ft section of stove pipe (4” diameter) hung on the pole so that when the squirrels climb the pole they have to go inside the stove pipe. The upper end is closed tight and the pipe is loosely suspended so they can’t climb the outside (too wobbly). This has worked for 16 years so far. Just make sure the pole is far enough from surrounding trees (~12 ft) that they can’t jump the gap.

 

CJ

[Sedalia Dave]

Squirrels really get a jolt out of electric fence chargers

 

https://youtu.be/K5vulqLIRNk

 

 

 

. 

[Trailrider #896]

We  put out unsalted peanuts in the shell for four or five squirrels that live near our backyard.  Works fine until the bluejays go after the peanuts! They don't crack the shells, just swallow them whole! Guess they break them up in their croups. 

[evil dogooder]

On 2/24/2023 at 4:30 PM, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

A Gamo 177 is good squirrel medicine. 

 I've never been a fan of air guns. Not knocking them because they can be quite deadly.  After I graduated up from my red Ryder I never really wanted to go back. I use a cz 457 with cci quiets. At 50 yards I can keep them in one ragged hole off hand.  That's good enough for any squirrels that I can see.