Squirrels: Are they simply rats with higher PR? Be suggested that this isn’t secure studying materials for squirrel lovers, and even squirrel apologists. For my part, squirrels are worse than rats—smarter, extra devious, extra harmful. I’ve had them nest in my chimney, chew holes in my eaves to get into my partitions, and destroy a number of chook feeders. I even had one chew by a whole 4-by-2 pergola rafter to get at a suet block.
With the recognition of smart bird feeders, it’s much more vital to study methods to maintain them out of your yard, lest they flip your funding right into a pile of chewed-up plastic bits. To make issues worse, in case you dwell on the West Coast like I do, you are prone to be coping with the Japanese grey squirrel, which is a nonnative, invasive species that competes for sources with native species like Western grey squirrels. What’s a yard chook fanatic to do?
Fortunate for you, I have been feeding birds for nearly 25 years throughout three completely different states, and have been testing sensible feeders for the previous yr, combating near-daily battles with these furry neighborhood foes. I’ve tried all of it and discovered what works—and what does not—so you possibly can preserve your sanity intact.
For extra birdy enterprise, try our guides to the Best Smart Bird Feeders, the Best Binoculars, and the Best Gifts for Bird Lovers.
The Golden (5-7-9) Rule
First off, there’s a tried-and-true technique of foiling squirrels, and it is each free and innocent. Consultants discuss with it because the 5-7-9 Rule: Maintain your feeder at the very least 5 toes off the bottom, 7 toes away from buildings like homes, bushes, or fences; and 9 toes away from something overhead that they may soar from, resembling a tree department or roof. This often means placing your feeder on a pole with a baffle (I take advantage of the set above), or hanging it from a tall shepherd’s hook.
Should you’re available in the market for a chook feeder, particularly a smart feeder, it is crucial that it have the choice to hold or be pole-mounted, as a result of in case you can solely mount it on a fence or a tree, you are basically rolling out the welcome mat for squirrels. (All of the sensible feeders I recommend, together with Birdfy and Bird Buddy, embrace pole mounts.) If you wish to go the additional mile, you may as well grease your pole with Crisco, which does not final lengthy however is sweet for an entertaining day or two.
Be aware that in case your sensible feeder does not have an hooked up photo voltaic panel to cost the battery, you seemingly will not have the ability to mount it on the pole with the feeder with out some jury-rigging, so I like to recommend going for a mannequin with a built-in photo voltaic roof or no photo voltaic panel in any respect.
