Bird Feeders not Squirrel Feeders
How to make Bird Feeders feed only the birds
not other animals. Click to read about
preventing raccoons from raiding feeders.
Bird feeders were the best things ever invented for animal damage
controllers. By increasing the food supply, bird feeders encourage the rapid
growth of animal populations. The technical term for this is called, increasing
the carrying capacity of the land. With higher populations, animals will eventually
seek to enter your home for shelter.
Bird Feeders directly benefit the following animal species, some of
which can cause extensive property damage:
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Rodents, such as flying squirrels, gray squirrels, red squirrels,
mice, chipmunks, voles, rats
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Carnivores, coyotes, opossums, skunks, bears, raccoons
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Birds such as, geese, ducks
Strategies for making Bird Feeders feed only birds
Bird Feeders nourish wildlife in one of two ways. The first way is by foraging. Food
falls to the ground below the feeder allowing a wide variety of animals to eat. The second
way is by direct access. This method is the familiar method with squirrels who are
purported to always find a way to the feeder.
Reducing Foraging
Don’t buy mixed bird seed.
 Birds
like Blue Jays prefer sunflower seeds. They will dump seed onto the ground
seed until they find the next sunflower kernel. It is better to buy more bird
feeders and put a single kind of seed into each one. This way, birds will
fly to the feed they prefer.
Thistle Seed (Nyger)
We have found that squirrels (generally speaking) don't eat thistle seed.
(We have gotten e-mails from people who claimed that squirrels were eating
thistle seed. I wonder if squirrels were really hungry.) However, mice do.
So you should be sure that you don't allow thistle seed to reach the ground
either. Failure to reduce the food reaching the ground will only increase
your mouse population, who will then enter your home. Our experience tells
us that when mice enter a home, it is only a short while until squirrels enter.
Note how the photo shows a bucket attached below the thistle feeder. We would
encourage you to cut small holes in the bottom of the bucket to allow rain
water to escape. You may also cut out the bottom and cover it with mosquito
netting.
Safflower Seed
We have read and heard from a kind e-mailer that safflower seeds are not
enjoyed by squirrels. Nevertheless, we do understand that some squirrels will
still eat the seed. So this technique is not fool proof. We have been told
that the seed is taken regularly by chickadee, titmouse, house finch, and
cardinal (even from the perch.). Info from J.W. of Billerica, MA.
Recapture the seed.
Modify your feeders so that spilled food gets caught by a basin or tray before
reaching the ground. This also requires you to frequently empty these trays
so they don’t overflow.
You must also make sure that the basins can allow water to pass through, otherwise
they will get too heavy and possibly break the feeder. One method would be
to cut out the bottom of a bucket and then line it with mosquito netting (aka
window screen). The mesh is open enough to let the water flow through but
not the seed.
You may wonder how are you going to feed the ground feeders, like mourning
doves? The best way I can think of is to lay out a blanket and scatter the food
onto it. When the feeding is done simply take up the blanket and store it away
till the next feeding.
Repellents
Cayenne Pepper in Bird Seed Doesn't Always Work
One e-mail respondent said that this didn't work for her.
The Squirrels still chowed the feed. There are a couple of issues though. First
how much did she mix into the seed and what was the strength of the Pepper?
Of course the grays may say, easy bad tasting food is better than starving.
People have asked us regarding the safety of mixing capsaicin in with the bird
seed to repell squirrels from eating the seed. Here is one reply from a couple
of scientists.
"I asked Russ Mason, an expert on chemical repellents,
whether birds are affected by capsaicin. Here's his reply: "No--the ethmoid
branch of the trigeminal nerve innervates the eyes, nose, and oral cavity. This
is the nerve responsible for mediation of chemical irritation. There is no evidence
that birds code capsaicin (red pepper) as an irritant at concentrations as high
as 20,000 ppm (the hottest chili is about 2,000 ppm). Mammals like squirrels
(rats, mice) reject capsicum concentrations as low as 1-10 ppm." In other
words, birds are insensitive to red pepper, period. They could be irritated
by excessive dust, however. Robert H. Schmidt, Associate Professor, Dept. of
Fisheries and Wildlife, Utah State University, Logan UT 84322-5210"
Jason Watkins says, "I am an avid bird feeder, and have
used cayenne pepper to deter the squirrels in my mixes. I have observed that
powdered cayenne in a mix will aggravate the birds as the powder can fly into
their eyes easily as it is avaoided by the squirrels. The pepper doesn't bother
the birds' tastebuds but will still cause topical aggravation/pain as it will
to the one who mixes the food, especially in the eyes. Because of this I have
ceased using cayenne pepper in this way.
I do however still use the cayenne in my
suet mix. I make my own suet and add quite a lot of cayenne to it. The squirrels
will only eat a tiny bit at a time, if at all, and the birds seem to prefer
the mix over my recipe without the cayenne. I think that the pepper "tied"
up in the lard, peanut butter and other ingredients is "safe" for
the birds, as the powder does not fly freely but is contained in the homogenous
mix. In addition, I have never observed a bird that appeared to be affected
by the suet mix, like I noticed with the dry seed mix. So I guess it depends
on how you are going to use it to deter the squirrels on whether it will cause
harm to the animals you want to feed. Hope this helps.
Jason J. Watkins, Plant Regulatory Officer
WV Dept. of Agriculture, Plant Industries Division
1900 Kanawha Blvd, East, Charleston, WV 25305-0191
Information used with permission.
Reducing Direct Access To Squirrels
By far this is the most difficult task to do. After all if it was easy and convenient
everyone would be doing it. However, the strategies are simple and straightforward.
| Attach feeders on posts at least 6 feet off the ground and at least 10 away from any
nearby branches/structures. The fact is that any squirrel can access a feeder hanging from
a tree branch. Sure baffles help and may even prevent access but why give the squirrels so
many opportunities to try? The feeder at the right was situated on a pole which was
covered with aluminum flashing. Always start flashing from the bottom of the pole and be
sure that each layer of aluminum overlaps the lower one. (like the way you shingle a
house). Also the pole is not round it is a square log approximatley 3"x3". This
feeder proved that a squirrel proof feeder is possible. Remember that squirrels don’t
need to reach the feeder to eat. They only have to get the food onto the ground. If they
can shake a feeder so that it spills its cargo, the squirrels are still satisfied. |
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Attach baffle cones around the pole with the widest part facing out and down
to prevent squirrels from climbing the pole. These cones should be attached
at least 4 feet off the ground and extend out at least 2 feet. You don’t
want a squirrel able to hang ten around the baffle. This baffle should also
prevent other animals like raccoons from accessing the feeder.
Screen Your Feeder 
This feeder, sold by Handsome Rewards (909-943-2023), may be helpful to keeping
away larger, messier birds. Larger birds are more likely to spread food onto
the ground increasing food availability to various squirrels. Of course appropriate
baffles and feeder positioning should take place.
One difference in this feeder, is that we do NOT recommend using mixed seed
in a feeder. Each feeder should only contain one type of seed.
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There are a number of feeders that do a pretty good job of repelling squirrels.
I will suggest some of them in future updates.
Do you have your own suggestions for making feeders feed the birds and not
other animals? Then why not send your idea in?
Wildlife Damage Control would like to thank the Burgess Family for this idea.
Some of the more expensive type of store-bought tube bird seed feeders come supplied
with a metal hood,  but
the cheaper ones don't. I recycled an aluminum pie plate to make an effective
alternative. Cut a slit in the center of the plate, same width as the tube, remove
the wire hanger from the feeder, upturn the plate and thread it onto the hanger
then put the hanger back on the tube, with the plate forming a second roof over
the tube. The squirrels find it very difficult to negotiate around the pie plate
and cannot climb down onto the feeder. Hang the feeder from a large branch far
with enough distance from tree trunk and ground. Before I did this, squirrels
were all over my feeder, now they can never get on it.
POPULATION REDUCTION
Sometimes the only solution is to trap down the squirrel population. To learn
how click Squirrel Trapping Booklet
Controlling Raccoon Populations Click Wildlife Removal
Handbook rev ed.
 A
book that may help you resolve squirrel-bird feeder raiding problems.
All correspondence becomes property of Wildlife Damage Control
info@aallanimalcontrol.com
7/7/04
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