Squirrels Vs The Birds

[Kingy]

I know there's been some discussion of this before, but these pesky blighters are just hoovering up all the bird food and have ran off with two of my bird feeders. I tried a spray which I believe was mostly cayenne pepper - my God was it disgusting?!! Warning will make humans sick!! Eyes and nose were streaming... squirrels just came back.

Electronic devices are hopeless. My neighbour has one and it does diddly squat.

I have a standard wooden bird table, centre post, splaying out on four legs which is very popular with the birds and I even have attracted a woodpecker and some gold finches, which I am reliably informed are relatively unusual around these parts. I have other bird feeders that the squirrels can't get at, but I'd really like this wooden bird table and would like to protect the food from the squirrels.

The attack is always from the ground - can I construct some sort of low level baffle to prevent them climbing up? Please note I am not very handy.

I can just about put up with the squirrels, as long as they stay off this one table.

Please, no suggestions about killing them. I have not got time to kill dozens of squirrels.

[whiffey]

I don't think you will keep squirrels off a free-standing bird table. They even manage to run vertically across my pebble-dashed walls, they'll get anywhere.

I have a hanging nut feeder which attracts the usuals, plus the occasional treat of green and lesser spotted woodpeckers.

For the other birds, I feed them with fruit-flavoured pellets which I spread over a tray and put immediately outside the conservatory door on an eye-level table. This way you keep an eye out and at the approach of a squirrel (or hated magpies) you can bring it indoors. Also you can bring it inside when you go out.

It is a bit labour-intensive but suits me, and the birds are used to it. As soon as they seem me appear downstairs in the morning they land outside waiting. The robins have even perched on my bedroom windowsill to remind me to get up !!!

P.S. Chilli powder will effectively deter foxes from digging up your bedding plants.

[Fitzer]

First thing you have to do is put the bird table far enough away from any place that the squirrels can jump from and they can jump a long way. This is the reason we don't have a freestanding table as our garden is too small to do this! Then you can buy, and in your case probably adapt, a device for preventing the squirrels from shinning up the post. Essentially it's half a hollow plastic sphere which goes on the post with the hollow side downwards, kept clean and with maybe a light oiling every now and again to keep it nice and slippery it should do the trick. There are a few here http://www.jacobijayne.co.uk/birds_wild-life_s hop.php?page=ACCESSORY&type=SQUIRREL_GUARDS to give you an idea.

PS Ed why can't I do the nice conversion of a link to a single word any more?

[Kingy]

Fitzer
top link!!

A bit pricey but I think they might work

Ta very much.

[WendyS]

We can live with the squirrels visiting our bird table but an acquaintance of ours has the same problem.

She has largely solved the problem by greasing the main centre post suppoorting her bird table with a strong coating of vaseline. Every time the creatures try to climb it they find they can't get a stronghold and keep sipping down to the ground. She also has a metal post with various bird feeders hanging from the arms and has also greased this with vaseline which she claims is pretty effective, although you may have to keep replacing the vaseline initially until the squirrels get the message.