Can anything keep squirrels off a Menlo Park bird feeder?
DEAR JOAN >> My wife is intent on feeding the birds and to this end, I purchased a bird feeder “guaranteed” to be squirrel proof. Alas the squirrels laughed at the device, hopped upon it and devoured the feed.
So I purchased another feeder and then a third, all absolutely guaranteed to be squirrel proof. To make the point, which I am sure you have surmised, none provided any squirrel hindrance quality. In fact for one of them, the squirrels actually beat the birds to the food.
Is this a fact of life? Are the squirrels just too smart for us, or do you know of a solution to the feed-the-birds-only dilemma? — G. Fisher, Menlo Park
DEAR G. >> Squirrels, no matter how dumb, are particularly adept at getting food. They have to be or they'd starve, which is pretty strong motivation for figuring out ways to outsmart the makers of squirrel-proof feeders.
I don't know what feeders you've purchased. There are several styles. Most have weight triggers so that when anything weighing more than a small bird alights on the feeder, it pulls down on a device that shuts off the food openings. These work well until the squirrel goes all “Mission Impossible” on you and hangs upside down from a branch to get at the seed without having to sit on the perch.
If you have that style, place it where there is nothing close by for the squirrel to work from.
Another style, also triggered by a heavier squirrel hopping on it, will spin madly until it sends the now dizzy but undeterred squirrel flying. I've seen squirrels beat them by repeatedly sacrificing their equilibrium until the device breaks, the batteries run down or they figure out how to avoid the trigger.
The most successful feeder is a caged one, which allows smaller birds to pass through the openings, but stops the squirrels. Never fear, the squirrels eventually figure out that by aggressively shaking the cage, seed spills to the ground — problem solved.
A NASA engineer, Mark Rober, has made at least two viral YouTube videos of his mind-boggling attempts to defeat the squirrels, showing how the squirrels learn to get through the obstacle course and get to the food every single time.
You do have a couple of options that might, if not stop them, at least slow the squirrels down. One is to use bird seed treated with hot pepper sauce. Most squirrels and rodents don't like the taste or smell, but it doesn't bother the birds.
The other is to isolate bird feeders by putting them on tall poles, locating them away from objects that the squirrels can use as a platform from which to leap onto the feeder. You can install baffles — cone shaped devices — below the feeders to stop the squirrels climbing up the pole or above to prevent them reaching it from the top.
You also can take the “if you can't beat them, treat them” approach by providing a separate station for the squirrels, filled with their favorite foods.
And lastly, you can just surrender and accept the squirrels as your overlords.