Looking back at my first bird feeder setup and cringing a bit

When I got into this hobby about five years ago, I went all out and bought this fancy, three-story 'squirrel-proof' feeder for over $80. It had metal parts and a weight-sensitive perch that was supposed to close the seed ports. The squirrels in my yard in Cincinnati just sat on it and laughed (well, chattered angrily), then figured out how to hang upside down and trip the mechanism. I lost maybe 20 pounds of expensive seed to them in a month before I gave up. Ended up switching to a simple tube feeder on a pole with a basic baffle, which cost about $25 total and works perfectly. Anyone else have a 'fancy gadget' fail that sent them back to basics?

3 comments

3 Comments

jenny_hall16d ago

My neighbor in Dayton had that exact same feeder, the Squirrel Buster Plus. The squirrels would just ride it like a rodeo clown until the seed ports locked, then wait for the wind to bounce it open again. I finally got a 4x4 post, a stovepipe baffle from the hardware store, and a cheap Droll Yankees tube feeder. That setup has been squirrel-free for three years now. All the fancy engineering in the world can't beat a simple, smooth barrier they can't climb past.

jordanblack16d agoMost Upvoted

Exactly. Those weight sensitive ports are a joke once the squirrels figure out the bounce trick. The stovepipe baffle is the real answer, just a wide enough smooth metal cylinder they can't get a grip on. Mount it high enough on the post so they can't jump over it from the ground. Pair that with any decent hanging feeder and you're done. Spending more on the feeder itself is pointless if the pole isn't defended first.

jason_henderson16d ago

That "rodeo clown" image is perfect, and @jordanblack is right about the bounce trick.