Birdfeeders

Squirrels are smart and never give up, so keeping them out of bird feeders is a real challenge. Squirrels cannot chew through copper, so a solution that is both attractive and effective is a seed feeder surrounded by a copper cage. These copper squirrel proof bird feeders will thwart squirrels because they can’t reach through the cage to the seeds, but small birds can still access the bird feeder. The cage will also deter larger birds such as blue jays. Many people suggest setting up a feeding station just for the squirrels in an area away from the bird feeders as a means of distracting them. The problem I see with this is that the better fed squirrels are, the more young they may produce, thus increasing the population of squirrels in your yard. It’s important to remember that squirrels are voracious predators of eggs and nestlings, so the more squirrels, the larger the threat to local songbirds. I much prefer using squirrel proof bird feeders.