Bird feeder

[Niner]

I don't have any pets. I don't want any pets. And there is a stray cat that likes to have litters of kittens in my garage that I could accidently run over without any tears. However, got to talking with a friend of mine who volunteers at an animal shclter and who feeds wildlife and such. I've been noticing lots of wild birds in my yard and around my house so ... I got the notion to put up a bird feeder. Put it up yesterday and had to refill it this morning as it was two thirds empty.

[DuncaninFrance]

That becomes addictive - and expensive. I think the birds in our garden feed better than I do

[Niner]

Looks like the squirrels have an interest in it too. Notice the bird waiting his turn.

[Niner Delta]

Wow, a swinging target, what an excellent chance to hone your skills.......

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[joseyclosey]

Wow, a swinging target, what an excellent chance to hone your skills.......

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[Niner]

Squirrel feeding part two and three.

I put a wire disk on the rope above the feeder. That didn't work, the squirrels got to it anyway.

Went back to square one. Read online that a squirrel couldn't climb PCV without working out some plan that a human couldn't figure. So I got a $5 ten foot PCV pipe. Put it in the ground with a sack of concrete to steady it. I ran a pipe horizontal through it, put in a bracket I had laying around to run the rope over. Then tied some tie off hooks about five and a half feet off the ground. I'll see how this works. And.. I made sure there were no trees anywhere close to it.

[Niner Delta]

When I saw your photos, I got to thinking what would keep squirrels away from
the feeder. What about drilling a hole in the center of a smooth, or even Teflon,
pizza pan, then mount it upside down like you did the screen. Let it be floppy so
the weight of the squirrel would let it tilt and the squirrel would slide off. The main
thing is that it is very slick and the animal has nothing to grasp on to. Put it a
couple of feet above the feeder so the critter can't grab it as he goes by.
And the birds could eat in the shade...............

But it looks like you've already got it figured out.

Or just sit in the backyard with a beer and a .22 with bir....um... I mean squirrelshot.......

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[Niner]

The screen thing would tilt pretty easy. I thought it would just dump the critter off. And I moved the rope out further from the tree trunk too. Although I never saw how a squirrel got to the feed tray after it was in place, I did see one on the feeder tray after he was already there. I later saw one on the trunk of the tree....think he must have jumped from the trunk to the feeder and avoided the screen.....maybe five or six feet to the feeder.

In any case I'll see what happens now.

[DuncaninFrance]

Check this out Robert!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EnDwkclDcA

[Niner]

Looks like I haven't got a chance from that video.