interesting sandy. i knew the vit k treatment but i didn't realize it was heparin! which leads me to my mystery, though i never would use poison bait. it is all this talk of rats and mice. someone is trying to move into my romeo's sleeping box in the shed. but my reason for posting is quite hilarious- he went to investigate why my 15 some pound bag of composted manure was moving. i am standing at the back door and hear "SQUEEK!" i wish i saw it, but alas i had only my tshirt and undies on and it was still daylight. hey, i work midnights, ok? :) i had a mental picture of it jumping in the air and squeaking at the same time. the big oaf ran out of the shed, belly to the ground, and wanted back in the house. that surprised me. my old man at romeo's age would have had his whiskers twitching in anticipation. so, my mystery continues....though maybe in the process we have discouraged our visitor. i also took the top off his sleeping box to make it less inviting. i have found no rear projectiles. i am also considering leaving the feeders empty for awhile. i would hate to do that. just sharing a story. i didn't want to start a thread just for it. it almost applies.

I have tons of squirrel in my area. Both species are tree squirrels (gray and fox). There are so many that may be several passes through every couple of min. There's always a few hanging underneath the feeder alone with morning doves, grackles, and some times Canadian geese. Recently, I switch from a hanging tree feeder to a pole system where the base is 4 metal pins. I don't have to dig a hole or anything, just step hard on it to get it to go into the ground. My initial attempt to do this fail because I tried to do this next to a wall and the wall apparently have stones base that extend pass the wall. I then attach a baffle and then the feeder. The feeder is located 10 feet away from a tree so they can't jump that far, it's also over 6 feet up. So far, a few attempt to climb the pole but either slip off the metal or get to the top and get blocked by baffle. I don't know if it's raccoon proof, but there are raccoons in the area, but I don't know if anyone tried it. Paul

Californians called on to help study disease afflicting native pigeons "(Reuters) - California wildlife authorities are asking residents to take down bird baths and feeders if they spot sick or dead birds in their yards as experts closely monitor a disease afflicting the state's only native pigeon species. Increased mortality rates have been reported since mid-December among California's band-tailed pigeons, which are seen in flocks up to 200-strong during the winter in coastal areas from the San Francisco Bay Area south into Santa Barbara County and in the San Bernardino Mountains. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) blames the deaths on Avian Trichomonosis, a disease caused by a single-celled microscopic protozoan parasite transmitted to the band-tailed pigeons by non-native rock pigeons, also known as city pigeons, which were introduced to North America from Europe. CDFW environmental scientist Krysta Rogers said on Wednesday that the department's Wildlife Investigations Laboratory wants members of the public to be on the lookout for band-tailed pigeons this winter and go online to report any sick or dead bird species they see." This post was edited by claire on Thu, Feb 5, 15 at 13:10

Yellow Jackets, wasps, move toward light so if they got into that tubular feeder they would try to get out, not by the way they got in but upwards. I would, very carefully, remove the top and allow them to escape. kimmq is kimmsr