It's tough to beat squirrels. They are smart, but more importantly, they are damn persistent.

Here's what I have done so far. For my tube seed feeder, I have I have it hanging from a tree. The feeder is located far enough from the tree so that they can't jump from the side. It's also high enough so that they can't reach it from the ground.

The feeder has a long chain of 3-4 feet. If the chain is too short, the squirrel will be able to drop onto the baffle. Once on the baffle they can do a back-flip and get on the feeder. To prevent squirrels from crawling down the chain, I have two plastic tube that's wide enough and slippery enough for the squrrels to grip. One is the packaging from a thistle sock, the other is just a 2 liter soda that I cut the bottom out of. So far most of squirrels will attempt to crawl down the tube, slip and bounce off the baffle.

The baffle is a commercial baffle I got at ace hardware. If I had to get a baffle again, I would pick one with a smooth plastic. This one has a rough texture. Sometimes, the squirrel falls balanced enough to land on the baffle without slipping off, but that is rare. They keep trying though.

Fortunately for me, they haven't figured out that all you need to do is to chew through the branch holding the feeder.

The next feeder is a suet feeder where I have attached two plastic cups as a baffle.

The feeder is also hanging by a long chain. The squirrel will have to crawl down the chain to reach it. To do this, they have to crawl over the plastic cups. When they try to do this, the find that the cup flex and buckle, giving them the impression that it is unstable. You also need to put the feeder away from the tree and high enough off the ground. So far, no one has managed to attack it, but they don't like th suet as much as the sunflower seeds, so they don't make as big of an effort as the tube feeder. The feeder is also smaller so there's not much for them to land on.

There are several commercial feeders that are suppose to squirrel proof. Generally, most people recommend the following:

http://www.amazon.com/Brome-1024-Squirrel-Buster-Cardinal/dp/B0007LQ3RQ

Basically, it's a feeder that's closes the port if too much weight is put on the ring. From what I determine, it works pretty well but have been defeated by really smart squirrels that hang upside down.

I remember reading reviews of feeders that uses a small electrical shocks to the squirrels, but apparently squirrels figured out how to disconnect the wiring.

There's also one that spins when a squirrel contacts it, but they figured out how to drain the battery on it by hanging on until the battery runs out.

This is why I favor the lower tech solution. The less complicated the solution, the less things can go wrong.

In addition, keep in mind that no solution is absolutely fool-proof. Squirrels may have a walnut size brain, but they can plot all day where you have to go to work. A solution that's "good enough" is sufficient.

Paul

Yikes..dunno! I avoid all that by hanging feeders under roof eaves, against windows. No critters can get the food

Well, that depends on what kind of a house you have. When I lived in a brick house, the squirrel appears to have no trouble scaling the walls. If you install feeders there, they may decide to build a nest right under your a/c.

My in-laws do not live on a brick house, but squirrels and raccoons managed to access their roof via trees.

If you don't have those issues, then you can probably hang feeders from your window. Try not to locate it above a door though. Squirrels always hang out underneath the feeder. The last thing you need is to have one sneak into your house.

Paul

Re: feeder to hold BOS or whatever seed you choose
If you purchase a tube feeder from WBU you should be able to purchase a squirrel guard that will surround the tube feeder and keep off the beasties.
Re: suet cage
There is also a suet cage guard made of the same material, your suet feeder can hang inside it.
Re: HOSP's
Remember they aren't fond of safflower. Squirrels don't care much for it either although they will learn to eat it.
Re: squirrel resistant feeders
There are several varities out there but I've always had the best luck with the plain old tube guards/cages. A physical barrier is just harder for them to outwit.
I tried to find an online photo but I guess WBU doesn't want to admit that squirrels can be an issue at feeders.
I know there are other makes and brands of caged feeders, Audubon makes one as does The Nuttery from the UK. They work on the same principle- a passive physical barrier.
Good luck and let us know how things work out for you!

The ones that have a closing action because of weight are the best ones I've found. It doesn't matter if they are close to a fence. Sorry I don't have any pics. I would look into the Magic Halo to deter Hosps. They will eat anything except possibly safflower.
Cathy

I have seen squirrel eat safflower seeds. They don't like it, but they will eat it if nothing else is available and they are hungry.

I have also tried adding cayenne pepper as a deterrent. It works reasonably well. They will still eat your food, but they will eat less of it. It's not clear to me if they'll get use to the taste long term. While peppers itself does not bother the bird, the cayenne dust can blow into their eyes so it is not ideal.

so far I have notice their food of preferences appears to be like this:

Peanuts
Sunflowers seed
Corn
Millet
Safflower

Basically, if a higher ranking food is available, they will ignore the lower ranking food.

Another things you can try is to grow thorn bush. This can prevent them from climbing from underneath.

Paul

I have a cylinder baffle below my tube feeder (and it has to be up far enough so that the squirrels cannot jump to the top of it, and then to the feeder).

I have placed an oval piece of 2" chicken wire, bent to be curved and extend beyond, and slip over the handle of, the feeder. I attached five approximately 16" pieces of wire (I used jewelry wire that I had) with heavy beads tied onto the ends. The wires swing freely and make it pretty much impossible for house sparrows, starlings, or grackles to fly in to use the feeder. My other birds have no problem with negotiating their way through the wires, though - finches, chickadees, downies, titmice, etc. don't mind it.

At least this might help with your HOSP problem.

Good luck!

P.S. - The house sparrows we have had do eat safflower seed, and while doing so scatter a lot of it, uneaten, all over the patio.

Re: Chile powder
Squirrels will get a taste for it, just like people do. Our ground squirrels will forage in the chile fields after harvest!
Ole'!

The solution is simple, about 30-40 feet away put up a feeder for the tree rats (squirrels) . Fill it with black oil sunflower seeds and faithfully keep it filled every day. I have an old planter basket hung from a nail on a tree, the plant died. It still has the dirt left in it and I just top it off with seed. As long as they have seed they have never bothered any of my feeders, that includes pole, platforms, thistle, and hangers. Don't fight it just give them what they want. Word of caution.....no one on this forum agrees with me and has advised me that birds should never be fed because nature takes care of their own. So take my advise with a big grain of salt!

beck1,

Out of curiousity, what kind of feeder are you using for the squirrels. The problem with squirrels is that they hang around for hours and empty the entire feeder. In addition, how do you deal with raccoons. If you put one up for the squirrels won't others critters also go after it.

The late Roger Tory Peterson, father of the field guide system, naturalist, artist, conservationist, said very much the same thing. I have an old VHS tape about backyard birding and RTP said "I just put out enough for everyone, birds, squirels, raccoons. I love all of nature...not to sure about yellow jackets." That being said, I have very few squirrels but loads of 'coons. I take in the suet at night but otherwise just let 'em eat. They have no problem with the weighted (Squirrel-proof) feeders. They just lay across the top, and reach down & eat the seed.
Susan

i don't have but just an occasional raccoon or squirrel here and the squirrel is a ground squirrel anyway. But
my nephew lives where there are a lot of them. He took woodworking classes and as a project designed and built
his own model bird feeder,
It is a foot square box with the sides being dowels spaced on 2 inches centers around all four sides. He built a wooden pyramid in the center that sticks out thru the roof.
holes around the base of the pyamid let the seeds dribble out. It's filled thru a cap on the top of the pyramid.
the 2 inch gaps between the dowels allow most smaller birds to come and go as they please but the squirrels and raccoons can get on the feeder but they can not get to the seeds except to rake a few to the edge with a paw.
when we were at his place on vacation i watched a squirrel try till he got frustrated and left empty handed

you can get squirrel proof feeders that are baffled top and bottom which work pretty well. Only time I have had problems is when a squirrel jumps sideways to the feeder but this does not happen often.

{{gwi:1378132}}

Personally I agree with the people here that say the weight activated feeders are best. You can see several different types here squirrel proof seed bird feeders. Take in mind how much seed a feeder holds to keep refilling down. Some are smaller and best used as secondary feeders while others don't need to be filled as often.

for feeding squirrels I use a ground table and give them less expensive seed, vegetable table scraps. This helps a lot but isn't going to stop them for trying to get into feeders. Ground feeding birds use it a lot though.

{{gwi:1378134}}

there are several shown here backyard wildlife squirrel feeders but again, some need to be filled often so I like the tables. Just throw food out there as needed.

I don't think my advanced pole system is more than five feet from a tree but it keeps squirrels off the bird feeders. I have another feeder that closes when a squirrel hops on and it does pretty well, though the birds can't use it while the squirrels are trying in vain.

The battle is half the fun. At my husbands insistence, we do have a separate squirrel feeding station with seed, corn and peanut butter.

I just feed my squirrels and birds alike. If the squirrels have enough on the ground, they don't bother the feeders. I know this isn't a "good" solution because it will only result eventually in more squirrels if they have a food source, but it's all or nothing -- and I'm not going to give up feeding my birds.

I have feeders on shepherd's hooks and the squirrels will climb them. But to deter them, I smear lard on the pole and laugh a lot when I watch them sliding down it to the ground. It's hard to keep up with, but it does work.