Homemade squirrel baffle (pics) is working great!
16 years ago
I was having a horrible problem with squirrels scampering up my 4x4 post and feasting on the buffet of seeds and nuts that I put out for my feathered friends, as well as destroying my feeders. Hubby made me a squirrel baffle, and I am quite pleased to say it has foiled the squirrels (so far!!).
We went to Tractor Supply and bought a 24"x 24" heavy plastic tray (the kind that goes under a rabbit hutch) for $14.00. Hubby used his jigsaw and cut out a square hole in the center...he then slid it down the post upside down. The center of the tray is supported by 2x2 pieces of wood mounted to the post, and the corners are suspended by heavy gauge fishing line. The tray has grooves which work great for channeling water off. It is also doubling as a feeding platform which the birds love.
Here are a few pictures:
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16 years ago- 16 years ago
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Comments (5)Hydropetunia...from I can tell you have no holes drilled into the bottom (the lid) of the support that holds the soil. You need holes there 1/4" in diameter several of them to allow aeration for the roots. Second you didn't mention if you have drilled an overflow hole in the side of the container, which needs to be about 3/8" below the level of where the soil will sit. this prevents the potting mix from getting over watered. Lastly being in Z8b (I'm in S. Texas) the dark colored container in mid-late summer will really get heated up to the point of cooking the roots. Might want to try a lighter colored one or try shading the sides and as far as a tight fit, I used fiberglass window screen and lined the bottom with it( cutting out the hole for the wick) heres a pic taken 4 weeks ago of my BrandyBoys..they are bigger now. :) Here is a link that might be useful: This is where I got the idea of my HM EB...See Morepics of my homemade canning labels
Comments (20)Thanks again everyone for appreciating the labels. Yummykaz-(Rebecca)- you are more than welcome to use them. Readinglady (Carol)- I enjoyed all the other ideas for labels, thanks for the link. Also the watermelon link you provided above was good too. I have always wanted to try a watermelon jelly- I think I'll skip that one now. The 2nd recipe you had listed in that link for watermelon rind pickles is close to a batch I made once, and other batch recipes I've successfully done are also listed below, (Since tnflower_lover requested mine.) I too have a copy of Marion Brown's old book. The first recipe below (from readinglady) is from "Pickles and Preserves" by Marion Brown, 1955, reprinted University of North Carolina Press 6 cups watermelon rind (trimmed of green outside skin and all soft pink inside pulp) 7 1/2 cups sugar 2 1/2 cups water 1 lemon, thinly sliced 1/2 ounce ginger root, broken up Cut preppped rind into pieces. Cover with water and boil 2 hours or until tender. Cool in the water. Drain and measure to make 6 cups. Boil together the other ingredients for 10 minutes. Add the rind and cook for about 1 hour, or until the rind is transparent. Always keep the rind covered with syrup while cooking. If the syrup is too thin, add additional sugar; if too thick, add water. Remove from heat. Seal hot in sterilized jars. (reading lady added- "I'd process BWB as per jam".) I (reba_grows) have a 1982 Kerr home canning and freezing book that I use as a jump off point for a lot of canning. In it, they have a recipe for watermelon rind PRESERVES. Mine usually ends up more like a preserve VERY sweet in a thick sweet syrup. KERR Watermelon Preserves Select melons with thick rinds. Peel off all green and pink leaving only the white rind. Dice, soak in mild salt water overnight (1/2 cup salt to 1 gallon cold water). Drain and cook in clear water about 30 minutes or until tender. Drain well. For 4 pounds (11 cups) of rind, make a syrup of 9 cups of sugar, 8 cups water, 4 lemons sliced thin. Add 4 sticks cinnamon, 4 teaspoons cloves Tie the above spices in a cheesecloth or muslin bag (or use a stainless steel tea ball) and add to the syrup. Boil the syrup, lemon and spices for 5 minutes before adding the watermelon rinds. Add rinds and cook until transparent and clear, (careful with your stirring so nothing sticks or burns). If desired, a few minutes before the preserves are done add a few drops of red or green food coloring to tint the preserves. (I added a tiny amount of yellow once-it turned out pretty-reba.) Remove spice bag. Pour into sterilized jars, (I just use clean hot jars since they will sterilize in the WBC-reba),leaving 1/2 inch at the top (I leave only 1/4 inch as in the BALL recipe below- reba). Add lid, screw on band. Process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. (I process 20 minutes as in recipe below-reba). Next, from a 1999 Ball Blue book is the one that I use the most often except I add cinnamon sticks in a teaball with a few whole cloves to the syrup-reba. BALL Watermelon Rind Preserves 1 and 1/2 quarts watermelon rind, 4 tablespoons salt (for the soak...I use canning salt, reba), 3 and 1/2 quarts water divided, 1 tablespoon ground ginger, 4 cups sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice (I use bottled but newly purchased-reba) 1 medium lemon sliced thin (I use 2). To prepare rind- Trim red and green from rind. Cut rind in 1 inch pieces. (I borrowed miniature heart, diamond and clover cutters once- too cute for words.) Dissolve salt in 2 quarts water. Pour salted water over rind and let stand 5 to 6 hours. Drain, rinse, and drain again. Cover rind with cold water and let stand 30 minutes. Drain again. Sprinkle ginger over rind. Cover again with clear fresh cold water and cook until fork tender. Drain again. To prepare syrup- Combine sugar, lemon juice and 1 and 1/2 quarts water in a large saucepan. Boil 5 minutes. Add prepared watermelon rind and boil gently, for 30 minutes or until syrup thickens. Add sliced lemon and cook until rind is transparent. Remove from heat, skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot preserves into hot jars leaving 1/4 " headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust 2 piece caps. Process 20 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. Yields about 6 half pints. In the same 1999 BALL Blue book they also have- BALL Watermelon Rind PICKLES (not preserves)- 4 quarts cubed watermelon rind 1 cup canning salt 1 gallon cold water 7 cups sugar 1 medium lemon thinly sliced 1 tablespoon whole cloves 1 tablespoon whole allspice 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds 3 sticks cinnamon 2 cups vinegar (that's what makes these more picklely and less preserves like) Peel watermelon rind like other recipes above. Cut rind into 1 inch pieces. Dissolve salt in water, add rind and let stand 6 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse, drain again and set aside. Tie spices in bag or ball. Combine sugar, lemon slices, spice bag or ball and vinegar in a large saucepot. Bring mixture to a boil and cook 10 minutes. Add rind to syrup and SIMMER until rind is transparent. Remove spice bag/ball. Pack hot rind and hot liqued into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust 2 piece lids. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. Yield about 6 pints. One of these should be a winner as far as ingredients and amounts, but I would still process the preserves 20 minutes, or 10 minutes for the pickles, using 1/4" headspace for either. Also, when I soak the rind, I do it along with ice cubes in a ziploc bag added to it (so it doesn't dilute the salt brine) to keep them good and cold for a while. I know someone also requested the Kosher green tomato pickles- I'll have to find the recipe and post in another post, another time. Weeding in the garden took it out of me today. PS I do not grow my own watermelons- too much trouble and space for me. I have not had the problem of thin rinds here in the east (West VA)....See MoreHomemade ROASTER w/pics
Comments (9)Yeah, the rims/chicken wire was kinda just a prototype. Just got bored one day and tried it out. I never cooked in it though. It needed a lot of work before using it to roast. As far as attaching the rotesserie, it was fairly simple. The threaded rod through the middle is what attaches to the motor. I just used a dremel to cut the end to a square shape like the motor takes. I can post some closeup pics on here tomorrow or something. Thanks for all the comments. I will also try to get the video from last night up on the web so you can see it in action. It was dark so the video was not great, but you can get the idea! Here is a link that might be useful: The Pepper Guy's Blog...See MoreHomemade squirrel baffle worked!
Comments (2)We have a basketball stand /hoop that you'd see in any area in a driverway, with water or sand in the bottom. We took the hoop part off and attached a rod to extend at a right angle from the top. We moved it to the sunny, wooded swell where our bird feeder had been hanging from the rod extended from a tree. We hung our bird feeder from the end. It is great fun to watch the dang squirrels try to climg the pole and slide down. They try all the nearby trees and shrubs and are thwarted at every turn. Birds 1 - Squirrels )!!!...See More- 16 years ago
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7 years agoI’m bummed to say that my rabbit tray baffle did not work as well. Squirrels conquered it with in 3 days and the raccoons solved it shortly after. I have to admit I did not use the fishing line. They were able to grab the ridge line of the tray and pull them selves up the tray. I’m going to cut the ridge line off the tray and add the line to see if the extra support will keep all the buggers out. If not I’ll see if there is a larger tray out there that they won’t be able to reach the edge of.
5 years ago
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