After reading numerous threads on "suet' I have come to the conclusion that most people are making a simple thing far to complicated.

"Suet" by definition is Beef or Mutton Fat, primarily from the areas of the kidneys or abdominal wall.

If you go to a supermarket where they actually cut meat in the store, or a real meat market, you can ask the butcher for beef suet and he/she will be glad to give you a couple pounds for about $.35 to $.50lb. (Many recipes such as English steak & kidney pie or mince meat call for suet).

The simplest method of providing suet for birds is to cut the raw suet into chunks about 3"x3" and tack them on the side of a tree with a nail. By tacking then on the side of a tree it is very easy for woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees to access them, but it is difficult for sparrows or starlings because they are not adept at hanging on the bark of trees.

I shoot a lot of bird photos so i tack the suet on the backside of a limb, when viewed from my camera position. In this manner the suet is not visible in the photo, but it encourages the birds to sit at a certain spot on the limb allowing me the best camera angle to view the bird in a natural setting.

many people make up suet cakes using lard, however it must be noted that Lard is rendered Hog Fat, and while the birds will eat it by necessity because they need the fat in their diet, it is by far, not their most preferred fat.

According to a bulletin I received from my state Audubon Society we should refrain from using bacon or ham drippings because they contain excessively high levels of salt. It should also be noted that quite often bacon or ham is infused with a smoke flavoring and smoke. In nature the scent of smoke signals danger, which may actually repel the birds away from your feeder.

Now that the holiday season is upon us,here is a trick you may want to try.

I make a cranberry relish by taking one large navel orange and a pound of raw cranberries. Cut the orange into sections skin and all, then grind the orange and cranberries through a meat grinder and add sugar to taste. That makes an excellent addition to your holiday relish tray.

When you roast your turkey, lift the bird out of the roaster and let the drippings sit overnight to congeal in the pan. The next morning you will find a thick layer of fat suspended over a watery liquid. Skim the thick fat off, then mix with the leftover cranberry relish, add some bird seeds, oatmeal, crumbled cornbread, cracked corn, raisins or what have you and mix thoroughly.

Now take a couple oranges or grapefruit and cut them in half, remove the inner fruit, retaining the skin as a cup. Warm (do not cook,just warm it up to soften the fats) your fat mixture and pour into the orange or grapefruit skin cups and let them cool to harden, then set them out by your feeder, or tack them on a limb with a nail, which can easily be removed later.

A couple weeks ago my mother presented me with 2 commercial suet cakes that she bought at Walmart. When i opened the packs I discovered they were formed into a small 4"x4"x1.5" plastic tray, but there was no way to suspend them for the birds. Looking around my shop I found a small piece of 1/2" mesh hardware cloth which i fashioned in to a holder that i could attach to the tree. The holder is open on top so I just drop another suet container in, or it will even work well for raw suet.

I am attaching a couple pictures taken the same day I mounted the feeder.

The suet is tacked on the side of the tree just behind view from the camera.

My home made suet feeder