Mine is pretty primitive with raw cedar posts placed as they would be for a sturdy fence 8' tall. You want it large enough to comfortably move around in. I didn't even run support from the tops of posts to help with snow load. I just strung up the chicken wire as tightly as I could with another person helping. The chicken wire roof is supported by poles that aren't even in the ground- pressure treated 8' 2"X2"s. I used 6' wide 1" chicken wire and built the thing 15 years ago in a few hours and haven't had to worry about birds since. I should have buried the chicken-wire, however, so that I wouldn't have to trap out chip-monks every year.

Not a fan of small rodents. Not because they scare me or anything, I used to raise fancy mice. They ALL tend to be destructive. Field mice won't allow any balloon flowers or relatives in my garden, they will be eaten withing a day (they also eat obedient plant, but only when it's close to flowering). Chipmonks ate every flower head off of my cornflowers. Red squirrels...my grandma used to shoot them on sight, and I understand why! I found one in my potting shed the other day and MAN I was wishing I had her .22 with me when I opened those doors! Instead I made that click click click type noise the grays make and it took off like a shot. I'm sure it'll be back in there. We had damage from them in our house when we bought it, I'd rather not see them around at all. I considered taking out the few pines/spruces around to encourage them to move on, but I have to wonder if they've adapted enough not to care...

its easy to make a pvc pipe pole and either bury the end of the pipe in the ground or a small bucket of cement so it stands up well. make sure its away from trees or fences or other things a squirrels can climb and jump across to the feeders. Squirrels and chipmonks can't climb the plastic pipe you can put 3 way T fitting on the top so a short pipe sticks out two ways. you can hang a feeder from each side either by a shepards hook or a hole in each side to use a cable or chain to hang the feeders, Put a platform on one side for nuts or fruit or bigger seeds and a hopper feeder or tube feeder on the other side for sunflower or saffflower or choppped nuts or raisens.

Posted by ruthieg__tx: "Most of us who read the joke...read the whole thing ...we didn't skip the "chip monks" line..." Neither did I. The collection plate chips being cashed in by church representatives was the only part of the "trivia" that made any sense so I did not address that. Posted by lindakathy: "Maybe DD didn't see the punchline either." I had no idea that that was a "punch line". The post was titled *trivia*. I take it that no one here has ever been to Vegas and been on a tour. "People misread or misinterpret a post. Sometimes, even, people jump all over someone just for the fun of it." Yes, I see that now. Another 'pile on'. Just for the "fun" of it. Geeze. Have fun people. Posted by jenni_ca: "Dilly Dally did you actually think this was anything other than a joke? Chipmonks....you believed that!! Oh my! Um yeah. Why don't you read this link about the Chip Monks of Las Vegas: Here is a link that might be useful: Chip Monks of Las Vegas