Maybe the tree just needs to get bigger ? I remember tons of birds and tons of cherries my growing up years at grandmas. Her trees were large, but we could use ladders and I climbed waaay up. We had plenty to make pies and put up for winter. My tree now is so old and huge, the only way I get any cherries are when the birds are kind enough to drop a few for me to pick up. I try to remember to always say thank you. As it stands, you have nothing to loose by experimenting with adding feeders. Currently I'm mostly winning in getting the squirrels to leave my finch feeders alone by feeding them separately each morning. They have me well trained. ;) This post was edited by plaidbird on Sun, May 11, 14 at 16:17

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 found 9-pound bags of a mix of mostly millet with some sunflower seed and, I think, safflower seed, at a dollar-type store here called Big Lots. $7 per bag. Birds gobble it up in winter, but in the winter they'll eat anything; in the spring they are picky, kicking out the milo for the pigeons and doves, so I stop feeding them and concentrate on hummingbirds and, this year, suet for Ladderback and Downy woodpeckers. Also I have nyger thistle feeders (both metal mesh feeder and sock feeder) out for our sweet, tiny lesser goldfinches. To complete my first post in this forum, I spotted and got pictures of a male Northern Cardinal this morning, a rare sighting for our area (Albuquerque). A similar male bird (the same one??) was reported a few miles further north back in February. I also photographed a rare Vermillion Flycatcher in April. Maybe more birds are moving into my state -- and I'll have figure out how to feed them if they visit my apartment complex :)

Linda, I've missed seeing you around. I just asked about you over at the other forum. Meal worms are very easy to raise. You need some wheat bran which you can get at health food stores or the cereal aisle in bigger supermarkets...or the feed store, if they will split a bag for you. They sell it by 50 lb. and you don't need that much. I use a plastic bucket with a lid...you could use smaller. Punch holes in the lid. Put in the meal worms and some slices of apple or peel or potato. You have to let some of them turn to beetles to reproduce, but it doesn't take long. Periodically, you need to replace the bran with fresh because it will get p*ssy smelling. I raise them for my fish, and all the wild things love them. I was trying to feed them to the armadillos I raised but too small and took too many....had to go to night crawlers for them. The new creature here is a feral pig. She is some kind of "special pig", I think. The local hog hunter went to prison and I am sure he released her. She was red with horizontal white stripes...about the size of a cat when she first showed up. Now the size of a medium sized dog and all red. She is very skittish and only comes at night with the coons. I put out special treats for her. I hope she stays because I don't want anyone killing her. I buy hen scratch for the doves, pigeons, crows and black birds...and scatter it all down my driveway, which is long and helps keep them out of the yard a little. The crows are here every morning tho, and clean up any food left over from the night before. A woman who works in the kitchen of a home for problem children brings all of her scraps to me and my friend who rehabs with me. We get tons of stuff...that we split. I had 14 pecan pies here and the raccoons had a party with them one night. Get a lot of beef, scrambled eggs, vegetables, chicken, fruit, melon, etc., which gives the possums a little more variety and bread which I give the horses for treats. It enables me to have a little extra money to buy the scratch, niger and sunflower seed.