No discussion of feeding birds would be complete without discussing the ever present and always ingenious squirrels who never fail to raid any and all bird feeders that have not been squirrel proofed. I have never tried to prevent squirrels from getting into my feeders, because I never expected to succeed, and I actually enjoy watching them. I have tried offering them alternative food sources, as various publications recommended, but all this accomplished was to attract more squirrels.
Squirrels like every type of bird food I have put out except for thistle seed. They like all other types of seeds, nuts, suet, peanuts and even jelly. They can access any type of feeder, whether it hangs by a string, hangs upside down or sways violently whenever something bigger than a bird touches it. They can even access feeders that sparrows have a hard time getting to, with occasionally disastrous results. If a feeder is too hard for them to reach, they simply destroy it and eat everything that was in it, leaving the debris to be picked up by the unfortunate individual who tried to outsmart them. Their solution for feeders on strings is the same...they bite through the string so that the feeder crashes to the ground and they can raid it.
I'm not the only person in my neighborhood who gets a little weary of their greediness. There is a blue jay family on my block that for years would visit my yard, especially when I put peanuts out. Each time a squirrel would take one and prepare to bury it, they would come up behind him, grab him by the tail and pinch him in an effort to make him let go of it. While this tactic never succeeded in causing the squirrel to actually lose his peanut, it did slow him down a tad.
If you would like squirrels in your yard, the only really necessary step to take is that of hanging out a feeder...of any kind! They like trees to run up if danger threatens, but fences, power line poles and roofs will do just as well in a pinch. Sometimes they can be persuaded (briefly) to leave the birdseed alone if you put out corn cobs for them, but usually, as I mentioned above, this just leads to more squirrels. My solution has been to sit back and enjoy them...and buy a little more birdseed and suet the next time!
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