It's for the birds!

[Lynne]

We put out a large scoop of whole kernel corn every evening. It's meant for the deer, but the squirrels and birds (usually blue jays and starlings) nab their share.

My Dad put up an expensive, prefab bird feeder years ago, but the squirrels kept raiding and damaging it. He came up with a clever solution, he spread a coating of thick aircraft maintenance grease over the entire length of the pole. It was like watching a cartoon, the squirrels leaping onto the pole, then sliding down slowly, clawing all the way down. The funniest part was watching the squirrels rolling around and scooting across the grass trying to get the grease off them.

I have used a slinky on the pole. They can’t clime it. I have a few piles now and just don’t bother. If I leave something on the ground for them they stay out of the feeders.

 

[Duke]

I have used a slinky on the pole. They can’t clime it. I have a few piles now and just don’t bother. If I leave something on the ground for them they stay out of the feeders.

A friend of mine used to shoot destructive squirrels with his kids' paintball guns. It would literally knock them off a tree limb if he got close enough. It was always amusing seeing the occasional purple or green squirrel.

 

[Debi]

A friend of mine used to shoot destructive squirrels with his kids' paintball guns. It would literally knock them off a tree limb if he got close enough. It was always amusing seeing the occasional purple or green squirrel.

I've told the story here before of my mom shooting at the "ugly" birds (because she only wanted pretty birds at her feeder) and ending up shooting BB holes in the neighbor's siding. She also used it to try and hit squirrels. I'll just say she was a rotten shot so she moved on to live traps and "relocated" all squirrels to the cemetery where "they won't bother anyone."

 

[Lynne]

A friend of mine used to shoot destructive squirrels with his kids' paintball guns. It would literally knock them off a tree limb if he got close enough. It was always amusing seeing the occasional purple or green squirrel.

At least he wasn’t killing them , they were marked as the trouble makers lol

 

[Paulm]

i have 9 bird houses, 9 bird feeders, a 12 by 12 pond that draws every living thing in the county to it i think. i put out trail cams by the pond to catch what comes to visit and have been surprised at what ive caught in the wee hours of the morning. i built a wall at the pond area to feed the squirrels on, and like Lynne said, i leave peanuts on it for them and that has seemed to work the best at keeping them in one area and off the feeders throughout the yard. i love having all the different birds and wildlife around. trying to develope the perfect ecosystem and seeing what all it will draw in, from lizards, turtles, frogs, to the many species of bird and mammal.

 

[JahaRa]

I am still feeding the birds where my mother fed them for decades. I had a pair of cactus thrashers that would nest in my choya in the front. They have moved to an area in my brother's back yard now. I am not sure why but they do still come to my feeder and they sit on the fence between my house and my brother's sometimes. I have watched 2 sets of baby thrashers in the nest and learning to fly every summer for several years. We have a roadrunner in the neighborhood that sits on the fences sometimes. It has a fairly large territory. 2 years ago there were three juveniles that ran around on our block. Usually we only have one at a time so it was fun to watch the 3 of them running together.

 

[ozentity]

If you put out seed where I am you get galahs and bigger white cockatoos that start eating your house so I don't feed them. No squirrels but we get possums wrecking the ceiling but they are silly coming into a jack russells yard.

 

[Lynne]

If you put out seed where I am you get galahs and bigger white cockatoos that start eating your house so I don't feed them. No squirrels but we get possums wrecking the ceiling but they are silly coming into a jack russells yard.

I had to look up Galahs, beautiful birds. I didn’t realize you had cockatoos in Australia!

 

[Selectric]

We put out a large scoop of whole kernel corn every evening. It's meant for the deer, but the squirrels and birds (usually blue jays and starlings) nab their share.

My Dad put up an expensive, prefab bird feeder years ago, but the squirrels kept raiding and damaging it. He came up with a clever solution, he spread a coating of thick aircraft maintenance grease over the entire length of the pole. It was like watching a cartoon, the squirrels leaping onto the pole, then sliding down slowly, clawing all the way down. The funniest part was watching the squirrels rolling around and scooting across the grass trying to get the grease off them.

Sounded like the perfect America Home Videos episode lol.

 

[garnetsilver]

If you put out seed where I am you get galahs and bigger white cockatoos that start eating your house so I don't feed them. No squirrels but we get possums wrecking the ceiling but they are silly coming into a jack russells yard.

I first heard of galahs when I read a book called Runaway Girl, about a young girl in Australia that lived in the outback for awhile. She passed as a boy and had all kinds of adventures.