[meganwf]

My husband is an avid bird watcher and he's corrupted me too over the last ten years (thank goodness!). We have had feeders at the house on/off. On when we miss seeing our friends up close and off when the raccoons destroy the feeders. We've tried numerous feeders over the years, numerous posts and some pathetic baffles. These coons are like small bears they are so strong and whole families work together. I got chickens and ducks this spring so we haven't fed the birds for almost 9 mos as I didn't want the coons finding the new poultry/eggs. Now I'd like to feed the wild birds again but I'm giving up on the wimpy poles and anything attached to the deck. I want one simple big feeder outside the kitchen window. I don't want to spend lots of $$$. I am a little bit handy. Thought maybe to to sink a sturdy 4 x 4 post outside the kitchen window and build a heavy duty baffle around it with sheet metal. Anyone done this?

What are your best raccoon free tips? I don't want to take the feeder in at night, the kids and poultry keep me busy enough. Also, how far away from a fence should the feeder be to keep coons/squirrels from jumping on to it? We are located outside Philadelphia, PA.

Found this picture I liked but NOT for feeding outdoor cats (egads!)

http://www.thewildones.net/raccoons.htm

[spruce]

Yep, I have a 4x4 post with a 8" round 24" long stove pipe baffle, works great.

I bought a piece of stove pipe and a cap for about 16.00.(both 8" dia)

step 1.drive 2 16 penny nails into opposite sides of the post leaving about 1/2-3/4" of the nail exposed (make sure they are level from nail to nail)

step 2.cut a hole in the stove pipe cap slightly larger than the post,

step 3. screw the cap onto the stove pipe with self tapping sheetmetal screwws,

step 4. slide the capped pipe over the post.

Your new baffle will be supported by the nails and should swing/move fairly easy. I have yet to have one of the many raccoons get to my peanut feeders ( btw I see prints on it every morning, they still try but never succeed)

You can see the prints, The gray top is a plastic squirrel baffle that is just setting on top of the home made raccoon baffle.
[IMG]http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3...0125lf7.th.jpg[/IMG]

[meganwf]

Excellent! This is just want I was looking for! The image and the directions look really great and I'm anxious to try it out. How tall is your 4x4 post and how high off the ground is the baffle?

It must feel great to see the "hand" prints and know that they didn't get any feed!

Originally Posted by spruce

Yep, I have a 4x4 post with a 8" round 24" long stove pipe baffle, works great.

I bought a piece of stove pipe and a cap for about 16.00.(both 8" dia)

step 1.drive 2 16 penny nails into opposite sides of the post leaving about 1/2-3/4" of the nail exposed (make sure they are level from nail to nail)

step 2.cut a hole in the stove pipe cap slightly larger than the post,

step 3. screw the cap onto the stove pipe with self tapping sheetmetal screwws,

step 4. slide the capped pipe over the post.

Your new baffle will be supported by the nails and should swing/move fairly easy. I have yet to have one of the many raccoons get to my peanut feeders ( btw I see prints on it every morning, they still try but never succeed)

You can see the prints, The gray top is a plastic squirrel baffle that is just setting on top of the home made raccoon baffle.
[IMG]http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3...0125lf7.th.jpg[/IMG]

[spruce]

The post is roughtly 5' out of the ground, the baffle is about 12" off the ground

[Birdchick]

Make sure the top of the stove pipe is five feet up and that the post is a good ten feet from lawn furniture, fences, railings--anything that a raccoon could use to jump/lean over to the feeder.

That DIY system is good, I've used a similar system on both a 4x4 and a one inch pole.

Sharon

[spruce]

The top of my pipe is only 3'-3.5' to the top, the raccoons can not get up it. I dont think the top of the pipe needs to be 5' high, although I agree about keeping it away from trees/fences/etc.