Squirrel-proof feeding station (1 Viewer)

Here’s our squirrel exclusion zone - which actually works! It’s made from 3mm steel mesh, curiously the sizes (apart from the gauge) are in inches, so the top, bottom and back are made from 2” x 1” mesh while the sides and front are fabricated by me so that the biggest gaps are 2”x 30mm. There are large stainless trays at the bottom to catch (most of) the spillage and the roof keeps everything dry.

Overall dimensions 48” wide x 24” tall x 16” deep.

More details available if anyone’s interested

I commend you on your effort to keep squirrels off your feeder!

I do have some health and safety concerns however. All your feeders are very tightly arranged with little space for birds to manoeuvre, especially as it’s also within a caged environment. Birds squabble over feeders anyway if they get busy - so there is a real risk of injury or even just feather damage by packing so many feeders in together within a ‘caged’ environment. Perhaps you could reduce the numbers of feeders? Also, this design of feeder (with the spillage trays) carry a higher risk of infection anyway (as birds end up pooping while they eat), placing trays just under the feeders this way, means birds not getting onto one of the feeders will be feeding from the spillage which will be contaminated with poop very quickly. I would remove the large trays at the bottom of the enclosure altogether (and thoroughly clean the ground of spillage every day as spillage inevitably falls from the feeders on to the ground).

Otherwise, attaching a ‘cage’ to an overhead beam for a few feeders seems like a good innovation provided one is able to maintain good hygeine.

Hi D B
Thanks for you thoughts, though in practice I find pretty much the opposite to what you suggest. We get a large number of birds visiting the feeders and squabbling has definitely been reduced - even among the goldfinches (who are often the most bolshy) maybe more choice means less aggression? Our previous (shop-bought) feeders also had anti-squirrel cages and the space inside was much smaller, with this design there’s a great deal more room inside and the birds tend to simply move from one feeder to another. They often do this in any case, even if there are no others present - looks like they are checking out what’s on offer before they tuck in. Squabbling was much worse with the individual feeders as they tended to protect favourite perches. We’ve had this up and running for several weeks now and it’s a much more peaceful feeding environment. No injured birds or damaged feathers! One other bonus of this setup is that the woodpeckers don’t monopolise the feeders, not having them and the squirrels around is a lot more relaxing for all (including us!) we have had peckers injure and even kill birds at feeders before.

Regarding the hygiene issue there is no doubt that this setup is safer for the birds. The trays attached to the feeders and the big ones in the bottom collect a quite remarkable amount of spillage which I remove every morning when I fill the feeders. If I was to remove the trays all this would fall to the ground, encouraging rats and also getting wet - that mixture of wet spillage and droppings is particularly dangerous for birds. The trays are also super easy to disinfect they come out easily and just need a wipe down with a weak bleach solution every few days.

Before I put in the trays we often had squirrels camped out under the feeders and the occasional rat and I found it a real struggle to keep the area under the feeders clean. Now we have a resident dunnock or two plus the odd chaffinch who do the tidying up for me. The squirrels and the rat have given up! Though there are a couple of clockwork voles still in residence who dart out whenever anything misses the trays.

I kind of like the idea and with the trays beneath, I'm sure it cuts down on ground food.

Torchepot said:

Hi D B
Thanks for you thoughts, though in practice I find pretty much the opposite to what you suggest...

Click to expand...

No worries, T, it’s only friendly advice & opinions at the end of the day, no one has to follow or agree with what people say on here! :t:

Update

So more than a year later the effect of this set-up has been quite remarkable. Just putting it into context - we’re very isolated here and our nearest neighbours are approx 3/4 mile in one direction and 1/2 mile in the other. Both our neighbours feed the birds and we were all plagued by squirrels. Our closest neighbour was very taken by the set up and I gave him a smaller version of the same thing, the other neighbour has bought something similar.
So what happened to the squirrels? - They gave up! We still see the odd one in the valley and very occasionally we get one visiting briefly, but I guess as they can’t reach the food they have to move on to somewhere more productive - or starve! Both our neighbours have the same result!

I’ve invested in a spare set of stainless trays so I can just swap them out and give them a good clean every week. I’ve also got a couple of spare feeders to swap over at the same time.

The roof makes a huge difference as everything stays dry and never goes mouldy.

For us the best news is that we had two pairs of Greenfinch visit and stay to breed this summer (the first in the valley for years apparently)

I appreciate that in an area where more people are feeding the birds such a set up is probably not going to be as effective, but it has made me realise that we were inadvertently propping up a large squirrel population just by feeding the birds.