GracieAllen
Active member
Can't I just put the banner on instead! They'll read it and stay down, right?
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Olympic Quality Squirrels (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter GracieAllen
- Start date
GracieAllen
Active member
24" ISN'T going to do it! I made an add-on to the 18" baffle to extend it to 24". Worked PERFECTLY. For about an hour... THEN, he went into the 8" duct I had suspended below the angled baffle. I got video of him going in, up, then falling out and making a mad dash out the fence. It was hilarious and gratifying... Which lasted about an hour...
The Rocky came back and sniffed around for a while. And then backed off, got a running start, LEAPED against the side of the 8" duct as high as possible, used it like a springboard, caught the edge of the 24" baffle and catapulted himself PAST the 24" baffle and latched onto a feeder that was bout 3" ABOVE the baffle. Looked like one of those Olympic Gymnasts on the uneven parallel bars!
And sat there LAUGHING while he dug a peanut-in-the-shell out of the holder and ate it!
The Rocky came back and sniffed around for a while. And then backed off, got a running start, LEAPED against the side of the 8" duct as high as possible, used it like a springboard, caught the edge of the 24" baffle and catapulted himself PAST the 24" baffle and latched onto a feeder that was bout 3" ABOVE the baffle. Looked like one of those Olympic Gymnasts on the uneven parallel bars!
And sat there LAUGHING while he dug a peanut-in-the-shell out of the holder and ate it!
GracieAllen
Active member
I WANTED to trap the annoying rodents and "take 'em for a ride", but the domestic associate felt it would be "CRUEL" to move Rocky away from his friends... REALLY? I know I tease that they're working together, but REALLY? Do squirrels HAVE friends? That they'd MISS if they got relocated to the other side of the river?
Please post a video, it would help all of us appreciate what these varmints can do.
Later maybe remove the 8" duct launch pad or use a 36" baffle.
GracieAllen
Active member
The 8" duct has been removed so they have to leap farther from the smaller pipe. And though I wouldn't want to put grease on anything, I decided it would be interesting to see how Rocky and the gang would enjoy a little olive oil spayed on the pole. So far, nobody's made it to to the baffle in 2 days... I'll see if I can get some video sometime when they get active again... Wondering if maybe I should put out some croutons to go with the olive oil?
GracieAllen
Active member
OK, I SEEM to have solved the problem with Rocky and his cohorts... At least for the moment.
I wound up raising the feeders so the miserable wretch can't jump straight up and grab them. Then I raised the platform and the baffle so he can't jump off the pole and grab the platform. And FINALLY, I sprayed the pole with silicone spray. As near as I can tell, he finally decided to quit trying to get up there.
Periodically one of the them will come over and look at the pole, but they don't appear to be trying to climb it any more.
Unfortunately, I have a different "bird" problem that I'll put in a new question.....
I wound up raising the feeders so the miserable wretch can't jump straight up and grab them. Then I raised the platform and the baffle so he can't jump off the pole and grab the platform. And FINALLY, I sprayed the pole with silicone spray. As near as I can tell, he finally decided to quit trying to get up there.
Periodically one of the them will come over and look at the pole, but they don't appear to be trying to climb it any more.
Unfortunately, I have a different "bird" problem that I'll put in a new question.....
dragnil
The glass is half full, but the bottle is empty.
GracieAllen
Active member
I have GOT TO GET ONE OF THOSE!!!
Now can they come up with a way to do the same thing with grackles, starlings, cowbirds, blackbirds and crows?
The first day, birds came by looking for food, but for the last 2 days, it's completely dead out there. No backyard birds, no song birds, not even any of the nuisance birds. The only thing I left out there was the thing with jelly in it 'cause I had a pair of baltimore orioles coming every day. But they're gone too. The only thing coming now is a few house finches that like the jelly.
Now can they come up with a way to do the same thing with grackles, starlings, cowbirds, blackbirds and crows?
The first day, birds came by looking for food, but for the last 2 days, it's completely dead out there. No backyard birds, no song birds, not even any of the nuisance birds. The only thing I left out there was the thing with jelly in it 'cause I had a pair of baltimore orioles coming every day. But they're gone too. The only thing coming now is a few house finches that like the jelly.
Planting native shrubs and trees (fruit-bearing, I guess, but others probably as well) has been advertised elsewhere, although--admittedly--they won't be very grown at the beginning. Other than that, have you--for example--considered sowing some sunflower seeds by the window? Once they produce seeds, birds will inevitably shake some off onto the ground, so you'll end up with a self-renewable sunflower patch.
GracieAllen
Active member
The pole and feeders are in the middle of the yard. I'd rather not put ANYTHING anywhere near it that makes it easier for Rocky and his cronies to get into the feeders. At the same time the domestic associate is a BIG NO on "scattering seed" for ANYTHING and having a "bunch of weeds" growing under the feeders. There's already more than enough see under the feeders from the birds - and those nuisance birds are EXPERTS at throwing seeds all over the place.
There's a nice bunch of privet, lilac, mock orange and other hedge about waist high 8 - 10 feet from the feeder, and a large spruce 15 feet behind the feeders (behind being from my photographic perspective), and NORMALLY tons of birds sit on and in those. This year the problem birds drove off everybody else, so there's nobody anywhere. Having a dozen grackles sitting on all the branches at the feeders apparently guarantees none of the birds I want are going to be around.
I figure I'll wait a week or so, then put a tube feeder or two out there, then maybe one of the caged feeders. The cardinals are just going to have to eat from that until I can bring back the peanut butter. At some point I need to bring back the chunky peanut butter with seeds in it to put the birds where I want them for photography, and peanuts-in-the-shell to bring in the bluejays, and suet for the woodpeckers. The downy, hairy and red-bellied ones like some peanut butter and suet.
There's a nice bunch of privet, lilac, mock orange and other hedge about waist high 8 - 10 feet from the feeder, and a large spruce 15 feet behind the feeders (behind being from my photographic perspective), and NORMALLY tons of birds sit on and in those. This year the problem birds drove off everybody else, so there's nobody anywhere. Having a dozen grackles sitting on all the branches at the feeders apparently guarantees none of the birds I want are going to be around.
I figure I'll wait a week or so, then put a tube feeder or two out there, then maybe one of the caged feeders. The cardinals are just going to have to eat from that until I can bring back the peanut butter. At some point I need to bring back the chunky peanut butter with seeds in it to put the birds where I want them for photography, and peanuts-in-the-shell to bring in the bluejays, and suet for the woodpeckers. The downy, hairy and red-bellied ones like some peanut butter and suet.
Elkhornsun
Well-known member
I added a Squirrel buster feeder this year and the squirrels have been unable to get seed from it. It also has been a great feeder for grosbeaks and acorn woodpeckers as well as the expected finches. I am using sunflower kernels in the feeder and I taped off 3 of the 6 feeding ports to minimize the amount of seed being consumed by the finches. The grosbeaks and the woodpeckers will scare off the finches when the approach the feeder and so always have a feeder port available.
GracieAllen
Active member
Things here have quieted down... I kept the PVC covering on the pole. I kept an 18" or so baffle. I grabbed one of the cans of silicone spray we use on other stuff and put some on the pole. THAT was hilarious... In short order Rocky and the gang figured out they couldn't just jump up and grab a feeder, and couldn't climb the pole any more. They left. I haven't seen a squirrel in the yard in a few weeks. I see them at the neighbors, and even in the tree by the fence, but they don't bother the feeders any more.
I tried one of those squirrel-proof feeders with the spring that drops the perch and covers the seeds. I'd post a picture but it appears this site doesn't allow me to upload directly from my computer. It worked perfectly on the squirrels... AND the birds. Not a single sunflower seed has been eaten from the thing since the day I put it out. I even tightened all 4 springs so it DOESN'T block the feeding holes and STILL not a single bird (even the PITA blackbirds, grackles, starlings and crows) will touch the thing. So my confidence in the "squirrel proof" feeders has diminished significantly, and I've got a worthless $40 feeder.
I tried one of those squirrel-proof feeders with the spring that drops the perch and covers the seeds. I'd post a picture but it appears this site doesn't allow me to upload directly from my computer. It worked perfectly on the squirrels... AND the birds. Not a single sunflower seed has been eaten from the thing since the day I put it out. I even tightened all 4 springs so it DOESN'T block the feeding holes and STILL not a single bird (even the PITA blackbirds, grackles, starlings and crows) will touch the thing. So my confidence in the "squirrel proof" feeders has diminished significantly, and I've got a worthless $40 feeder.
tehri
Well-known member
Dont understand what you mean by that, Gracie... 'Drop image' allows you to upload any image from your computer, or your phone... You can even resize that image.
GracieAllen
Active member
OK, I'm confused. When I clicked on "Insert Image" when doing my reply, it popped up a window that required a URL. NOW when I click on it, it says "Drop Image". Don't know what changed...
In any case, this is the feeder I bought, though in a less gaudy Red color. Totally ignored by everything, bird or squirrel, in both the side and back yards.
In any case, this is the feeder I bought, though in a less gaudy Red color. Totally ignored by everything, bird or squirrel, in both the side and back yards.
JoeyVimsanteThePoet
Member
Squirrels are very clever animals.
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