pete schofield
Well-known member
Do you get a lot of mess on the floor from your feeders? I do and besides the growth you get from the seed, we also have a few Mallards that live in the area and come to feed from the seed that is dropped around the feeders. Because most of our garden is paved the Mallards leave their own kind of mess on the pave, which my wife got fed up of cleaning. My instructions were to do something about it.
I tried the trays that screw to the bottom of the feeder but found even the largest I could buy was not large enough. So I decided to make my own.
I purchased a large see through bowl made by Gardman, who also make their own brand of feeder. This bowl is sold as a Squirrel baffle Guard. I then got 2 pieces of the plastic that screw into the bottom of the feeder to enable the feeder to be put on top of a pole. These usually come with the RSPB type feeders.
Insert a piece of dowel rod (I used a bit of old kitchen spoon) approx 2 inches long into each piece of plastic and glue (see picture 1).
The flange on the end needs to be cut away till you have about 2-3mm left to stop the plastic going all the way through the hole in the Baffle. You may have to file the hole in the Baffle a touch to get the threaded end through. The plastic is quite easy to cut with a junior hacksaw (I cheated and used an angle grinder).
When the plastic goes through secure with a jubilee clip. You will see from picture 2 that I have secured mine with a nut. This came from an old plumbing compression joint of which I had 2 lying around. Drill a few 1-2mm holes around the base to allow drainage.
Screw the whole assembly to the bottom of your feeder. You will see that the top of the bowl is below the bottom port of the feeder; in the MK1 version, which was screwed directly to the bottom of the feeder, I found the birds would not use the feeder.
This arrangement catches virtually all that is dropped and our local Robin will actually go into the bottom of the bowl to feed. My arrangement of feeders is a pole with an arm that gives 4 sets of feeder placement. 2 with the plastic tube holders, with 2 feeders hanging directly underneath. With the bowl attached to the hanging feeder catching waste from both feeders.
Total cost Squirrel Baffle £14.99 Plastic pole inserts can be bought for pence.
C J Wildbird sell something similar but theirs is meant to fit on a pole and costs considerably more.
Pete
I tried the trays that screw to the bottom of the feeder but found even the largest I could buy was not large enough. So I decided to make my own.
I purchased a large see through bowl made by Gardman, who also make their own brand of feeder. This bowl is sold as a Squirrel baffle Guard. I then got 2 pieces of the plastic that screw into the bottom of the feeder to enable the feeder to be put on top of a pole. These usually come with the RSPB type feeders.
Insert a piece of dowel rod (I used a bit of old kitchen spoon) approx 2 inches long into each piece of plastic and glue (see picture 1).
The flange on the end needs to be cut away till you have about 2-3mm left to stop the plastic going all the way through the hole in the Baffle. You may have to file the hole in the Baffle a touch to get the threaded end through. The plastic is quite easy to cut with a junior hacksaw (I cheated and used an angle grinder).
When the plastic goes through secure with a jubilee clip. You will see from picture 2 that I have secured mine with a nut. This came from an old plumbing compression joint of which I had 2 lying around. Drill a few 1-2mm holes around the base to allow drainage.
Screw the whole assembly to the bottom of your feeder. You will see that the top of the bowl is below the bottom port of the feeder; in the MK1 version, which was screwed directly to the bottom of the feeder, I found the birds would not use the feeder.
This arrangement catches virtually all that is dropped and our local Robin will actually go into the bottom of the bowl to feed. My arrangement of feeders is a pole with an arm that gives 4 sets of feeder placement. 2 with the plastic tube holders, with 2 feeders hanging directly underneath. With the bowl attached to the hanging feeder catching waste from both feeders.
Total cost Squirrel Baffle £14.99 Plastic pole inserts can be bought for pence.
C J Wildbird sell something similar but theirs is meant to fit on a pole and costs considerably more.
Pete
