Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Are You Smarter Than a Squirrel?

Again, the current answer for us is: Maybe.100_8289

There have been a number of times when I have planted seeds in the ground, only to have the squirrels dig them up. So here is our latest seed flat. It began by being covered with an old aquarium screen cover but the sunflower seeds in here quickly outgrew that height. B replaced it with a hardware cloth cage, held in place with bungee.

100_8250

Here’s a potential thief.

100_8290

So far, so good.

After squirrels learned to climb our “squirrel proof” bird feeder and even chewed the roof up….

100_8276

B added a large plastic jar that once held animal crackers, interestingly enough.

100_8275

Since then we have not seen them in the feeder, but they do get in the baffle.

It is not like they go hungry. We have a platform feeder that is open to all, but squirrels seem to like a challenge. Time will tell whether we are smarter than a squirrel.

3 comments:

R.Powers said...

Clever baffle!

Laurel said...

Very clever! You should patent that! I, who am not so clever, bought a baffle that is already manufactured, and I'm sorry, but just a little more attractive than the plastic bag. I also bought a Twirl-a-Squirrel for two feeders I have hanging from trees. They work great too and are actually pretty fun to watch. It doesn't take long for the squirrels to get the message...oh, and I also feed the squirrels separately. So, here's the link to the feeders at the online nursery I use, Garden Harvest Supply: http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/category/squirrel-proof-feeders

Ducks said...

I did have same problem that squirrels steel birds seeds. I spray cooking oil to the pole. It was so fun to look at the squirrels slide down with panicking. It works until rain washes off the oil.