Getting Even With The Squirrels

Yes, I am obsessed.  I was considering Andrew's offer of the pellet gun..............

You can't even think you will get AHEAD of the squirrels, the only hope you have is to pull up even with them.  They might be rodents, they might even LOOK like rodents, but they are pretty darn smart. 

I spend a lot of time looking out my breakfast room window, watching to see if the squirrels have figured out the latest way to circumvent my proofing efforts.  Right now my method is to feeder load the pole with the domed feeder preventing access to the tube feeder.  And I think the squirrels are laughing.  I can almost hear them. 

I even sent the cat out to look important.  But all she succeeded in doing was catching and eating a lizard.  (Which subsequently came back up with dinner.)

They have me searching lawn and garden stores, feed stores and even hardware stores searching for stuff to squirrel proof my bird feeders with.  They have me searching the Internet, googling Squirrel Proof Bird feeders, and leafing through online birding magazines for the perfect impenetrable bird feeder.  The best one was from The Droll Yankee.  It had a battery charged apparatus that spun when the squirrel's weight engaged the motor.  People had sent in their videos to show squirrels being spun around on the various feeders.  I was just about to punch the button that said "Buy Me Now" when I spied the price.  Yep, it was about $100. 

So I thought about what else I could do.  Cheaper.  You know I need all extra money for fabric!

When we visited Lowes' to pick up a hose repair kit I wandered over to the bird feeders and found a weight activated pull down feeder.  This one is better than the one I have with the dome over it.  The birds don't seem to want to go under the dome to eat.  This new one, which cost $20, is like the tube feeder that is already the hit of the property.

I hung the dome feeder on the crepe myrtle in hopes that some bird will land on it and say......HEY!  SEED!  and the rest will come to investigate.  There is even a sign on it that says: 

So I will get the full impact in the morning.  I purposefully left the flat feeder (which actually is my favorite one of all of them, and not just because Carrie gave it to me!) without seed so the squirrels will have to try to get seed by robbing my newest challenge for them.

Maybe I can get back to quilting soon.  If this new feeder works like the box says it should, then I have about 35 UFOs to finish!

glen