Bloody squirrels. Tips please?

[Mykittensmittens]

I’ve had enough. We live in a house next to woods and the bird life is spectacular. Feeding the birds makes me so happy. We have nesting birds in our boxes and don’t want to stop feeding them.

But the bastarding, destructive, relentless furry squirrel arseholes are driving me crackers.

I have a bird table - I’ve stopped using that as they first just cleaned it out so we added chicken wire big enough for the birds but not them. It stopped the blackbirds which made me sad, then they ate through the wire anyway. So we took the wire off and added wooden batons - they’ve chewed through those and it looks appalling.

So I got a pole feeder with hooks. I added feeders with mealworms and sunflowers and seed - the birds are all over it and it’s joyous. But those bastard squirrels worked it out within a day.

So I spread WD40 up the pole. That worked for 24 hours and although HIGHLY entertaining it was t good as it’s a)not very practical to do daily and b) they’ve found a workaround anyway - they just leap up, or from a tree, or our archway, or the shed roof, and I haven’t got anywhere to put it that isn’t equidistant from one of those things enough to stop it. They can jump an enormous range.

They’ve chewed through the feeding posts on two feeders - including guardman ‘heavy duty’ £20 ones. They’ve chewed the lid off a caged feeder. They’ve chewed up all my gladioli bulbs. There are holes in all the planters with delicate small plants in.

I’ve chased them with the hose (some days what feels like hundreds of times). Sometimes all 6 come at once and frankly they don’t give two shits about the hose any more I can get within a couple of feet of them. I swear they are sticking their furry middle finger up at me.

What works? I’ve seen baffles but they are huge money for what is basically a plastic bowl. Cheapest I’ve seen is about £15 which feels a lot. Or are there genuinely squirrel proof feeders which they can’t infiltrate? I don’t want to pay loads but I’m happy to have a couple of decent ones and cut down the choices.

Squirrel Buster feeders are your friend here. I have the type that you can adjust the weight tension to allow birds up to a certain weight but not the greedy wood pigeons and deffo not squirrels.
Alternatively an air gun and a good aim!

Can't help but 2/3 houses in the street have had the furry sods in their roofs, they cause so much damage do make sure they can't enter your home
Very much hated on this street!
My mum shoos them away

Another one who has tried squirrel buster feeders. We don’t have a lot of squirrels but the ones we do have can’t cope with the squirrel buster.

They are bold little blighters though, knocking on a window doesn’t bother them, nor does opening the back door and saying “I’m watching you you little bastard” . I have to actually step outside and walk towards them before they clear off.

Are they grey squirrels?

Bloody hate squirrels, you have my sympathy, we always chase them off. Rats with tails. Cause a lot of damage.

@OhGodNotThisAgain

Are they grey squirrels?

Oh yes.

I’m going to get a squirrel buster feeder on the logic that one pricey feeder will last longer and won’t need replacing anyway.

Next doors loft was a mess @FredaFox I’ve seen the carnage!

@Mykittensmittens the Squirrel Buster feeders have a lifetime guarantee - they are not cheap but they do seem to fox the little blighters!

(ours are red if that makes a difference?). Just a little

Airgun? Only half joking. I worked with a guy whose life's mission was to rid his large, wooded garden of them. Someone else put a rabbit proof fence round their veg plot. Except they fenced in a warren with it....

I feel your pain.
I also have a metal pole with a hook which I hang the bird feeder from, and the really simple why didn't I think of this earlier? fix was to put the pole in at an angle, so the feeder hangs some distance away from the pole. And, it works. Just make sure the distance is just a little bit bigger than the squirrels can stretch
Also worked to fool the dratted pigeons who had learnt to land on the top, take off abruptly which made the feeder bang against the pole, and then swoop down to clear up what had spilt on the ground.

My issue is all the bloody neighbours started feeding the buggers because they think they're cute and now there are more.

They are so destructive.

Yes to squirrel buster feeders. And actually the cheaper squirrel proof feeders are ok too as long as the feeder is hanging. If the squirrel can unhook it and get it to the ground and spend some quality time with it.... it will be chomped.

And, chilli. Mammals have a receptor for chilli but birds do not. So you can happily lace food and seedlings with chilli powder knowing that birds won't be harmed at all.

Arf at 'red... does that make a difference'. Yes, somewhat.

Arf at 'red... does that make a difference'. Yes, somewhat.

Well I'm sorry to be daft, we don't have greys here, and our red ones are well mannered and lovely .

You're not in the UK, rooster ?

Well I'm sorry to be daft, we don't have greys here, and our red ones are well mannered and lovely
That’s a major reason why they are endangered tbh.
The greys are a bit thuggish (and also eat a much wider range of food) so can outcompete the reds easily.
The reds are our ‘native’ squirrel, greys arent.
They were introduced from North America I believe.
In an area with reds, if greys move in, the reds tend to die out.

Thank you for explaining @TheDiddlyGang .

@TheSpottedZebra, No I'm from Scandinavia, I may be stupid, but I really didn't mean to offend.

Put up a long line eg washing line if that's a possibility. String 2 x 2 litre plastic bottles either side of the feeder. 1 bottle isn't enough- they soon work out how to jump over it. The bottles spinning unnerves them and they keep falling off.
However, eventually one of the little sods gauges the exact amount of thrust needed and succeeds, but it usually takes some time.

I've given up and got squirrel proof cage feeders. Pricey but, so far, working. They can get their little snouts in but can't reach the food. I'm definitely making savings on the food and am not now maintaining a very healthy, well fed colony of squirrels.

Ingenious little blighters.

@Giantrooster

Thank you for explaining *@TheDiddlyGang* .

@TheSpottedZebra, No I'm from Scandinavia, I may be stupid, but I really didn't mean to offend.

No one is saying you're stupid, but you surely must realise that this is a UK based website, and most posters are posting from a UK perspective. Hence when it is relevant and posters are NOT UK based, it's probably best to say.

Didn't Hugh F-W shoot and eat the little buggers and pigeons in River Cottage? Seem to remember the farmer didn't charge rent in return for him eating the local pigeon population.

Squirrel busters are so up ugly looking though.

Tried putting my bird table in the middle of my garden and the squirrels still shimmied up it. Also, the birds didn’t like it there as they liked to hop on and off nearby bushes first.

I was told to put twigs over pot plants to help detour squirrels.

No real advice but you have my sympathy. Grey squirrels are arseholes. They’re simply rats with good PR.

My tiny garden is currently overrun with sycamore seedlings thanks to the tiny grey territorists burying them all winter. My wfh desk overlooks it & they are absolutely fearless, even if I attempt to shoo them. They ate all our daffodil bulbs and dig up the roots of everything we plant. I looked up this week to find one of them burying a massive cracker biscuit larger than its head

Grey squirrels carry squirrel pox iirc which reds are severely affected by.

Quite a drastic solution but I highly recommend getting a terrier. Ours whiles away most of the day chasing the blighters!

You need a dog. Mines too old to chase squirrels now but the groundwork he put in for the first 10 years of his life is still keeping me squirrel free.

If you aren't sure about the squirrel buster, try this feeder: phairs.com/products/peckish-secret-garden-dining-station-for-wild-birds

It has sort of spiky bits on top (just leaf shaped really) that, combined with a plastic squirrel baffle on the pole, mean our long time squirrel nemesis has been defeated!

Ours used to jump onto the old feeder but now we have moved this almost to the middle of the lawn but close enough to the fence that the birds can still dart on and off from the trees. It has worked so well and we have more birds and less squirrels than we haven had in seven years of being here!