We have bird feeders out around the house, partially for our entertainment but also for the cats. The suet feeders get the attention of "larger" birds and the cats while the hummingbird feeders attract hummingbirds and the people. In the past, we have had problems with squirrels who seem to think the feeders are for them. After a few years of battle, the squirrels have largely given up. A "witch's hat" protects the suet feeder, an anti-squirrel cage protected another feeder, and we have switched to shuttered anti-squirrel feeders for the seed feeders. The squirrel-cage approach was effective on keeping out the common gray squirrels but it also blocked the medium and larger birds; the cage did not block the native red squirrels (smaller than their gray cousins) and it seemed to confuse a lot of birds who clung to the outside, unable to solve the riddle of entry. In the end, we abandoned the cage in favor of shuttered feeders.
the shuttered feeders have an internal spring. For light creatures like the birds, the weight is not enough to counter the spring, but when a squirrel gets on the feeder, their weight squashes the spring and that closes the shutters so that food is no longer accessible. It takes a couple days of failed attempts, but the squirrels eventually give up. The area under the feeder is kept clean because we buy the shelled seed. there is some spillage onto the ground, but birds (and the odd squirrel) patrol the ground under the feeder and keep the area clean. Occasionally a neighbor will warn that feeding birds attracts rats, but there is no evidence of this.
the suet feeder one time attracted a rather large critter. A bear entered our suburban backyard and trashed the suet feeder in a successful attempt to eat the suet within. We never did find the suet feeder. I went out the next day and discovered a hole in the cedar fence. I patched the hole with some scrap wood and we have since replaced the fence, so I expect our ursine friends will take the easy route and search for easy pickings among the neighborhood rather than out backyard. Any neighbor concerned enough can put up their own fence.
To counter the squirrels and the bear, we have switched to hot-pepper suet. It turns out that birds cannot taste capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers, but the mammals can. A mouthful of hot-pepper suet is nothing to a bird, but it will be long remembered by a mammal.
In an unusual turn, the nectar in the hummingbird feeders froze yesterday. A winter storm had brought 20-something-degree temperatures to the area and remained overnight, so be brought in the feeders overnight to thaw them. I redeployed them this morning and the hummers have been battling over the feeders all day. An "alpha" hummer seems to own the feeder and they chase off interlopers all day, feeding occasionally. It is supposed to get down to 24F tonight, so we will bring them in again to redeploy tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment