We decided to bring them a new bird feeder to put in their newly decorated garden. The kids picked out a nice tube bird feeder from gzbirdsupply.com. I suggested they pick a model with either a squirrel cage or squirrel baffle, as the squirrel population in Flagstaff is notorious for devouring all your bird seed and suet cakes.

As I said earlier, our friends have just recently remodeled their garden,  They included a new garden shed to store their supplies for working in the backyard. I had just recently purchased a wooden shed to accent and unused area of my garden. I recommended they do the same and I was looking forward to seeing the results.

So after a two hour drive and a 30 degree drop in temperature we were in Flagstaff. There was not much snow but that did not matter as neither of our kids had ever seen any snow. We took some sleds and did some sleigh riding in their backyard. This was plenty for the kids as they have no frame of reference. We are planing a trip east to the white mountains for some skiing later this year and I would guess that their standards will change after that. Our friends were very happy with the new bird feeder and we really enjoyed spending time in their new garden.

After a nice leisure lunch in town we were off for our drive back to Phoenix. It was a good trip and some good exposure to truly cold temperatures. The kind of temperatures my wife from Illinois and me from New York are both used to!

Well I had several conversations with people from around the country on this topic since posting this article. Now as you may or may not know, I live in Arizona. We have squirrels here but just not the quantity that people have in other parts of the country. I am originally from upstate New York so I am familiar with how many squirrels can live on a acre of land. I have lived in the desert southwest for twenty years so I guess I forgot.

I have since done some looking into what is involved with squirrel proofing your bird feeder.

So if left unprotected the squirrels will eat all your bird seed and you will be refilling your bird feeders daily. There are many options when squirrel proofing. First you can buy a bird feeder that is already “squirrel proof”. These squirrel proof bird feeders employ different strategies to keep the rodents out of your seeds. One of these feeders is a good selection if you don’t already have a bird feeders. If you already have a bird feeder that you are happy with but it does not have one of these features built in, then you can employ a squirrel baffle.

There are several different types of baffles. The idea behind these baffles are mostly the same. Squirrels are very acrobatic but if they can’t grab onto something they can’t climb. The baffles are all smooth and do not allow the squirrel to grasp the pool or chain that the bird feeders is attached. The idea is to create a barrier that will allow birds to fly past but the squirrels cannot climb past. You can look on youtube.com to find some very funny videos that show squirrels breaching these barriers. You can use these videos as a direction on how NOT to install the baffles.

I will have other articles on squirrel baffles in future posts, as I learn more about them. But for now, remember, the squirrels need to eat too.  Also they can be very entertaining to watch. My kids love to watch them run around the garden.

The same can be said for dogs, cats and other domesticated animals. People are appalled that in some countries people kill and eat dogs and cats. Where in this country pigs, cows and chickens are brutally killed by the millions for us to consume. Pigs are intelligent animals, at least as intelligent as dogs.

Ok, now to continue in this train of thought and to rejoin the topic of the web site. For a nature lover a squirrel proof bird feeder may sound cruel. Why do we go out of our way to feed bird but also go out of our way to NOT FEED the squirrels. There are a large variety of designs implemented to keep squirrels from eating food specifically placed for birds.

There are feeders that take into consideration that squirrels are much heaver then birds so when the squirrel steps on the perch to gain access to the seeds a door closes to deny access. The squirrel buster plus is one of these feeders.

Another design surrounds the bird feed with a cage that has small enough openings that the squirrel cannot get to the food but bird can easily poke their heads in to pick at the food. This type is generally less expensive because they have no moving parts like the weight activated designs.

Another popular design does not allow access to the seed perch other then flying. This is normally done by placing a dome or baffle over the feeder. This can be fun to watch because the squirrel gets close to the bird seed then slides off.  The squirrels can be pretty persistent when trying access the seeds.

Of course with any bird feeder you want to make sure the seeds are well ventilated so they stay fresh. The seeds should be kept dry and proper drainage of any water the would get into the seeds is VERY important.  If the seeds get wet and stay wet they will start to rot in a day and start to smell very bad.

So when you set out to keep the squirrels away from your bird seed try to remember to put some food out for the poor squirrels. This won’t keep them out of your bird seed but it will make you feel better as a nature lover.