Lens Cap Loc: The Cold North Coast

Get a shepherds hook and hang your bird feeder, then put a cattle (electric Fence) fence closely around the pole....

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Yes, that's exactly the method that worked for me. The "cone" in my case was a cheap 13" SS mixing bowl I cut the rim off.
The pole hole must be large enough so the bowl will tilt all the way when they try to spring off it, and there can't be anything within 10 feet. They can jump around 10 feet laterally so there's that.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I have some kind of hawk, but so far I haven't seen him catch any squirrels. I've seen him chase birds into the trees though.
I feed the Bluejays and Squirrels peanuts so the squirrels are fat and sassy.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

This is the best and easiest advice. Birds simply are not bothered by pepper (even Ghost pepper), olfactory receptors are miniscule, they don't get the same effect that we do.. Rodents are very much bothered by it, and many other critters who might eat the seed. I shoot pepper powder into my crawlspace/shed and other places where critters/rodents esp. might go. It is an amazing deterrent, and it does not affect me unless I were to stick my nose in it (highly unlikely). It does not take much, and it does "wear out", wash away, so you have to do it every so often. Squirrels don't have great memory, so they will check it from time to time, esp. the youngsters.

RoswellAlien

You simply can not stop a determined squirrel, short of a .22 or .410. I just get used to them and enjoy the fun. “Cheeky Twit” is our current nemesis.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

I've tried several different ways to keep squirrels way from the bird feeder. They are clever, great acrobats, climbers and jumpers. But I finally beat them. I hung a smooth wire clothesline between two trees and suspended the bird feeder under a squirrel shield, with the bottom of the feeder 6 feet above the ground in the open area near the center of the wire. I can reach the feeder to unhook it for filling, but the squirrels cannot jump above 5 feet high, are unable to reach the feeder by jumping from tree branches, and have not been able to walk the metal clothesline to get to the feeder. Defeated, they don't even come around anymore.

ChuckKarp

[quote=olemikey]This is the best and easiest advice.
You know I have tried that, bought the pepper treated seed, no effect. So I added bulk McCormick Ground Cayenne Red pepper. No effect. I have squirrels deer and bear at my feeders and the hot pepper did nothing.
I saw some "Extra Hot" cheeto style treats, I could not eat one. they were terrible. The bear and deer eat them like candy.
So I tried putting the feeders up higher. The deer go higher and the bear just tears the feeder down.
Now we just enjoy seeing the deer and bear and put out some treats for them. I build the feeders to make it as difficult as possible for the squirrels and coons but when one learns how to get to the feed the thing that works best is a .22 pellet.
I give up on the grapes too. The Piliated woodpeckers like them so much I haven't had to pick a grape for years now.

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

Totally AWESOME! I think it is wrong to feed wildlife/birds...BUT I would get that for the ENTERTAINMENT Value!! ...Whooohoo!!

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

[quote=ChuckKarp]

What can I say other than it works well here, for my uses. Does that mean that "Bear Spray" deterrent does not work on bears? It is pepper oil. I know it does not work like insect repellent, and may attract them if done that way. We fill our bird feeders almost daily during "snow bird" season here in Fla. so perhaps the fresh pepper that goes with that is more effective??? Anyway, it keeps the rats and mice out of my shed and hot water heater compartment, treated monthly.

I did find that the "Pet Cones" for cats and dogs, or a cone style blocker (wider than the feeder itself) on the cable above the feeders eliminated their ability to slide down and grab hold of the feeders. However if they can jump to it from any other angle, and catch a hold on some part of the feeder, they will succeed. Any feeders on poles were only completely successful against varments when greased near the bottom of the feeder, top of the pole. I have several feeders (tube style) in a tree by the kitchen window, they are on cable from a branch with no other close by jumping off point.....these just have a plastic cone above the feeder, wider than the feeder, and when they try to drop down to the feeder they are simply to far from it to grab a hold. They do get pepper dust in the refills.....so literally no issues with theives! We have bears and deer (50 acre wood behind me, attached to 11,000 acre Wildlife Management Area) but they don't mess with our feeders, must be our killer 4lb. chihuahua that scares them...

As always with any of this - YMMV. Cheers and enjoy the day (it is a beauty here today!!).

tcthome Loc: NJ

I use a plant holder from lowes & a anti squirrel attachment from Tractor Supply. Before the squirrel sheild thingy I had no luck. I also picked up a small tube of some kind of anti-ant grease (just 1" coat) for the pole I put below the shield after seeing ants on it when I tried a feed with fruit in it.

Budgiehawk

That sounds like it would be great for us. We have a disused clothes line that should be perfect.

OldJeff

A friend of mine took a large aluminum bowl, drilled a hole in it and hung it upside down on a cord above the feeder. Squirrels would fall off the bowl.

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

I have several feeders hanging from the railing of my deck. I have wrought iron poles clamped to the rail that sit at a 45' angle away from the deck. Then I have clear plexi domes that are about 16" in diameter that are hung from the poles and the bird feeders hung below them. I've had them for years and the squirrels can't defeat them. They young squirrels offer a lot of laughs trying to get by them every year, but they eventually give up. The domes rock when when the squirrels try to get on them and the squirrels either scurry back the way they came or fall to the ground. Never had a squirrel get by one. Best price I've found for them was at Lowes.

RainierView Loc: Eatonville, WA

That would not even slow down a squirrel. Many years ago, someone left 4 feral kittens on our property. We live trapped them, and had them fixed. We've kept them fed, so they stay here living under our shop. Can't get near them, but no more squirrels.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

We also had 4 feral cats living on my deck in a heated, insulated cat house I built for them. First year of life the fed themselves on wildlife, mostly mice, chipmunks, moles and an occasional bird. The squirrels weren't even afraid of them.

Once, I watched as one of the cats was laying on a deck rail and a squirrel actually jumped right over top of the cat. Also watched a robin in the yard get surrounded by 3 cats and when one would attack, he casually flew 5' in the air and landed 15' on the other side of the cat. This went on for about 10 minutes and the cats gave up, and I never saw them hunt robins again. I kept the cats well fed though, but they would still grab an occasional mouse or mole.

Attached is a pic of my squirrel baffle scheme the squirrels defeated by running up the pole and springing off the bowl and grabbing onto a feeder. I raised the pole a bit and put a larger hole in the bowl to stop them. The deer never harmed the feeders and would stand on hind legs and try to lick the seeds out of the feeder. They quit trying that after a while. We have smart squirrels and dumb deer.

Also a pic of a fearless squirrel basically laughing at a great cat hunter. No squirrel was harmed in the filming of this scene....

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