Bird Feeders Come and Go: A number of years ago, there were two bird feeders in the backyard. Birds did come and photos were taken. Squirrels also came and we managed to almost defeat...

Jack B Loc: Mount Pleasant, SC

A number of years ago, there were two bird feeders in the backyard. Birds did come and photos were taken. Squirrels also came and we managed to almost defeat them. As seeds accumulated on the ground, mice and rats also came to feast. One evening while we were sitting on the back porch, a mouse came to eat on the seeds. We were watching the mouse and discussing putting out a trap when a snake arrived to feast on the mouse. Immediately my wife screamed "Those bird feeders WILL go!" They went! All we have now for the birds (and squirrels) is a nice bird bath.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Bird feeders can be entertaining - up to a point. We no longer have bird feeders, either.

Lunch

Climbing over the fence
Climbing over the fence...

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

That's a funny story. Like you and Jerry had, I still have a feeder with a baffle on a pole. Although birds such as Chickadees switch from seed to insects, I keep it filled through the summer and it almost always has the visitors you mention. In just the past few years, black bears have been sighted in my town so some day soon when I wake up and see a smashed feeder at the end of a pole bent down to the ground, it'll finally go.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Birds are sloppy eaters. Ours certainly attract the squirrels - which are entertaining - and sometimes a raccoon or deer {which also like the ivy on our hillside}, but we have never had any evidence of rats or mice. Bears don’t seem to live in our area.

The more my wife looks out the back window, the more she thinks of birdseed for the shopping list.

lsaguy Loc: Udall, KS, USA

I mounted dog crates to the chain link fence around our chicken yard to foil the feral cats and let the birds have a bit of a rest when coming to feed. We've since moved the last feral cat to the house so the birds have no competition from anyone anymore. All the locals will gladly go through the bars to get to the food on the basepan.

Rick

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

I've had problems with raccoons and bears so, a few years ago, I purchased a squirrel, raccoon and bear "proof" feeder.

It's two pieces. One pole piece is buried in the ground about 4ft. The other pole piece sets down inside of the buried piece and has a cabling system to allow you to raise and lower the feeders. The top is just a + with pulleys and cables. Overall, the feeder contraption is about 12ft high.

To date, the raccoons climbed up the pole. The squirrels climbed up the pole. The bears tried to climb up, failed but were able to climb up just enough to latch onto one feeder and pull them all down!

I put a baffle on the pole about 5ft up and that has eliminated all climbing creatures from attacking my feeders ever since.

I feed deer, turkeys, and all sorts of birds year-round. The turkeys eat ticks so, it matters not that I have to walk cautiously in certain areas of the yard.

pdsdville Loc: Midlothian, Tx

Sitting on a deck behind a friends house in western North Carolina when a neighbor of his yelled that a bear was attacking his bird feeders in the front yard. As we blasted through the house I grabbed my camera and headed out the front door with him. No bear, he was too fast. Raced up the hill looking for him and found tracks leading over a berm by the road. Then it hit us, what would we do if we found the bear? Reversed course grabbed the destroyed bird feeders and headed back to the house as fast as we could. What were we thinking?

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

BooIsMyCat wrote:

I've had problems with raccoons and bears so, a fe... (show quote)

The "squirrel proof" feeder we have is spring loaded. It hangs on a tree and has an outer cage, which sags under the weight of a squirrel.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-642157-1.html

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

pdsdville wrote:

Sitting on a deck behind a friends house in wester... (show quote)

LOL!

Black Bears will "usually" run but, there's always that ONE time when they don't. And, if the bear had cubs...

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

rehess wrote:

The "squirrel proof" feeder we have is spring loaded. It hangs on a tree and has an outer cage, which sags under the weight of a squirrel.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-642157-1.html

Yeah, I've used those before. I found them easy to get jammed so I switched. I have tried many different types of feeders over the years.

With my new "squirrel-proof" contraption, I just put sunflower seed in a platform feeder.

https://smile.amazon.com/Woodlink-PLAT2-Platform-Bird-Feeder/dp/B003ZUHL2W/ref=sr_1_2?crid=7HD7DZBF0PJB&dchild=1&keywords=bird+feeders+for+outside&qid=1587997892&sprefix=bird+feeder%2Caps%2C252&sr=8-2

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

BooIsMyCat wrote:

Yeah, I've used those before. I found them easy to get jammed so I switched. I have tried many different types of feeders over the years.

With my new "squirrel-proof" contraption, I just put sunflower seed in a platform feeder.

https://smile.amazon.com/Woodlink-PLAT2-Platform-Bird-Feeder/dp/B003ZUHL2W/ref=sr_1_2?crid=7HD7DZBF0PJB&dchild=1&keywords=bird+feeders+for+outside&qid=1587997892&sprefix=bird+feeder%2Caps%2C252&sr=8-2

We've had the plastic age from exposure to UV, but never had one jam {knock on wood}.

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

rehess wrote:

We've had the plastic age from exposure to UV, but never had one jam {knock on wood}.

Yep, that too.

I get gross beaks, cardinals, some orioles, chickadees, nuthatches, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, a pair of pileated woodpeckers, juncos, crows and an occasional eagle although the eagle can only look but doesn't know how to attack a feeder. Some hawks too but, they fly through so fast trying to catch some prey that I hardly ever get the chance to identify them.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

BooIsMyCat wrote:

Yep, that too.

I get gross beaks, cardinals, some orioles, chickadees, nuthatches, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, a pair of pileated woodpeckers, juncos, crows and an occasional eagle although the eagle can only look but doesn't know how to attack a feeder. Some hawks too but, they fly through so fast trying to catch some prey that I hardly ever get the chance to identify them.

We get mostly small birds - the 'larger' birds either eat off the ground or {like the Blue Jays} compete with squirrels for peanuts at the Squirrel Feeder, although the Red-Bellied Woodpecker has found a way to comfortably eat out of the Bird Feeder.

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

rehess wrote:

We get mostly small birds - the 'larger' birds either eat off the ground or {like the Blue Jays} compete with squirrels for peanuts at the Squirrel Feeder, although the Red-Bellied Woodpecker has found a way to comfortably eat out of the Bird Feeder.

Love to photograph all of them.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

BooIsMyCat wrote:

Love to photograph all of them.

Yeah we'll have to find some other way to spent our time at home now - but the birds are better off finding their own food now that nature is providing here again.