How to Protect Bird Feeders

When feeding your local birds through a bird feeder, you may often find you are feeding the entire neighborhood of animals as well, with squirrels and other small animals taking the majority of the food. To counteract this, you may need to do some rearranging and take other precautions to protect your bird feed from the squirrels and keep the food reserved for the birds.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Bird feeder pole
oil

Step 1

Purchase a curved bird feeder pole. These look like metal candy canes. With the loop at the top it makes it difficult for other animals (which don't have wings) to access the food

Step 2

Place the pole away from any tree or large fixture. This will make sure squirrels aren't able to jump from the tree to the bird feeder.

Step 3

Oil up the metal pole with ordinary cooking oil. This will insure the squirrels won't be able to make it up the pole (if somehow they can without it being slick).

Step 4

Feed the squirrels a different way. This is only if you do not mind the squirrels, you just don't want them to be taking the food away from the birds. You can do this by placing a small dish of bird seed on the ground in a different location. This will keep the squirrels fed and away from the bird feeder.

Step 5

Purchase a suction cup feeder if all else fails. This can be placed on the window of your home, which will most likely not be accessible to other animals.

Article Written By Greyson Ferguson

Greyson Ferguson is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design with a degree in film and television. He currently resides in Lansing, Michigan where he works on independent film projects and writes for numerous publications. Ferguson primarily focuses on computer and electronic articles. Greyson produces TheDailyUpbeat.com, focusing on only upbeat news stories with daily updates.

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