Keeping the Squirrels Out of the Bird Feeders

The pandemic has left me with a lot of time on my hands at home. I have a 4 year-old, I didn't say free time. One thing we love in the country is our birds. We don't get many visitors here but they join us outdoors right where we eat. We watch them while we eat no more than 10 feet away from us. They are well fed. I feed the Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Chickadee's year round. I also attract a lot of hungry squirrels.

In my tree, I used heavy fishing line to hold up the feeders except one. O put it an the bottom of a branch but the squirrels have found a way to get in that one. Then, they found a way to slide down the tight rope to the other feeders. It's right outside my laundry window so normally, they jump off as I open the window. One didn't and I chucked a water bottle at at. Not only did I hit it in the feeder, as the squirrel jumped down to the ground, the bottle ricochet off the feeder, again hitting the squirrel on the ground. 2 for one. I celebrated and told my wife "THIS IS THE HIGHLIGHT THAT WILL PLAY WHEN I ARRIVE IN HEAVEN! Or Hell."

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Then, I posted my story on Facebook and got some great responses to how to keep the squirrels out of the feeder without the blood spilling.

I love my squirrels but hate them in my bird feeders. So, I have started chucking water bottles at them. Hit one yesterday!🎈Pretty sure these highlights will be played when I arrive in Heaven or Hell.👹
Posted by Joey Pants on Sunday, February 28, 2021

My friend Dawn said:

You can’t win. I once threw walnuts at them. In return, they started eating my hostas. Just put out a tasty distraction from a separate location, and wave the white flag.

My friend Russel had a great suggestion:

You need a squirrel baffle. There’s lots of different one. I made my own from some tin.

Never heard of the squirrel Baffle before. A few other suggestions:

Put Vaseline on the bird feeder pole... watch squirrels do tricks. Works every time.

Bev had another great suggestion:

I have a squirrel munch box I fill with sunflower seeds or peanuts. I also put seed down for the ground feeders... that includes the squirrels! They usually leave the other bird feeders alone. Now if I can keep the deer from destroying them!

Honey goes medieval: Build a maze then put a catapult at the end.

How do you keep the squirrels out of your feeders? Without killing them.