Squirrels, I've Got Your Number

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Before you know it, the snow will swirl and icicles will replace popsicles. ( Icicles are refreshing, at least to me. Providing they did not rinse the gutter first.)

Most homeowners that want to sustain the bird population during the hard months of winter, have met the challenge of out smarting the squirrels. Those critters have been given by the Lord the instinct to "squirrel away" their sustenance during the time of plenty to kick back during the harsh times.

Not the squirrels around my house. They are like the never ending sucklings that suck on the government sow day after day, year after year.

My squirrels have become accustomed to the handouts meant for the birds, which do not sow or reap, or gather into barns.

So, how do you wean those feisty little buggers? You can't, unless you outsmart them. Look at this bird feeder:

It may be ugly as sin, but it has them scratching their head. The feeder is a piece of eight inch PVC about a foot tall. The depth for seeds on top is about three inches. At first, when the feed bowl was only four inches tall, I had a pole elevate the contraption high enough so the culprits in question could not jump to the feed. Well, they simply climbed the pole and sat on top and feasted.

I'll fix them I said! I'll grease the pole. I smeared Vaseline all up and down. Great! It worked! You should have seen those feisty things climb four and five feet up then slowly slide back down. Carol and I laughed our heads off.

Soon the Vaseline wore off, and again they sprawled out on top laughing at us.

That is when I added a two foot long, two inch thick, PVC pipe just under the feed bowl. That worked. They could not put their cute little paws around that pipe to climb up. Carol said, "This is nonsense. We have this beautiful view of the Peaks of Otter and you place this god-awful rigging there smack dab in the middle of it." It was the only spot on the deck where the bandits couldn't get to the top of the feeder from a tree or the roof.

Plan 4. Make the vertical distance of the large PVC sleeve tall enough so even the patriarch of the clan can not grasp the top of the bowl, while holding on to the thin pole with his hind paws, to pull himself up.

Carol can live with that. A compromise! AND IT WORKS. The piglets didn't like it. They now have to fend for themselves when the gettin' is good.