I couldn’t cut the handle down since running it through the feeder really helps stabilize it in the wind. You can see that the branch it hangs from is pretty low in my followup video: My response: Thanks for asking such a great question, Bellva! If your tree is higher off the ground (out of a squirrel’s jumping range), running it all the way through the shaft might work really well! I love the way you think!įor my situation, I considered running the cable through the handle, but it needed to come out near the top so the feeder didn’t hang too low. Wondering if it is possible to cut the shaft at the other end and thread the cable through.” I noticed when you cut the bottom of the umbrella shaft that it was hollow. “An ingenious solution to squirrels eating bird food. On October 1st, 2020, Bellva dear asked on YouTube: Some YouTube comments bring up great questions, so I’m also posting them here. If you do, please make sure to leave a comment below. If you are also being outwitted by your squirrels, I highly recommend giving this project a try. Let your birds eat in peace without squirrels hogging their feeder!.Attach a PVC “T” fitting to tree to prevent the umbrella from becoming a sail in the wind.If the suet feeder cage is too small for umbrella handle, snip off a square or 2 of the wire grid.Cut off the umbrella handle (if needed, to insert it through the suet feeder cage).Paint the umbrella with 2 or 3 colors of spray paint in a camouflage pattern.Tape the edges of the slit to prevent fraying.Make a slit in fabric to run the hanging wire or rope through.The added bonus is that my squirrel deterrent device has held up extremely well in wind, rain and snow, and the birds are sheltered while they are eating! Apparently, they got so mad when they weren’t able to find a way around the umbrella that they tried to chew the edges off! I added some Gorilla tape to repair the edges and stop any fraying, and they’ve left it alone since. Now six months later, there has not been a single squirrel on the feeder! Not for a lack of trying on their part though. I reasoned that with a bit of paint, some strong tape and a couple of hours work, I might have a chance to win a round with the squirrels! Yes, the umbrella was really big, but it seemed like it would prevent the squirrels from doing a trapeze act to get to the feeder. A light bulb icon suddenly appeared over my head… $149 for an 18″ baffle? Not gonna happen, thank you.Ĭruising the aisles of hardware stores several times a week has become something of a hobby for me, (or a sickness depending on who you ask)! One day, I was walking through Lowes and saw they had golf umbrellas under $6. Great idea! That is, until I saw the prices for baffles that were only slightly larger than the one the squirrels were already laughing at. The concept for Version 3.0 was to simply get a bigger baffle. Then they figured how to just drop from the branch, bypass the brush altogether, swivel the baffle, and end up on the cage again.Īnother score for Team Squirrel! I seem to have underestimated these crafty creatures… It should be too spiky for them and too big to get past, right? It was…for a day or two. Surely I can outsmart a squirrel…įor Version 2.0 I added an 8″ metal chimney brush to the wire. It should be too thin and slippery to climb down, right? That seemed like a great method! But, they quickly learned to shimmy down the wire, swivel the baffle out of the way, and get onto the feeder cage. Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder Version 1.0 The feeder was hanging from a squirrel baffle secured by a super-thin wire rope.
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