Comments on How to Keep Squirrels off a Bird Feeder

The Shepard's hook alone does not keep squirrels off. They climb it as easily as they climb trees. I know, I have a Shepard's hook. I tried putting a baffle on it - that didn't work. I used Crisco shortening - ever see a squirrel slide down a pole? They could make great fireman with their pole sliding techniques.

I have tried to out smart the squirrels, and I think I might have found an answer. What I did was, I took aluminum pie plates and nailed them to my tree (where I have a bird feeder and also where I have a suet feeder). Just make sure where you nail them is where the squirrel jumps to get on your feeder.

Hang a child's toy slinky, the metal kind, around the pole of your bird feeder. The squirrels can't climb up it.

I put cayenne pepper or chili powder in with the food the birds eat. Rodents can't stand the taste of pepper.

I've tried everything to divert squirrels from ordinary as well as squirrel-proof feeders. They always find a way in. When my daughter kept pet rats, I watched the remarkable intelligence of these large rodents. If they can be trained, so can squirrels. At last I devised a nearly perfect solution. Stick a dried bamboo pole, with a diameter of slightly more than a CD, into a thorny cactus plant. At intervals on the pole, put CDs, shiny side up. Stick several CDs into the cactus plant, just for good measure. Hang your feeder at the top of the bamboo with a CD on top of it. These healthy, fat Northern California brown squirrels simply cannot figure out how to negotiate CDs, plus if they try and fall, they will not like falling onto a cactus plant. It takes some time for the greedy ones to learn, but they do. They will still hang around to catch the spilled sunflower seeds on the ground.

My partner had a problem with squirrels in his attic. I advised him to take the litter from his son's weasel and place it there. They never returned!

We've noted that squirrels are very territorial. Though several squirrels try to feed in our courtyard, only one does so regularly. He drives the rest off. We decided that he deserved to eat and set up a special basket on the fence in his path. We found he liked sunflower seed and would eat from there instead of the bird feeders. Similarly, we set up a basket for the jays with peanuts. Seven or eight different jays use it. They actually take turns in some sort of pecking order. It's definitely not first come first serve, but it is very orderly.

I used to have a shepard's hook in my yard. The squirrels mastered climbing up it. I decided to put petroleum jelly on the pole. The squirrels would jump up, and slide right down. That provided some good entertainment.

We bought this thing called a ''Shepard's Hook.'' It's basically a long, thin white pole with two hooks on the end. Squirrels have a hard time reaching the birdhouse.

Use metal hanging posts about 5-6 feet tall and put Vaseline on the rods. The post needs to be located away from a place squirrels can use as a jumping point, such as trees or fences. The Vaseline makes it impossible for them to climb the metal rods. Soon they will quit trying.

1) Use empty milk jugs on the pole. If the feeder is on the ground or when hanging a feeder by a string, place them above the feeder. 2) Drill a hole in an old cookie sheet and place it over the top of the feeder. Squirrels slide off.