Wildlife On The Hill Playlist

I’ve been posting on my Facebook page allot so here’s some video’s to catch you up!

To see my photography postings check out my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Listen2Thea-Wildlife-Photography-More-236253616466167/

As always, enjoy your local wildlife and have a great day!   🙂

Squirrels Your Friendly Foe

I am an animal lover but squirrels push me to my limits!

I will say they are very cleaver little creatures. Over the years I have lost a ton of birdseed to squirrels so I’ve purchased feeders specifically for squirrels and squirrel proof bird feeders like the Yankee Flipper. The squirrel proof bird feeders are quite expensive but after seeing you-tube videos of the Yankee Flipper in action I just had to get one.

Check out this video so you see it in action and then we’ll continue:

Now who wouldn’t want to see swinging flying squirrels! Lol!

I’ve owned the Yankee Flipper for 4 or 5 years now and the quality of the feeder is EXCELLENT. I’ve had few feeders that have held up as well as this one, but in all this time I’ve only seen one squirrel go swinging. 😦 

Part of what makes this feeder challenging is that you must have it hanging at the right angle so that the squirrel can’t hang onto the pole with its feet and reach over with its front paws and grab some seed.   (I think they now sell a specific pole to hang it on)  I’ve even had a squirrel figure out that if he laid across the perch dispersing his weight evenly it wouldn’t spin!

I have mine currently on a double shepherds hook–set into the ground on an angle and using the opposite side the feeder is on to tie it to the top of a fence with some string. The feeder when filled is quite heavy so if I didn’t tie it to the fence the weight of the feeder would pull the entire shepherds hook down. So far this has worked well, they’ve tried to figure out a way to get on the feeder and haven’t been successful.

Don’t think for a second that this has deterred them in any way though! They’ve discovered all they have to do is launch themselves at it and hit it and seed will fall to the ground. Perhaps my order was messed up and I received a squirrel pinata feeder instead??

I don’t mind them eating what has fallen to the ground but if they can get at your feeder they will sit there and empty it all out onto to ground so it’s easy pickens for next time.

To try to keep the squirrels happy I put up an automatic corn feeder up on the hill so they are away from the house and there is always food for them to scavenge for. This has worked out fairly well, the squirrels have their territory and a lot of bigger birds enjoy the corn as well.

I have black oil sunflower seeds in 2 squirrel proof feeders and 2 open tray feeders which I think the birds really prefer.  I have the open tray feeders on a multiple hanger Sheppard’s hook also with a peanuts in the shell feeder and a suet feeder.

I really enjoy the peanut feeder and watching the birds crack open the peanut shell & pull out their reward! I’ve seen it in both red and black and I would suggest red as that will also attract hummingbirds(not to eat the nuts but anything red attracts them to your yard).
Here’s a link to the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/Songbird-Essentials-Whole-Peanut-Wreath/dp/B004EBWKUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1304351223&sr=1-1

It’s advertised as a squirrel feeder as well and yes if they have access to it they will eat from it and clean you dry within an hour!   I keep these feeders closer to the house and scold the squirrels when they come close. One of my miniature Dachshunds is very quick to fiercely bark at them too and spend her time on alert watching for them out the window.

I mostly have big gray squirrels and think it’s funny when they’re watching me to see if I’m watching them and try their best to sneak up to the peanut or open feeders without me noticing. I also have a little red squirrel which I find very amusing as he dashes around my yard bounding here and there.  I nicknamed him Rikki-Tikki-Tavi as he reminds me of how I always imagined  the mongoose from that childhood story behaved.

I also love my little chipmunks as they remind me of my grandmother, who my mother says I got my love for animals from.  She had a pair aptly named Chip & Dale that would eat right out of her hand! Even though they are small they sure can shove allot in those cheeks and never tire from making trips to their homes and back to the feeders for more.

At our old house where we only had a small strip of grass I would fill a basket with seed and was able to capture these funny photos.

I can’t tell you if the 2nd squirrel threw a punch or what, my camera wasn’t fast enough to capture it!

So, do you have a love hate relationship with your squirrels?