Everybody who appreciates observing backyard birds will probably realize just how valuable wild bird feeders tend to be for bringing birds into your garden. Of course when there is bird food there is bound to be squirrels; whether you like them or not. When you want success at feeding wild birds, you will need to have a look at a squirrel proof bird feeder , or two. Prior to going any further, it is worthwhile checking out what we know about squirrel habits.

Squirrels are agile, bold and persistent. They are rodents; which means that their teeth never stop growing and adults want up to two pounds of food per week. They are pretty good at scaling a large assortment of materials, among them brickwork. The more difficult the accessibility to food, the more they turn into super squirrels – really imaginative acrobats. They are rarely outwitted, yet they can be deterred and distracted.

Think about the most effective feeder styles and best location in your back garden – always considering that squirrels will be able to leap up to 10 feet across a gap, leap as high as five feet off the ground and are happy falling 11 feet from a height!

Bird feeders may either be hanging or pole-mounted. Choose to hang them from an isolated branch of a deciduous tree (less dense leaf-cover than pine trees) or you could consider suspending them from a cable between two trees (although this makes refilling quite challenging). Always suspend the feeder from a metal chain or wire and hook, or else the squirrels will bite through the cord to make the feeder drop to the ground.

A great squirrel guard is a squirrel baffle . Produced from either heavy plastic or metal, it makes an umbrella above both hanging and pole-mounted bird feeders. The squirrels just cannot grip and slide off them. Baffles could also be put about four feet above the ground below pole-mounted feeders – lubricating the pole with Vaseline can also be effective.

Caged bird feeders are a great choice because they allow smaller backyard birds access to the food, whilst excluding squirrels and larger birds as well.

You could go with more high tech squirrel proof bird feeders. They are triggered by weight. If a squirrel jumps on one, a spring system causes a metal shield to drop over the feeder or its perches give way. Another type of feeder, which is also very amusing to observe, has a battery-driven motor that rotates the squirrel (safely) off it.

Squirrels consume a broad assortment of foods, but an additional option to fend them off is to give the birds safflower seed, thistle seed (niger), and /or pure suet (without seed), for the reason that squirrels are just not particularly inclined to eat them.

However, you can look at this challenge from a totally different perspective and have one or more squirrel feeders – that comes with trapeze, tightrope and springboard. You can give squirrels their favorite foods in return for them staging a delightful circus spectacle for anyone watching. Thus while they are diverted, the birds can have a meal as well – everyone comes out on top.

Let’s face it, squirrels will always be a part of our backyard gardens, and when combined with proper setting up of bird feeder types, placement and bird food types, we can guarantee not only that your backyard birds get their due but also that we are kept amused by comic squirrel antics.