Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

I think I’ve made it pretty clear in the past, that squirrels are not my favorite animal. They are indeed pesky, as I have seen and heard them labeled many times, and additionally, they are greedy hogs as well in my opinion. They climb up onto my feeders, sitting right square in the middle of my one particular feeder that is a plate, and gobble that food down until it’s all but gone; like they own the joint.

We’ve tried doing several things to deter them, popping them (at them is more accurate) with BB guns, a couple of shots with a pellet gun from my husband who is a better shot than me, and I’m sure my surrounding neighbor’s most favorite method, is me, running out onto my porch, (sometimes still in my nightclothes) waving my arms, clapping my hands, and hollering like a wild woman, trying to shoo them off my feeders!

Well a week or so ago, I decided enough was enough! I got on the internet and started looking for feeders that advertised to keep the squirrels out. I roamed and roamed, seeing all the ones on there, that I had already seen and heard were not very effective. Then lo and behold – there it was! The King Daddy Dog of feeders! It was called Wild Bill’s 8 Station Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder! It is wired to deliver a small shock for anything “heavy” that lands on the plate below the feed stations. The instructions assured me that no bird landing on it – other than maybe a fat dove – which by the way eat too much of my feed as well – should get shocked.

Oh, but I am not done. THEN – I ordered a gizmo that looks like an old timey slinky. The point is to put it on your shepherds hook that is holding your feeder or plate, and there is no way a squirrel can shimmy up the hook. The slinky keeps bouncing him back off!

Now – all the ordering is done but I couldn’t just sit and wait for all that to deliver, I still needed to take some kind of action to stop it until my items came in. so I got the bright idea to grease down my shepherd’s hook! I took some olive oil and went out side and sopped that hook down with the oil.

My items have all since come in and been put-up and activated – however – I have been at work all week so I don’t know how it’s been going except that I have a lot more feed still in my feeders each day. BUT – I do know how that greasy hook worked and if you want a sure-fire, quick way to stop the squirrel action – DO IT! I laughed so hard watching those squirrels trying to get a grip on that hook and just slide right back down!

I’ll be home this weekend and able to watch how Wild Bill and the slinky are working. One way or another – my birds will no longer be terrified to eat at their stations in my yard – I’m making sure of it!