I love watching the birds in our yard. Jays, finches,
woodpeckers, robins, starlings, flickers, and more. When we first moved in I set up a bird feeder
on our upper deck. Then I added another. And another. I can see the birds from
every east-facing window. We now have four different feeders and birds of every
type and color visit us daily.
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| Birds on tube feeder |
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| Love this fluffed up little guy! |
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| Bird waiting patiently for his food |
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| Flicker at suet feeder |
There was only one problem. The birds weren’t the only ones
who liked the feeders. So did the squirrels. And even though our deck is two
stories up from the yard, the squirrels didn’t seem to mind. They leaped from
trees, jumped from the roof, and treated the feeders like their personal Old
Country Buffet.
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| This squirrel is quite the contortionist |
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| He's just waiting for us to go away so he can eat in peace |
I tried all sorts of things to get the squirrels to leave
the feeders alone. Spicy hot chili pepper cakes in the suet feeder. Safflower
seeds in another and thistle seed in the third. But those darn squirrels were
persistent.
I made a trip to the bird store. Bags of peanuts and
corn-on-the-cob were stacked along one wall. If you can’t lick ‘em, join ‘em. I bought a bungee
squirrel feeder and hung it over the edge of the deck. It dangled a few feet
off the ground. The first visitors were stellar jays. I heard the bells jingle
and the wire snap and I peeked over the edge. I wasn’t sure whether to shoo
them away or hope the squirrels were observing and taking notes.
It took another day or two, but the squirrels finally
figured it out. Every morning the jingle of the bells tells me the squirrels
are busy swinging like acrobats on a high wire. I can’t help but laugh as they
bounce up and down while pulling off kernels of corn.
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| Squirrel on bungee feeder |
And the best part? They haven’t visited the feeders on the
deck since.
