On 12/31/2011 12:10 PM, Steve B wrote:
"Matt" wrote in message
...
On 12/29/2011 11:09 PM, Robert Green wrote:
"Home Guy" wrote in message
...

stuff snipped

And maybe buy a few 40-lb bags of black-oil or striped sunflower seeds
and throw some down every few days for the squirrels to eat - instead of
them eating the bark of your trees.
I probably wouldn't do that since my neighbor's multiple and well-stocked
bird feeders are what caused the explosion in the local squirrel
population.
With a good supply of food, they'll make a good supply of squirrel pups.
Rodent populations tend to expand very rapidly in the presence of a
copious
food source.

Maybe if you laced the feed with birth control hormones . . .

--
Bobby G.

I have a bird feeder on a stand, with a baffle that keeps the squirrels
from climbing up. This summer, the branches of the victim tree in
question started hanging down close the feeder so the squirrels could drop
down from the tree onto the feeder and get the sunflower seeds. They were
very brazen, and if I went out and shooed them away, they were back about
as fast as they could climb the tree and drop down again. They actually
tore the feeder apart trying to get at a few seeds that had fallen into
the cracks between the little boards of the (wooden) feeder.

I have seen lots of deterrents to squirrels. The best I saw was one that is
battery powered. When the squirrel climbs down the line, or jumps over to
the feeder, the cover drops down under the squirrels weight, and no seeds
can come out. Then a battery powered motor starts the whole thing spinning.
After about three revolutions, the squirrel is dizzy, and lets go. A guy
with time and tools could probably build one. Don't know how much they cost
new. Google spinning squirrel. About $50, I'd say. Allows the light birds
to feed.

Steve


I forgot to mention that I got on a ladder and cut the overhanging
branches, which solves the problem until they grow back down in a few years.