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writes:
I was not successful with using a 4 inches PVC pipe as a feeder. Flying
squirrels have jumped on it and chewed up the PVC to enlarge the feeding
slots. Today I made a prototype using a 4 inches metal cylinder instead
of
PVC with only narrow sluts at the bottom for the birds to feed. I watched
the bird using the feeder this afternoon and its working good. Tomorrow
I'll how the squirrels tackle the new metal cylinder. If it works well
I'll
use stainless steel cylinder in making the next feeder.

You may have misunderstood. The pipe is *not* the feeder, it is the "post"
upon which the feeder sets. It must be positioned far enough from trees
and bushes for the squirrels not to be able to jump to it. The squirrels
in my yard are very adept at jumping from anything to anything else, tree
to tree, bush to roof, etc. In fact, last year, I found one sitting on
the feeder. The bushy-tailed rat had used a sunflower for his jump-off
point (I watched until I saw him so I could fix however he did it).
Another had used a tomato cage. This is why I mentioned it must be far
enough away from other objects to not allow them to jump to it. Six feet
from the ground is too high for them to jump straight up, but anything,
literally anything (even a bucket!) is enough to give them the extra
height to jump far enough to get their moldy paws on the edge. I chose 6
feet rather than 8 feet so I didn't have to use a step ladder to add feed
it. If that had not been high enough, I would have gone to 8 feet.

Even our squirrels here can easily jump a 10-foot span; I see them do it
all the time. The branches between my Evergreen Magnolia and apricot tree
were more than 10 feet apart and they easily jumped from one to the other.
It was actually quite remarkable that they could go to the end of a
branch and get onto another so small and so far away; they did take a
running start for the jump. One was too slow one day and didn't have
enough to make it and scrambled quite interestingly to get a foothold from
his jumping point to stay there; he actually managed to stay clinging to
the tree branch until he was able to right himself.

Your metal feeder may keep them from destroying the feeder, but they will
still eat from it. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't also chew it up
over a few weeks. With regard to climbing metal, I've been told they can
though I cannot swear to it even though I've seen them go up galvanized
posts.

I put a beautiful cedar birdhouse in the magnolia tree in the hopes that
the Northern Flicker would nest there, but they chased it out. Then the
red-winged blackbirds were going to nest there and had actually started
building but they chased them out as well. The squirrels chewed the house
up horribly; another reason I detest them so much. If the flicker had
nested there, I would have built more. Again, there was no food smell
about the house so no reason for the squirrels to chew it up. One day, I
found a baby sparrow hanging out of the opening for their house; though I
don't absolutely know it was a squirrel, I'm sure it was because of other
things I've seen them do.

On the positive side, one day I observed a scrub jay watching a squirrel.
After observing for half an hour, it was apparent that the jay was waiting
for the squirrel to bury peanuts and then he'd go get them when the
squirrel left. I love those scrub jays; they also eat wasp larvae so I've
not had a wasp problem.

Along those lines, I'll spend some time in the garage making mason bee
nests. It's a good use for the scrap 2x4s from other projects. Easy and
useful projects are always fun, especially when they are so quickly
finished.

Also, I hope that I can have the patience to build a gazebo feeder like
the one I have; it's really nice, and the birds love it. Lots and lots of
angle cuts on it, dozens, and I'm an impatient worker when it's something
that is going to set out in the weather. The friend who suggested the
toilet flange to mount it on the pipe had a really great idea!

Glenna