["The lone black squirrel ate up Plan A"]
[“Sure, I regret the loss of seeds and manly pride (what’s left of it, anyway), but the lone raider at least quashed my dreams before they got too big for my head.” G. Harrison, PT 4]
When I caught a lone black squirrel eating seeds in my bird feeder, I half expected it.
Earlier on the fateful day I’d imagined myself as a squirrel and thought of a way to thwart the green metal barrier attached to my feeder pole. And I felt, deep in my heart and feeble brain, if I could do it, a squirrel could do it. And it did. Rather quickly too, I might add.
So, on to Plan B.
["A larger, very expensive feeder guard.Is it worth it?"]
I took the feeder back into my workshop, removed the feeder from atop the pole, removed four small pieces of wood holding the green lamp shade in place, slipped off the metal shade, and turned my attention to an antique lamp frame with a metal shade attached, one that was significantly larger than the green one.
Within minutes I had the larger shade in my hand. It felt heavy, durable, ancient (likely it had thwarted many a devious plot by some one or some thing), and very expensive.
The 40-pound frame and shade, with original thick copper wiring still attached, had cost me $80 at an antiques dealer. And I was just going to use the one part of it, the rare fluted shade. What I held in my hand was likely going to become the most expensive squirrel guard in Canada., and I didn’t care. I just cared about beating the squirrels, one black one in particular.
I slipped the shade onto the pole, spent 15 minutes making four wood blocks to hold it in place, reattached the bird feeder and carried the new and improved stand outside.
I whistled a marching song as I stood the stand triumphantly upon my deck, filled the feeder with fresh seed and walked confidently into the house.
["Stop in the name of the law!": photos by G.Harrison]
A week has gone by. Not one squirrel has reached the feeder. I think I’ve won the game this time.
I say, three cheers!
***
Could this be the end of the squirrel saga? Is man cleverer than the squirrel?
Please click here to read PT 4 A squirrel-proof feeder? We’ll see
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2 comments:
You may have a winner there, Gord, but squirrels are a cagey species that like to bide their time.
Reminds of a friend of mine who tried to go high-tech with his squirrel-proof feeder. His started with a similar design to yours, then added some shock value.
The short version: he wrapped the pole all candycane-like with 2 runs of wire hooked up to the flash circuitry from an old Insta-maic camera. The idea was that a squirrel climbing the pole would close the circuit when they touched the wires, and this would deliver a very small shock to the critter - more of a tingle than anything. This would cause the squirrel to think twice about proceeding any further.
His idea worked for awhile. But those squirrels learned, developed tactics. Rather than just shimmy up the pole, they would run at it full-tilt and leap upwards, touching the pole only once or twice before they were hanging off the 'shield' under the feeder, itself. After that, the seeds were just a chin-up away. Those little guys were from the school of 'no pain, no gain', I guess.
Hi Cl, your comment doesn't inspire confidence, but after several years of losing to the critters, I have none left to quash.
That being said, still no squirrel in the feeder - and I check 20 times per day, camera in hand.
I still expect to see a commando-style raid soon but until then... three more cheers!
GH
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