{"id":4611,"date":"2023-07-28T10:19:09","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T15:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/?p=4611"},"modified":"2024-01-18T11:10:17","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T17:10:17","slug":"squirrel-proof-bird-feeders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow our helpful tips to keep squirrels away from your bird feeders<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

You put up bird feeders to attract your feathered friends. However, your bird seed will likely also attract different creatures: squirrels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These pesky creatures think you put out that store-bought seed just for them. Keep the bushy-tailed bandits off your bird feeders with a few of Blain’s Farm & Fleet’s helpful tips.<\/p>\n\n\n

Find the Right Feeder Spot<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

Squirrels can jump up to six feet in the air. Make sure you place feeders at least 12 to 15 feet away from any surface a squirrel can jump from. This includes things like trees, shrubs, or houses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If squirrels can still jump and reach your feeders, you may have to move them even further.<\/p>\n\n\n

Use a Squirrel Baffle<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

You can use a squirrel baffle to keep squirrels off of bird feeders. There are two types of squirrel baffles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first is a domed wrap-around baffle. It can either go on top of a bird feeder or wrap around a feeder pole. The second kind is a pipe baffle, which you can mount on a bird feeder pole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to hang feeders on the bird feeder pole at least five feet off of the ground. To hang multiple feeders, use a pole extension, and then place the pipe baffle below the feeders. This will prevent gray and red squirrels from climbing the pole to reach the seed.<\/p>\n\n\n

Use a Squirrel-Resistant Bird Feeder<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

Use a squirrel-resistant bird feeder in any situation where there are gray squirrels. It lets small birds, such as chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, cardinals, and finches feed, but excludes gray squirrels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if gray squirrels get on the feeder, they can’t get inside the cage to access the seed. This feeder is ideal for decks, trees, and hanging close to houses.<\/p>\n\n\n

Use<\/strong> Food Squirrels Won’t Like<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

One of the easiest ways to dissuade a squirrel from your bird feeders is to serve something they won’t want to eat. Try switching to a seed that squirrels don’t like, such as safflower seed<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the squirrels won’t like it, you’ll still be able to attract plenty of birds. Cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, house finches, and mourning doves all enjoy safflower seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Squirrels also don’t like spicy things. So you could add a little cayenne pepper or some hot pepper seeds to the food. Birds can’t taste spice the same way we can, so it won’t bother them.<\/p>\n\n\n

Give the Squirrels Their Own Food<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

Finally, divert squirrels from bird feeders by providing them with their own feeders and squirrel toys. Specialized squirrel feeders<\/a> are unique and attractively designed accessories that can hold whole ears of corn. The feeders give squirrels their own yummy treat and helps keep them off your bird feeders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more tips on tending to your backyard birdie friends, check out our Wild Bird Care Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You spend all your time and money trying to feed the birds, only to have a pesky squirrel take over your bird feeders. Keep the squirrels away from your bird feeders with our helpful tips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":29411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1379],"tags":[1494],"content_type":[1371,1373],"class_list":["post-4611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawn-garden","tag-wild-birds-bird-watching","content_type-how-to","content_type-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeders | Blain's Farm & Fleet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Squirrels are the number one culprit when it comes to stealing bird seed. Learn how to keep these pesky creatures off your bird feeders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeders | Blain's Farm & Fleet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Squirrels are the number one culprit when it comes to stealing bird seed. Learn how to keep these pesky creatures off your bird feeders.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blain's Farm & Fleet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BlainsFarmandFleet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-28T15:19:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-18T17:10:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-1343518995-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Dotzler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@farmandfleet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@farmandfleet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Dotzler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeders | Blain's Farm & Fleet","description":"Squirrels are the number one culprit when it comes to stealing bird seed. Learn how to keep these pesky creatures off your bird feeders.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeders | Blain's Farm & Fleet","og_description":"Squirrels are the number one culprit when it comes to stealing bird seed. Learn how to keep these pesky creatures off your bird feeders.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/","og_site_name":"Blain's Farm & Fleet","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BlainsFarmandFleet","article_published_time":"2023-07-28T15:19:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-18T17:10:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-1343518995-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hannah Dotzler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@farmandfleet","twitter_site":"@farmandfleet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Dotzler","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Dotzler","@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dc0488e85d97529e4447f21f30fdca23"},"headline":"How to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeders","datePublished":"2023-07-28T15:19:09+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-18T17:10:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/"},"wordCount":492,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-1343518995.jpg","keywords":["Wild Birds & Bird Watching"],"articleSection":["Lawn & Garden"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/","url":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/","name":"How to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeders | Blain's Farm & Fleet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-1343518995.jpg","datePublished":"2023-07-28T15:19:09+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-18T17:10:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dc0488e85d97529e4447f21f30fdca23"},"description":"Squirrels are the number one culprit when it comes to stealing bird seed. Learn how to keep these pesky creatures off your bird feeders.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-1343518995.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GettyImages-1343518995.jpg","width":2121,"height":1414,"caption":"You spend all your time and money trying to feed the birds, only to have a pesky squirrel take over your bird feeders. Keep the squirrels away from your bird feeders with our helpful tips."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/squirrel-proof-bird-feeders\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Squirrel Proof Your Bird Feeders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/","name":"Blain's Farm & Fleet","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dc0488e85d97529e4447f21f30fdca23","name":"Hannah Dotzler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4839e9c9fd91ff8fb55e1485f4e54000ffd097a60777c80b3b07a7204d89cac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4839e9c9fd91ff8fb55e1485f4e54000ffd097a60777c80b3b07a7204d89cac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d4839e9c9fd91ff8fb55e1485f4e54000ffd097a60777c80b3b07a7204d89cac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hannah Dotzler"},"url":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/author\/hdotzler\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4611"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35475,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4611\/revisions\/35475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4611"},{"taxonomy":"content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmandfleet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_type?post=4611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}