Squirrels – Backyard Buddies or Furry Felons?

Photo by Dan Mitchell

When it comes to squirrels, everybody has strong opinions. Whether they raise your spirits, or just raise your blood pressure, we have a plan to help you with your squirrels.

Invite ‘Em: Give the squirrels their own feeder! Many styles are available, from corn hanger, nut box or jar feeder to an Adirondack chair or see-saw! Then offer foods that squirrels can’t resist:

A Five-Course Banquet for Squirrels:

  • Bushy Tail Banquet: A mix of black oil sunflower seeds, striped sunflower, whole peanuts, shelled peanuts, pumpkin seeds and corn kernels.
  • Nut Mix: 90% tree nuts, plus peanuts. Composition of mix varies, but includes cashews, pecans, walnuts, filberts, pistachios, and others
  • Fly-thru Gourmet Mix: A premium mix of black oil sunflower, sunflower hearts, striped sunflower, shelled tree nuts and shelled peanuts
  • Whole Peanuts: Raw peanuts in the shell
  • Shelled Peanuts: Raw shelled peanuts

Or Evict ‘Em: If you want to offer exclusive fine dining for your birds, here are some ways to keep out the riffraff and let the little guys enjoy an undisturbed meal.

  • naughtysquirrel
  • Block the Path: Try a baffle (a dome or cylinder barrier) between the squirrels and your feeder. Some hang above, others mount on a pole or post below your feeder.
  • Close The Door: Try the Squirrel Buster Bird Feeder which works by literally flinging squirrels away.
  • Cage It In: Tube feeders are surrounded by long wire mesh cages, which enclose the food and keep squirrels out. There are cages which can be added to some existing tube feeders to create a haven that allows songbirds in, but keeps squirrels out. We also have a suet feeder encircled by a cage.
  • Offer Food Squirrels Dislike: Hot Meats are sunflower seeds soaked in a hot chili pepper oil that squirrels don’t like. Suets such as Insect Lover’s Delight Never Melt or Backyard Bird Shop’s Just Bugs suet blocks, are both high-quality suet cakes without any seeds or nuts. Neither suet is likely to attract much attention from our furry friends. Also available are hot and spicy suet blocks including our very own Blazin’ Bugs Suet, Hot Meats Suet, and Insect & Hot Pepper Suet.
  • Look Into Removing The Squirrels: If you have a lot of squirrels, you risk a squirrel infestation. This could lead to damage in your home. Whilst you can try to remove any squirrels from your home and garden yourself, the advice from animalcontrolspecialists.com is to leave it up to the experts.