Squirrels get a mixed reception. Many people love them many people loathe them. Whether you’re a lover or a loather, squirrels are part of many people’s lives. Familiar to everyone, their antics in the bird garden can be an amusing affair until you’re ready to actually feed your garden birds.
Squirrels are cute there’s no doubt about that, but they can be very destructive. A squirrel won’t care if you have a gorgeous new bird feeder or a bird feeder that was a gift from a relative or friend – biting and gnawing is their first method of attack. Failing that they will knock a feeder to the ground and try to gain access that way. It’s tough to try and beat a hungry determined squirrel!
Help is at hand with squirrel-resistant bird feeders. They are often made of stainless steel or powder-coated steel so can be a great investment at trying to eliminate damage.
They do come in different shapes and sizes, many with protective cages, but be aware a determined squirrel may still nibble away at the cage itself as they are unable to gain access to the food inside.
If you prefer to feed peanuts to garden birds, then the Squirrel Resistant Caged Peanut Feeder is a great choice. It’s made from heavy-duty steel and the cage clips off easily for filling and cleaning. Alternatively, we have the Nuttery Squirrel-Resistant Peanut Bird Feeder – this is the original and still one of the best caged peanut feeders on the market. The award-winning British-designed feeder has been a firm favourite with the bird feeding public for many years. This is an all metal constructed feeder so should give maximum defence against squirrel damage.
If feeding suet balls is your chosen method of bird feeding, then the stylish Squirrel Resistant Cage Fat Ball Feeder could be for you. It holds three small fat balls which are held inside a tough mesh feeder. Another bonus is that the cage clips off for simple cleaning and filling.
Bird seed mixes and straight seeds like Sunflower Hearts and Peanut Granules can be fed from a tubular feeder. The Nuttery Caged Bird Seed Feeder is a great feeder for these seeds and is a tough polycarbonate tube protected by a metal cage. It’s a simple effective design which has been a favourite with our customers for many years. It has a 1 litre capacity and is a fashionable sage green colour.
Our Squirrel Resistant Caged Bird Seed Feeder is ideal if you want a smaller caged seed feeder as it stands at just 13 inches high. It has two feeding ports and is surrounded by a heavy-duty steel cage. Also comes with the added benefit of easy cleaning and filling as the cage clips off.
We haven’t forgotten the ground feeding birds either. The Ground Feeding Dome is the perfect accessory for helping to feed sparrows and robins and has been designed to prevent squirrels and larger birds from being able to gain access to feed. The protective dome is ideal for garden birds that struggle to gain access to food due to larger birds and squirrels. All you need to do is place the dome over scattered food or a feeder and clean regularly with a mild disinfectant. It can also be secured to the ground using the pegs provided.
To many, the grey squirrel is only seen as a "pest" and certainly not something to be encouraged into the garden environment. Some people do go to extraordinary lengths to stop this loveable rogue from swiping all the bird food - rightly so, in some cases, as their capacity for consuming (or caching) good bird food is second to none! If you've tried all the deterrents, here's something different for you to try: Why not buy a wooden squirrel feeder and fill it with less expensive seeds or our Squirrel Mix? Relax, sit back and watch their garden antics.
At Haith’s we think that all living animals and birds deserve to eat and believe it or not squirrels can bring added benefits to your garden and local countryside. Squirrels not only live on nuts, plants and roots but also consume critters like insects and caterpillars. We can also thank them for helping trees. Many of the nuts they fail to recover from their cache do turn into trees.
Even for people who see squirrels every day they can be full of surprises. Why not grow to love them?
Written by Angela
