Thanks, John. I'm willing to give it a try. First need to think of a way to hang it close enough where I can see the birds without binoculars. I see it is NOT a thistle (Niger seed) feeder. None of my birds, nor the doves, squirrels, possums or raccoons, will touch thistle. Strange.
Nancy, there is almost never a good place to hang a feeder, which is why I recommend buying (or have someone make/rig) a hanging pole that you can place where you want. Below is a pic of the pole in our back yard that we purchased over a decade ago along with the feeders. It attracts birds, turkeys, squirrels and deer but only the birds can get to the seed in the feeder. The others just come or hang around to get what the birds drop. Fortunately, we've not had any bears nearby.
Maybe this. But I read somewhere that squirrels can jump 9 feet horizontally, with a running start. This is downhill
They jump on mine but can't get in the feeder. The wire mesh goes down and blocks the feeding holes when anything heavier than a bird is on it. It used to be fun watching the little forest rats try and fail to get the bird food. Now, they've quit trying.
Aha! . I didn't notice that. Worth a try I think. Thanks. ( Sorry I hijacked your thread @Von Jones )
I also apologize to @Von Jones for helping you to hijack her thread and hope the suggestion of a Havaheart trap was of some value. I have used them to get rid of raccoons, squirrels and chipmunks, all of which can be troublesome pests.
Second-hand story but it's true: A woman had squirrels in her attic. She was a pretty good shot and dispatched them one by one with her air rifle. Not knowing what to do with the corpses, she wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them in the freezer to buy some time in making a decision. One day she realized her freezer was full of these little packages and she needed the room. So she put them in a bag, got in her car, drove down the road, and tossed them out the passenger window one-by-one as she drove along. One can only imagine the shock and awe...
I've had raccoons at the grill I keep right beside my kitchen door. One would think that being out in the country, they would not be habituated to humans...at least, that's what I thought. I turned on the porch light to see what the racket was all about, and when I saw the little masked buggers I figured they would scamper once I opened the door. What really happened was one of them looked inside, must have liked what he saw, and he charged the door!!! I slammed it just in time to bar entry. I've posted this before: I like the idea of using electric fencing equipment to deter them. Raccoons can be quite destructive. Here's a controller at Tractor Supply for only $25. I put one on the fence around my garden. They hurt. A lot.
Racoons are really cute and smart; thus the problem. I had a tenant at the farm rescue some babies after mom got hit by a car. They grew up unafraid of humans. Sadly they started killing my chickens. Had to take the coons for a ride. Not sure which are worse, foxes or raccoons.. But raccoons can climb fences, undo latches and at one particularly sad time, reach through a cage one night, grab my pet chicken and eat it's head through the bars. We all see things from our own point of view. Interesting. Makes the war between political parties a little more understandable.
Too funny. I must say that my dislike for squirrels has been surpassed by raccoons. I've never liked them anyway. The temperature dropped last night and I slept uninterrupted. I have thought of a way to keep them out of the tree of course something I read online. No harm should come to them...but if it doesn't work I'm going to find me a bb gun.
Firing squad (assuming you also get the grandkids some lever-action Daisies) or electrocution by galvanized wire, both are effective deterrents to loitering, curfew violations, and disturbing the peace.
@Von Jones I recently read where a 75-year-old man in Indian River, Ohio was arrested and released on a $10k bond for animal cruelty when he trapped a raccoon and shot it with a BB gun. Shooting with a BB gun might be considered animal cruelty, whereas a kill with a high-power air rifle is legal in Ohio as long as the raccoon was a nuisance. You might record the raccoons being a nuisance before assuming a sniper position and make sure you get a clean shot. Forget the Daisy as you might hit an eye and some neighbor might record you and trap the half-blind raccoon the next day, call the police, and away you go in cuffs. A clean kill is legal and raccoon make good fertilizer. I might suggest this LEGAL air rifle if you are dead set on shooting. I don't see any way an electric wire would injure a raccoon so it might save you a court appearance and all of us here on SOC the trouble of starting a Go Fund Me for your release. Your being a DIY gal temps me to share my quick and easy .22 rifle homemade silencer that does wonders for in-town wild animal control, but that revelation and confessions to past kills might lead to my incarceration. I no longer have a good grip on soap bars while showering which makes me a bit gun shy.