How a Squirrel Feeder Won my War with the Squirrels.

I needed a squirrel feeder! Living on 15 acres of woods, pasture, gardens, and lawn we definitely get our share of squirrels. For many years I have battled with them at my feeders to provide food for the birds only.

I lost that battle because obviously, the squirrels are here to stay because they seem to be a lot smarter than me.

So this year I decided that if you can’t beat them, join them! Those furry little creatures nest in my trees, my barn and recently at the top of my chicken coop. And they are hungry!

I needed to come up with a way to feed them and the wild birds without breaking the bank buying constant seed.

My First Attempt was a Failure

After a lot of research, I learned that they eat pretty much everything the birds do. Then, while reading an article one day I found out that they loved dried out corn cobs.

There was my answer. So I set out to my local Rural King store and purchased a large bag of feeder corn. It was a whopping $4.00. Win!

At first, I just set an ear of corn on a platter that I had on my bench. Excitedly I came out in the morning to find no sign of the corn at all.

At this rate, I would be out of corn in a week. That was not going to work. So I had to come up with something better. I needed a squirrel feeder that the squirrels couldn’t thieve from.

My Second Attempt…a Smarter Squirrel Feeder

I knew the corn was the right product but I needed a way to keep it in place.

What I came up with was pretty simple. I took an old board from my woodpile about 2 ft long. I sanded the edges. Then I drilled 3 screws up through the board.

When I set the board down flat with the screws sticking up, I had a place to “screw” the cobs down so the squirrels couldn’t take the entire cob.

I placed my new feeder on the same bench and waited. The next morning, when I came out, the cob’s were still there.

There were many missing kernels though, which meant that the squirrels sat and enjoyed their feast at the feeder. I found my solution!

But What About the Bird Feeders?

Unfortunately, the squirrels still eat from the feeders. Black oil sunflower seeds seem to be a favorite of both birds and squirrels.

But the squirrels no longer knock down my feeders, and they don’t seem to devour the seed like they used to.

The 3 cob’s last about 4 to 5 days depending on rain and weather but overall have turned out to be a good solution. I placed a second feeder closer to the tree line with 3 cobs on it also.

Future Plans

I intend on adding a ledge around the edges of the boards of my squirrel feeders to allow the corn that falls off to stay in a trough instead of falling to the ground.

I also think that since my property is overtaken by oak trees, I am going to gather a few handfuls of acorns when they fall and fill that same trough with nuts. It might be more unnecessary work, but maybe the squirrels will appreciate it.

Overall, I am finally no longer in a squirrel war and I actually enjoy them being around now. I will warn you though, those furry critters make quite a ruckus when I am late in replacing those corn cobs.

Maybe the squirrels have me trained? What do you think? Do you feed the squirrels on your property?