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Post by Tringa on Dec 31, 2016 17:12:17 GMT
This is a fairly rare problem because the bird in question does not visit the garden very often.
If our feeders were not in cages the delightful furry, grey 'VERMIN' would
(a) eat all the food, and
(b) destroy the feeders while doing (a)
Sometimes a great spotted woodpecker visits and tries to get to the feeders, but it cannot get inside the cage and also can't reach far enough to feed from outside the cage so I need a solution.
Our dog (Dino) who is a crossed terrier happily chases the VERMIN and given a small open area it would be
Dino 1 Vermin 0
all day long but the garden is small and there are too many bushes for the VERMIN to escape into, and as the non-terrier part of Dino is lurcher(ish) he finds sleeping generally more interesting than the fruitless chasing of small furry animals.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Dave
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Post by alf1951 on Jan 12, 2017 8:43:57 GMT
The only answer is trapping - not nice I know but neither is the loss of our native reds. Here it is "Northern Red Squirrels" who will come to your locality, set traps and deal with any captured greys. There must be a similar group somewhere near you if you do an internet search for them.
Alf
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Post by NellyDee on Jan 12, 2017 9:10:45 GMT
If it is any help my GSW's love the square insect suet blocks hung in the square suet block feeders, which the squirrels ignore, mind you they are reds and they do have their own feeders. I hang two of the feeders one with the insect and suet and one with the berry suet. The GWS's preference is the berry. I think if you put up a berry suet block you might get your GWSs as regulars. Mine (4 of them) are getting quite bossy and do their clicking sound when the berry feeder is empty and they have to move on to the insect one. PS. Re: Alf's suggestion The link below might help if you are in Scotland scottishsquirrels.org.uk/about/in-your-area/ |
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Post by Tringa on Jan 12, 2017 9:26:44 GMT
Thanks for the replies. Trapping might be a solution but I'm not sure I can legally relocate the trapped greys and the effect could be like the culling of badgers in SW England - the gap left will be filled by other squirrels.
Unfortunately the greys like the square fat cakes. If I forget to close the 'door' in the cage with wire, the squirrels let themselves in. If I do wire it they attack the cage and eventually get it.
Dave
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Post by rowanberry on Jan 12, 2017 11:36:25 GMT
Dave- I have a peanut feeder which the woodpeckers like, and I also had a problem with the greys attacking it and chewing all around the sides, (it's wooden) and in the end I rolled the peanuts around in some cayenne pepper and even painted the sides of the feeder with a pepper and water paste where they'd been chewing it. It only took a few times until they learned to leave it alone!  If I put apples out in the winter I'll do the same thing- rub the cayenne pepper over the surface, and the little furry vandals give it a wide berth... same treatment for any suet blocks. The birds can't taste it, (I read that they don't have taste receptors for capsicum, but mammals certainly do!) I make a paste out of it rather than dusting with it, though- I was worried that if it blew into the birds' eyes they would feel it. Peanuts are oily enough that it sticks to them pretty well. |
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Post by Tringa on Jan 13, 2017 9:51:02 GMT
I did try cayenne once but I think wind and or rain washed it away very quickly but I like the idea of making it into a paste. I'll give it a go.
Thanks
Dave
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Post by accipiter on Jan 13, 2017 20:51:11 GMT
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Post by Tringa on Jan 14, 2017 9:43:09 GMT
Thanks for the suggestion Alan. Unfortunately the garden is narrow and the bushes mean the squirrels would be able to jump from the fences or bushed to any post I set up.
Dave
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Post by Tringa on Feb 13, 2017 9:20:38 GMT
Thanks Rowan. Your suggestion of a cayenne paste on peanuts is working pretty well.
I mixed cayenne with bits of melted fat cakes and smeared it around the feeder and mixed it with the nuts. The squirrels still visit now and again their visits are much less frequent and in the last couple weeks the great spotted woodpecker has been back once but we have had quite a few visits from long tailed tits.
Thanks
Dave
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Post by rowanberry on Feb 13, 2017 18:43:19 GMT
I'm glad something finally worked, Dave!
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If I put apples out in the winter I'll do the same thing- rub the cayenne pepper over the surface, and the little furry vandals give it a wide berth... same treatment for any suet blocks. The birds can't taste it, (I read that they don't have taste receptors for capsicum, but mammals certainly do!) I make a paste out of it rather than dusting with it, though- I was worried that if it blew into the birds' eyes they would feel it. Peanuts are oily enough that it sticks to them pretty well.