A friend saw this little kit the other day and thought about me and my problems with the squirrels in my garden wrecking mine.
It's to recycle an old plastic bottle and turn it into a bird feeder... looked simple enough.
I am at home with my feet up resting my knee so have plenty of time on my hands at the moment.
I do use the cheapest seed feeders I can find because they do get destroyed on a regular basis.
I know all about the squirrel proof types and there are some fantastic ideas out there but they all seem to use a cage of some sort to keep the squirrels out.
A disadvantage for me when taking images of the birds with my camera.
So after cleaning out a bottle or two as the thread size was wrong on the first one (above) which was then turned into a funnel.
I got to work at putting this simple feeder together.
The hanger just snaps off the feeding tray and after making two holes it the bottom of the bottle just clips in.
The feeding tray screws onto the thread of the bottle top... quite tightly so hopefully hard to dislodge.
It was only when I began to add some seed that I wondered what was going to stop it pouring straight through the upturned bottle... a quick look at the instructions revealed there should be a plug with the kit.
It had no plug!
It may have been missing when the item purchased or had fallen out without being noticed... but whatever had happened to the plug I decided it couldn't have been very secure in the first place and would certainly be be a weak spot for the squirrels.
A piece of plastic and some super glue resolved the problem and will surely be more difficult to remove than the original idea.
All I had to do now was hang it in the garden... and see how long it lasts... it's plastic and my squirrel has no problems chewing through plastic.
If the plastic hanger fails I can always make a metal one.
Bottles are in plentiful supply so as long as the the tray survives I might get some mileage out of this one.
Only time will tell.
Guess who was watching while I put up the new feeder... far to cute for a vandal.
Watch this space.
17 comments:
What an interesting contraption. I do not like squirrels, hope he does not eat through the plastic but somehow I think he might. :(
That seems like a very good idea! And I loved the video of your cute vandal.
The posh metal RSPB ones don't stop squirrels PTFE on the supporting pole does.
I can take my Rolls Royce feeders apart and leave them in the sink to soak whilst I move. The old cheapo ones were a health hazard.
That squirrel was definitely coming up with a plan. From Findlay
he looks just like our vandals and they can do a lot of damage and are a lot smarter than they look. good luck with the new one. feeder, not vandal. ha ha
Good luck with that Andrew, but somehow I think the little monster will make short work of it.
I love the squirrel video! He's watching carefully.
Perhaps this will help ...
Video is great, Andrew.
Um, I think it is for "neat ideas". A good thing to advertise. But, you will never deter the squirrel.
Neat idea! That squirrel looks very well fed, and happy! The feeders with the wire cage around it don't work for me. It keeps the gray squirrels out but not those marauding red squirrels. Also they are hard to clean. I have had fun with pulling an attached fishing line from inside our porch and jerking the squirrel off. Done often enough they finally give up.
That looks very interesting Andrew - hope it's still in one piece!
I've seen something similar before. Very cool idea! Might be a cheap way to replace squirrel damaged feeders.
So cute the way the squirrel was just sitting there watching.
as you say Drew, cheap enough to replace when you have to. Glad you were able to come up with a new stopper replacement and I really enjoyed the little video clip ... little rascal!
Hope you have a good supply of juice bottles!
Great video....and will let you know if Bud and I are able to recreate one of these. genie
That little squirrel made me laugh!
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