If you don't want to squander your bank account on flying squirrel feed, try hot pepper suet cakes instead of seed. The hot pepper doesn't affect the birds but will generally keep squirrels of all kinds from eating the stuff. And if you put it in a cage-style feeder, it will keep large birds from flying off with it so you can enjoy the smaller visitors.
Naw , use a sawed off 12 gauge ~ you don't have to worry about proper aiming and no messy guts to clean up either ~ the varmints mostly disappear in a red mist .
Can't you hang it by a thin cable from a branch so the raccoons can't climb down and raid it ? .
Bringing it inside invites the 'coons to bore into your house , trust me you don't want to go down that road ! .
It's already hanging from a thin cable, but the damned coon reached it from the deck railing. Bigger than I thought. I could raise it higher, but then *I'd* have trouble reaching it.
Hanging from a branch is not an option - it's a condo, not a house.
I guess that means no shotgun either , not even a fully choked one with rock salt....
(damn CC&Rs)
I think the cable idea is the way to go , maybe a longer hanging pole ? one that pivots so you can swing it in for replenishment of seeds ? . racoons have a limit to how far they can reach out or climb skinny ropes and cables .
I hate pests , the drunken bitch next door to me had a rat farm for years (10'deep X 25' wide wild ivy) and the rats & squirrels discovered I had 40 # bag of dog food inside my back porch , ate holes in my walls , footings , everywhere to get in , I got a galvanized trash can for the dog food but they're still inside my house and driving me crazy 30 years later.....
Squirrels too .
All manner of traps and poisons but I have to be *VERY* careful with the poison as I have little dogs who'll eat/drink anything I lay out .
I cordially dislike squirrels, having suffered their depredations before. They've pretty well learned that the feeder is as squirrel-proof as advertised and are content picking up the leavings from the goldfinches, who are sloppy eaters.
There are plenty of other targets for raccoons, especially since Cape Cod tourist season begins in May.
I somehow don't see myself sitting on my deck in a rocking chair with a varmint gun at port arms and a banjo playing in the distance...
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Naw , use a sawed off 12 gauge ~ you don't have to worry about proper aiming and no messy guts to clean up either ~ the varmints mostly disappear in a red mist .
Can't you hang it by a thin cable from a branch so the raccoons can't climb down and raid it ? .
Bringing it inside invites the 'coons to bore into your house , trust me you don't want to go down that road ! .
-Nate
Reply
Hanging from a branch is not an option - it's a condo, not a house.
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A Condo huh ? .
I guess that means no shotgun either , not even a fully choked one with rock salt....
(damn CC&Rs)
I think the cable idea is the way to go , maybe a longer hanging pole ? one that pivots so you can swing it in for replenishment of seeds ? . racoons have a limit to how far they can reach out or climb skinny ropes and cables .
I hate pests , the drunken bitch next door to me had a rat farm for years (10'deep X 25' wide wild ivy) and the rats & squirrels discovered I had 40 # bag of dog food inside my back porch , ate holes in my walls , footings , everywhere to get in , I got a galvanized trash can for the dog food but they're still inside my house and driving me crazy 30 years later.....
Squirrels too .
All manner of traps and poisons but I have to be *VERY* careful with the poison as I have little dogs who'll eat/drink anything I lay out .
-Nate
Reply
There are plenty of other targets for raccoons, especially since Cape Cod tourist season begins in May.
I somehow don't see myself sitting on my deck in a rocking chair with a varmint gun at port arms and a banjo playing in the distance...
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I remember Robin Willams saying whenever he hears a banjo , his butt cheeks clench =8-) .
Don't give up just yet bill .
I'm off to do battle with 50 + year old little British cars .
-Nate
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