We don't have a lot of birds just yet, but squirrels we do have. My husband and I are loving watching them and we'd like to give them their own feeder. Does anyone have any plans for the type of feeder that the squirrel lifts the lid to get the food? With all the home improvement skills we've got, surely we can make something like a squirrel feeder.
Squirrel feeders
Equilibrium
Jan 18, 2007
I don't quite know how to reply to this thread. I love our squirrels too... particularly after the ground is frozen and they aren't scurrying around planting acorns and nuts in my new plantings or patio pots. I was going to get cute and poke sport at you but figured you might be looking for fun squirrel feeders to make them work to get their food. There's a squirrel twirler out there that you can mount on a tree. You stick corn cobs on the spikes and when they jump on to nibble, they go round and round and round. It's sort of fun to watch and is good for oodles of giggles and you look out your window and watch them hanging on to the corn as it spins around from their own weight. They do come to rest and then they eat but every once in a while one flies off so don't put this type of a squirrel feeder anywhere that they could get knocked silly if they go flying off. There are other squirrel feeders where they have to learn to lift the lid to get at treats. Those are fun. They soon learn to lift the lid. There have got to be other squirrel feeders out there that are entertaining. Otherwise, just take an old platter from your house and fill it up and place it on your picnic table. They'll soon gather round for yummies.
I don't have those exact "lifting the lid" plans. But I have seen the plans for the squirrel feeder that looks like a bird house with glass jar sticking out of it.
My brother makes squirrel feeders that hold a cob of corn and the squirrel, when eating on it, sits on a little chair and it looks like the squirrel is seated at a table for dinner, very cute.
My father in law has a spike sticking out of stump that he sticks a corn cob on.
Our squirrels just eat the bird feed and the walnut from our black walnut trees then they spit and throw the shells at us if they are in the mood. LOL. I get revenge when they do that. hehehe
There was a squirrel feeder here when we moved in. It was home made, just a stair step type thing with huge nails in it for ears of corn. We used it, till it fell apart. My grandma had the kind that the squirrel needs to open the top to get the food, and that's what I'd like to build. I have been putting squirrel food out and they seem to prefer the whole peanuts and not the corn. We also saw one early last spring carry an ear of corn away. Don't know where he put it, but he dragged it off somewhere.
joe, don't sit on that stump, ouch......
I generally leave at least one pumpkin in the lawn for the squirrels. They will chew holes in it, climb in it and eat the seeds, when the seeds are gone and the pumpkin starts to get mushy, you will see the squirrels running across the lawn with huge chunk of orange pumpkin in their mouth. Its kind of cute... though the pumpking looks horrible.
By spring the pumpkin will be nothing but a pile of mush that I scrape up with shovel and toss into the compost pile.
I only bought one pumpkin this year and then I carved it. I should of put the "inerds" in the yard, would that of worked the same? Not the same as seeing them eating thru the pumpkin though......
Well, next year you need to buy more than one pumpkin!
I usually buy several and only carve one or two. I've tried growing them but they haven't gotten big enough to carve yet. We are working on that.
As for innards from carved pumpkins, I seperate out the seeds, roast and salt them and eat them myself. The rest of the innards are tossed into the compost pile. But if you didn't want to roast them you could seperate out hte pumpkin seeds, dry them and set them out for the birds.
I didn't have luck growing the big pumpkins, but the mini ones grew well. After carving, I didn't even think about putting the seeds out for the birds. It did cross my mind to roast them since I haven't had roasted pumpkin seeds in years. Next year..........
Here is a link http://home.grandecom.net/~lrstirm/plan4.html
My husband made a copy of one that I bought, they are fun to watch!
Oh my gosh! Thank you ladygardener1! Exactly what I was looking for!
Glad to be of help.
Not to make fun, because I, too, love the squirrels despite their pesky habits, but here's directions for the the ultimate squirrel feeder:
1)Open a bag of something (anything), or don't open it. 2)Put it outside (or inside if your house is in less than optimum condition). 3)Sit down (or stand). 4)Watch the hordes of squirrels descend and eat. 5) Smile and enjoy the show!
LOL. That's a good one!