For The Birds

Last night I went to a chapter meeting of the Master Naturalists.  Our speaker was the former naturalist from Wild River State Park.  I've heard him speak before and he's really good.  This time he spoke about feeding the birds and various pests that bother your bird feeders.  His premise is that bird feeding is for the enjoyment of the humans who provide the feed.  To that end, reducing the seed taken by other pests adds to the enjoyment by humans.  At the state park he set out bird feeders for the enjoyment of the public who came to the visitor center.  Squirrels would come and empty the bird feeders.  So he tried various solutions to the squirrel problem.  "It was like an arms race," he said about his battle with the squirrels.  I knew exactly what he meant.  I myself was in an arms race when I tried to have a platform feeder suspended on a cord between a tree and a a post on my deck.  I strung pie plates, empty 2 liter bottles, and all kinds of sundry recycling material on that cord to keep the squirrels off the platform feeder. It looked like a bunch of trash in the air over my yard.  And the squirrels still got to the food by leaping over all my barriers.  Squirrels may not be smart but they are determined.  They try and try and try.  They can leap 8 or more feet through the air to reach a platform feeder.  One time he moved a feeder 6 feet away from a tree.  The squirrel made it on the first try.  He moved the feeder 7 feet away from the tree.  The squirrel made the 7 foot leap on the first try.  He moved the feeder 8 feet away.  The squirrel made a 8 foot leap on the first try.  He moved the platform feeder 81/2 feet from the tree (which was only 6 feet away from another tree).  The squirrel leaped 8 1/2 feet from the farther tree.  He tried domed covers.  Squirrels ate around the edge of the cover to get a grip with their teeth so they could throw feed to the ground with their hands.  He put a hem of glue around the bottom of the dome and dusted it with cayenne pepper.  That did deter the squirrels.  But at this state park raccoons were also a problem.  A racoon can reach over the top of a baffle with one arm while hanging on below the baffle at the same time.  For raccoons a cone shaped baffle works better.  At least it works for a time until a black bear comes and flattens the cone shaped baffle.  This naturalist had photos to illustrate all of these events.  The funniest picture was a 300 pound black bear balanced on top of a 12 inch square platform 7 feet up in the air.  Who ever installed that pole did a really good job.  Several years ago my struggle with the squirrels over the platform feeder made me get rid of it for my own state of mind.  The arms race with the squirrels was too upsetting for me.  But this naturalist said that a counter balance bird feeder is usually effective against squirrels if it has a bar on it.  On these feeders the access to the seed is closed when the heavy weight of a squirrel (4 pounds) is put on the perch.  I think I might get one.  Audobon sells one and they call it squirrel resistant.  The talk was absolutely fascinating and I enjoyed all the photos and the discussions.  That night I had dreams about black bears so that proves it was a good class when the information infiltrates your dreams.