Coconuts

If you put it on a bit of rope and hang it its then safer from the Squirrel and less easy for marauding cats. Brian

I wouldn't mind feeding the squirrels in our locality but there aren't enough trees close enough to us for them to visit. There is a local squirrel "hotline", if you spot a Grey you ring the hotline, leave a message about when and where and people the guns pay a visit to that location...

They must be coming under a lot of pressure localy as quite a few of the pine plantations have been harvested in the last couple of years.

Sorry. Maybe I should have explained more fully. It is actually hung from rope - well thick cord anyway. Which stays looped around the branch. The screw eye is to make for easy detachment when re-filling. There's another one underneath with a cord attached to a heavy piece of conduit laying on the ground. To stop it swinging about too much.

Squirrels are quite capable of climbing down any rope. And climbing back up again. And clambering over any large soft drink bottles through which the cord has been threaded to hinder their progress.

I already have a small saucepan suspended in this way but this simply gives them somewhere to sit while surveying the world while they eat their way through the food. Same with the woodies who like feeding in pairs. Or at least a pair.

I'm hoping coconuts will give them less scope. Which only really means that the squirrels will put more effort into chewing through the mesh of the peanut feeders - hand rolled double thickness - but at least the smaller birds will have more of a chance.

The ring necked parakeets should be interesting as they're quite capable of landing on horizontal cord and sliding down.

This whole effort is really to maintain adequate supplies while the garden is unattended during a holiday.

michael adams

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For "horizontal" read "vertical".

Have a google for "squirrel deterrent pepper".

Apparently hot peppers such as habanero, scotch bonnet, thai, ... will keep them away and not affect birds.

Learned paper about grey squirrels:

Thomas Prufer