Build a bird feeder

[Bob LambParticipant @boblamb44747]

We were troubled by squirrels and pigeons. The pigeons were probably worse than the squirrels as one of them learnt to grip the metal feeder and flap his wings furiously which shook all the sunflower seeds out through the fine metal mesh. An entire flock of his mates then descended and hoovered up everything on the floor. Refilling was almost a daily occurrence and the 22 solution would probably bring the anti terrorist police around as I live near Finsbury Park!

My solution was to gently melt some ATORA beef suet in a saucepan and then add sunflower seeds until it was a thick paste.When this has cooled and nearly set I spoon it into the metal mesh tube and the beef suet stops the pigeons from just shaking the seeds out. The little birds can still get their food easily. Occasionally i have to poke the mesh with a fine stick to loosen the bits in the middle where the small beaks can't reach. Not an engineering solution but it seems to work for me.

Bob

[John FlackParticipant @johnflack59079]

Remarkable what beaks and animal teeth can do,a spaniel called Merlin "adopted" us, our neighbours fence was patched with parts of a budget incinerator , the blighter knawed through it in an afternoon, we are talking 16G or so steel wire and a a hole big enough to get through, could not find a trace of loose metal , guess their digestive system is on a par with their teeth.

[Chris GunnParticipant @chrisgunn36534]

Mike, I used to visit the stores, but they were a bit kinder, all I went for was a long wait. A favourite trick elsewhere was to solder a nail to a penny and nail it to the floor in front of the Rozalex dispenser. As one bent down to pick up the penny someone would pull and release the dispense and a gobbet of Rozalex would splatter on one's back. I could go on but I am getting off topic.

Chris Gunn

[richardandtracyParticipant @richardandtracy]

How about a weight operated douche?

The squirrel will be heavier than the 5-10 grams of a sparrow. If you were to fit the pneumatic button to the hanger of the bird feeder and get that to operate the water it could be entirely automatic.

Regards,

Richard.

[Author]

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