Squirrels love bird food, and they will go to great lengths to stuff themselves silly on it. They are smart, persistent, and learn from experience. And they are really, really agile. A clothesline-sized rope is like a squirrel sidewalk, the top of a fence a superhighway, and a wooden post might as well be a staircase. They can jump several feet in the air, climb up or down all but the slickest surfaces (and slide down those), balance on practically nothing, squeeze through holes they shouldn’t be able to, chew holes where none exist, and generally do whatever it takes to get what they want—such as that organic bird food you just filled your feeder with.

(On just a quarter-acre of land, you can produce fresh, organic food for a family of four—year-round. Rodale's The Backyard Homestead shows you how; get your copy today.)

If you want to feed birds, not squirrels, you can try one or more of the following tactics. 

Get a dog

dogs keep squirrels away from birdfeeders
rpbirdman/Getty

The only repellent I’ve ever tried that was 100 percent effective against all squirrels were our three Great Pyrenees livestock guard dogs. When we had the gentle giants, we had no squirrels (or rabbits, or deer, for that matter) in our yard. But a handful of gigantic furry friends isn’t a practical solution for most people. Smaller dogs and cats may keep your squirrels looking over their shoulders when they are outside, but when they head inside the squirrels will come out to play.

Related: The Surprising Health Benefits Of Bird Watching

Add some spice

Some folks swear by mixing hot pepper (cayenne) powder or flakes into your bird food. Birds have no capsaicin (the compound the puts the hot in hot pepper) receptors, so they can’t taste it; but squirrels can taste it and don’t like it. Hot pepper is also full of vitamins and may also help kill off internal parasites. (Learn what NOT to feed your backyard birds.) Try about a quarter cup of pepper per 10 pounds of seed. Just be careful: hot pepper is no fun if you breathe it in or it blows into your eyes while you are mixing it or filling the feeders. Wear a mask and watch the wind. 

Get a squirrel-resistant feeder

Depending on the size of the birds you want to attract and the size of your local squirrels, you may be able to buy or rig up a feeder inside a sturdy wire mesh cage that the birds can fit through, but your squirrels can’t (such as this Stokes Select Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder, $42, Amazon.com). There are also feeders (like this one) that close down when sufficient weight rests on the perches, closing off access to the food; again if your squirrels are heavier than your target birds, these may help. (These are the 10 best birds that benefit your garden.) When buying a feeder, be sure to pick a model made of metal or high-quality polycarbonate so that squirrels can’t chew through it. 

Install a baffle

Baffles are slippery metal or plastic bowl-shaped shields that help to prevent squirrels from accessing your bird feeder. These can be installed below your feeder if it’s on a post, or above if it is hanging from a wire or chain. You can buy them at home improvement stores or on Amazon. Or, you could go the DIY route and make your own out of a mixing bowl or Bundt pan or fashion a cone out of old sheet metal. Keep in mind that your homemade baffle will need to be smooth and wide so the squirrels can’t get a grip on it or jump over it.

preview for How To Build A Raised Bed

Choose your feeder location wisely

By far, the most effective method of keeping squirrels out of the bird food is to mount the feeders well away from trees, walls, or anything a squirrel can climb onto and jump to your feeder from, and make all the supports as inaccessible to squirrels as possible. This can take some ingenuity as the average gray squirrel can jump at least 4 feet straight up in the air, 8 to 10 feet sideways, and more than that when jumping down from above. (If you are dealing with flying squirrels, heaven help you: consider giving up and feeding them, trying squirrel-resistant feeders, or getting a pack of Great Pyrenees). Given these impressive statistics, you’ll need to mount or hang your feeder so the bottom is more than 4 feet off the ground and the whole feeder is 10 feet away from trees, fences, and walls in all directions, and not under any overhanging branches.

Related: 6 Tips For Creating A Backyard Habitat That Attracts Local Songbirds

Choose the right wires

You’re going to have to mount your feeder somehow, and considering how good squirrels are at climbing just about everything, you’re going to want to choose your materials carefully. If you’re suspending your feeder from a branch or porch roof, use the thinnest, slickest wire or cord possible so that squirrels aren’t able to grip it. Monofilament fishing line should do the trick (the 50-pound test is strong enough to support just about any feeder) or you can go for very thin galvanized wire rope.

If thin and slippery isn’t an option, slip 6-inch lengths of PVC pipe or galvanized conduit over the rope so that it is completely covered. The pipe should be just large enough to be free-spinning so that squirrels find themselves flipped upside down when they try to climb on it. This method also works if you are hanging your feeder from horizontal wires. For a cheaper, simpler option, go the recycled route by drilling holes into the centers of the bottoms of 2-liter beverage bottles and use them in place of the pipe.  

Related: How To Attract Woodpeckers To Your Yard (And Why You’d Want To)

Or pick the right post

Squirrels can scale wooden posts and most metal poles without even trying. To make the job more challenging, cover the post in something very slippery like a stainless steel stovepipe or piece of PVC pipe. To do this most effectively, get a length of PVC pipe or stovepipe a couple of inches wider than your post—you want enough room for the squirrel to crawl up between the post and the pipe—and glue or screw a pipe cap on it. Cut a hole just large enough for the post in the center of the cap and slip this over the post, with the open end down. The top should be at least 4 feet above the ground. When the squirrel begins to climb the post, it will be forced to go inside the pipe where it will hit a dead end at the cap.

Related: 5 Ways Your Garden Can Support The Local Wildlife

For skinnier posts, like a shepherd's hook, try slipping a Slinky over the post, attaching one end to the top of the pole. The rest will hang loosely around the pole. When a squirrel jumps onto the pole, it grabs the Slinky, and gets dumped to the ground (see it in action here). But be warned: It’s possible that in time squirrels may learn to grab the pole instead of the slinky.

Learn to love ’em

If you find yourself losing the battle, you can just give in to the inevitable and feed the squirrels. If you like a challenge you can craft elaborate obstacle courses and mazes for your local squirrels and get hours of entertainment watching them learn to navigate them (and then thinking up new and interesting challenges to add once they do). There are a bunch of squirrel maze videos online that might inspire you! 

youtubeView full post on Youtube