Placing your feeder
Need for Clearance Video
FAQs
Squirrels lack the dexterity and the strength to manipulate a feeder and drop it to the ground. If you find your feeder on the ground in the morning, you probably had a nocturnal visitor such as a raccoon, opossum, deer, or bear. Please secure your feeders well or consider bringing them in at night.
Tatsiana has some tips and tricks to help you manage chipmunks at your bird feeders.
She suggests a baffle as the best solution and when that isn’t possible, she suggests choosing different seed that chipmunks do not like, guards made out of tin pans and plates, moving the feeder to a new location or by saving over ripe-fruits (that won’t get eaten in her home) to offer the chipmunks and catbirds.
Watch the video to see how she does it!
BBN 4-14 - Backyard Feeding - Managing Chipmunks Around Your Feeders from Brome Bird News on Vimeo.
Squirrels lack the dexterity and the strength to manipulate most bird feeders. If you find your feeder on the ground you are most likely dealing with raccoons, deer, possums or bears.
Our feeders are effective against squirrels when squirrels have to apply their weight onto the feeder. If it can attach itself to a nearby foothold, it will not trigger the closing mechanism and easily gain access to seed. Allowing the 18″ clearance will force the squirrel to climb onto the feeder, thus triggering the closing mechanism and blocking access.
Squirrel Buster® feeders are absolutely and truly squirrel proof, but are not designed to deter raccoons, chipmunks or similar critters that can damage the feeder. Often they will drop the feeder to the ground and roll it around to extract the food. To minimize this behavior, latch your feeder with a snap hook that is tied to a hook or bracket.
The best way to hang a feeder from a branch is by using a branch hook.
Your best option is a shepherd’s crook with a 18″ reach or a multi-armed Post (like a T ) with a 18″ clearance from the pole. You can also attach a bracket to your house, a swing arm off your deck or simply a hook off the eaves of your house.
There are no rules to how far apart your feeders should be as long as you follow our clearance guidelines.
The Squirrel Buster® Plus can be pole mounted only if used with the pole adapter.
The Brome® Mega 600 can also be pole mounted on any 1″ (outside diameter) pole.
Our feeders should be placed somewhere close to cover, for example a tree, a bush or a brush pile so that birds have somewhere to hide should a predator appear. To avoid birds colliding with your windows, hang your feeders 3 feet and closer or 30 feet and further away from windows.
Position your feeder to get great close-up views of your favorite birds
Hang your feeder over a window, in a tree, on a deck, a fence, in your garden, on the side of your house, from a rain trough or over sliding doors. Use brackets, extension hooks and tree hooks to hang your feeder at the recommended clearance. Hooks and brackets are available at birding stores, garden centers and hardware supply stores.
Your feeder prevents squirrels from eating expensive seed, scaring the birds and damaging your feeder. Enjoy being free of squirrel problems, but please remember, squirrels also need to eat. For the price of a few peanuts, or inexpensive cracked corn, squirrels will be happy to entertain.
Remember it’s the squirrel’s weight that triggers the closing mechanism.
If a squirrel can reach over from a nearby foothold and avoid placing weight on the feeder, he will have access to the seed ports. Allow for at least 18 inches or 47 cm of clearance around the feeder. This will force the squirrel to climb onto the feeder, thus triggering the closing mechanism.