Over the Hedge by T Lewis and Michael Fry for June 02, 2024

Hammy for the win!

As Mark Roger found out, there’s almost no fool proof way to keep a squirrel from getting the birdfood. But his attempts and the videos he made are hilarious.

Poor Hammy….that had to hurt.

Search for squirrel-proof bird feeder videos on YouTube.

The trick is to prevent ONE squirrel from accessing the bird feeder. Once one squirrel figures it out, all the others follow. (The old fashioned shields work best for us.)

Hammy is much smarter than the characters give him credit for.

This one made me laugh enough to choke.

Now if only Paul and Jill from “Buckles” would have gotten something like that to keep Scrappy the squirrel from getting into the bird feeder.

Squirrels seem to see squirrel proof feeders as a personal challenge.

Didn’t centrifugal force cause some of the bird seed to hit the ground where anyone can get it? Mission accomplished, Hammy.

You can make some feeders squirrel-resistant, but I see pigeons hanging around on power lines in neighborhoods, and I know that house has a bird feeder.

Hammy ………. Your flight was fun ……. it’s the landing that you might want to work on ………. ;)

Sometimes I wonder how much less lovable Hammy would be, and whether this strip would have lasted even six months, if they had made him a gray squirrel rather than a red squirrel. They certainly made the right casting choice!

Hammy didn’t outsmart the tech. He adapted it for entertainment.

I have one of those squirrel feeders that looks like a picnic bench lol

Birds are sloppy eaters. Squirrels just scour the ground for droppings.

ROFL!

Search for Droll Yankees Flipper Y-MB feeder. Contains a battery/motor driven circular perch that rotates at about 2 RPM when something as heavy as a squirrel or large bird (like a hawk) lands on it. Works really well when charged.

That said, two observations: 1) Battery has to be taken inside and recharged for 12 hours when it goes discharged. Getting the bottom center where the motor and battery are located off the unit is somewhat irritating – requires a Phillips screwdriver. 2) Very large squirrels can hang by hind feet off the lid at the top and reach down the side to the openings to scoop out seed. By doing so, they can completely empty 5 lbs of seed from the feeder in a matter of a few hours.

I defeated the hanging squirrels by making a circlet crown out of a section of an 18 tooth per inch band-saw blade and putting it over the hanger wire and onto the top like a crown, with the teeth pointing up. Until I did that, the little tree rats were gouging furrows into the hard-aluminum top with their claws.

Another consideration – This particular feeder is quite expensive. Droll Yankees lists it at just over $160 US, so buyer beware!

Another choice is the Droll Yankees Whipper A6RPMB version of this same feeder. This one is $109, and uses spring-loaded, tipping wire perches to dump the squirrels off. Reports from users are that it is quite reliable, and it requires no recharging.

My money is always on the squirrel.