Too late this year as Mr. Squirrel done chewed a hole right into my (plastic) corn hopper. It's working out for both of us (for now) as the feeder is still functioning and his demand hasn't outstripped my supply. I get the idea he otherwise guards the entrance to his horde as all the other squirrels stay around the ground corn.

When the feeder comes down I will fix the damage. Then by next fall I'm going to come up with something to prevent squirrel chewing. Problem is I don't know what and hope somebody on A-R has already been through the trial and error phase(s).

This feeder has about a 10 week deployment and I get to it for battery change/feed resupply about every 5-6 days.

Is wire mesh with battery powered electric shock do-able? Whatever I come up with it has to be reasonably portable.

(P.S. I know this sounds strange, but the ground rules on the property is that I can't kill the squirrel(s) so thats not an option....deer yes, squirrels no)

Why? They are delicious!

Landowners rules on not eliminating the squirrels, so since I'm a guest I obey their request. I'm grateful they allow me to hunt deer there.

I hope somebody has a 'this is how you do it' solution on this. I'd like to think there is a way to protect the plastic hopper with a wire mesh that will give them a little zap by way of a battery.

UPDATE: I've been googling this quite a bit and am starting to find some direction on the 'net on the subject of rat zapping. It's the top edge of the hopper that I think needs the protection; where the lid edge overlaps the hopper. Mr. Squirrel got on top of the feeder, then started chewing on rim of the lid. I'm thinking two bands of wire/metal that are each charged by a DC source might do it. Next year I'll not put the feeder within jumping distance of a tree too. But something on top that gives him a zap when he completes the circuit might be the direction I need to go.

Take my advice and surrender gracefully - squirels will find a way to get an easy meal.

They are hungry, they are clever and they are relentless.

They may be pests but they are fun to watch while they try to figure something out. Cut them a little slack and be happy they don't live in your attic.

put up an easier food source that they can access.
squirells are clever and have all day every day to figure stuff out.
they enjoy the challenge and are hungry.
just give them something else to eat nearby that is a little work but more tasty to them.

DB Bill and Lamar:

You are right. I'm going to do a couple simple things to make it harder for them to chew holes, and give them an alternate (easier) source. No sense in turning this into a deal.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
put up an easier food source that they can access.
squirells are clever and have all day every day to figure stuff out.
they enjoy the challenge and are hungry.
just give them something else to eat nearby that is a little work but more tasty to them.

Very good advice.

I recall seeing a video sometime ago (made in England) where squirrels eating at the bird feeder and no matter what they did the squirrels got in. The one I like the most was suspending the feeder on a rope which wasn't any problem but then they added a section to far to jump over, in the middle that rotated when they stepped on it.

The squirre must have fallen a dozen times - tried jumping over the part that swiveled. Tried to balance on it and he even tried to jump onto the feeder stand from a distance tree - almost made it. He tried jumping from the tree after he bounced on the limbs timing his take-off to when the branch was highest for max lift and he managed to snag the rope and pull himself onto the platform to eat. It wasn't long until another squirrel did the same thing. They got down by jumping onto a piece of cable about half way down and then jumping the rest of the way.

They like Jaguar.Thats a commercial mouse and rat poison.I get a bunch of those little red fuggers freeloading in my barn every winter.Takes about a week to wipe them out.

Would a metal feeder be allowed?

I coated the legs of my tripod type feeder with axle grease. It was a hoot to watch the little buggers hugging the pole for all he was worth while sliding down!

No other structures close by to jump from, so they had to jump from the ground - and I had to replenish every couple of weeks. Worked on squirrels and coons. Haven't seen either in some time now.