I tried everything there was to discourage squirrels from getting to my bird feeders, everything. I used thin monofilament 8-10' long and 8' from the tree's trunk. The squirrels learned how to slide down that mono! There just is not anything we humans can come up with that will deter them. Now I trap them and "re-locate" them. It was either that or begin to shoot them.

Well, you could have fun & oil the monofilament & watch them slip and slide.

I cannot tell you the number of things I came up with and the number of hours I watched those squirrels, defeating every idea I had. It was certainly entertaining. IF they would just have left my orchids alone, they would have been safe. I didn't care that they constantly emptied the bird feeders.

Yep, Pretty sure my squirrels would slide down the fishing line, too. I have an expensive "squirrel proof" feeder that hangs from a large metal crook. They slide down the hanger (stainless wire) sit on the lid, then slide down the side of the feeder until they land on the ring that closes the ports so they can't get to the seeds. Each one of my many squirrels must have tried it a few times. Now they've discovered that instead of doing the slide, they can reach or jump up to the ring, open and close the ports a few times and send a little shower of seed down onto the catch net (an 18in. circle of window screen) under the feeder.

The birds spill a lot of seed, and I've just had to be satisfied to let the squirrels have what the birds spill without making them forage around on the ground and drive the cat crazy. So the catch net is now the squirrel feeder under the bird feeder.

I have one of those "catch-nets" too, but mine is 36" in diameter and hangs under a huge feeder. The squirrels will empty that feeder (8 qt.) into the net in a day. I just don't put a lot of seed in the feeder any more!

I'm with you guys, if EVER anyone finds an "easy" way to keep squirrels out of bird feeders they could make a fortune, we live on 2 1/2 acres an because one person doesn't like to hear gun shots we can't kill them, taking over the property, and our house, i'm setting traps all the time, I love to watch/feed the birds but have stopped because I can't afford to feed squirrels, the bad thing is that they go and eat the scratch for my chickens also, gotta love/hate that animal.

You might be able to adapt this method for squirrels, but I use it to keep the resident raccoons out of my feeders. I hang feeders from bungee cords. When a raccoon puts his weight on the bungee cord, it stretches, and he panics and jumps off. I use the cords sold at Home Depot that have lockable clips on each end (like key ring belt clips). I loop one end of the cord around a tree limb and clip the feeder onto the other clip. I realize you might have to use much lighter weight bungee cords for squirrels, but just maybe... I have had the critters chew through the bungee cords, though. Nothing's perfect, I guess. I gave up trying to fight the squirrels. We now have the healthiest squirrels in town. But lots of nice birds, too.

I have never tried bungee cords, but knowing my squirrels, they would simply think it was a new game. They love to play games!

Go to the dollar store and buy a slinky. Attach it to the pole the feeder is on, sit back and enjoy the show.

The feeders are not on poles. They hang from trees.

Welcome, bayliner. Please tell us where you are and post that with whatever other information so that it always shows on the upper right corner of your posts. If/when you have questions, it helps to know where you live.

to ATP bayliner!!!

I have a feeder on top of a pole, luckily it's a metal pole so I just grease it up with SuperLube and same thing - enjoy the show. I do have to renew the grease once in a while.

Welcome to ATP bayliner!

I agree with Bayliner. The trees in our wooded backyard are "limbed up" to allow more light and air circulation but that doesn't yield suitable branches for bird feeders. We have one big feeder (electrified which didn't deter the squirrels) on a pole but all of the other seasonal feeders (suet and thistle in winter, hummingbird feeders in summer) are on shepherd hooks. The pole and the shepherd hooks each have a slinky attached year-round. Not a single invasion in several years. I have 3 different types of squirrels in the yard during daylight hours.