The Baking Staple That'll Protect Your Bird Feeder From Squirrels

Once squirrels discover your bird feeder, there's a good chance your yard will attract a lot of unwanted traffic. Aside from just robbing your feeders, squirrels can wreak plenty of havoc. If you plant flowers, they'll dig up the bulbs. If you have a garden, they will eat up the fruit. And if you have apple trees, they'll jump from branch to branch and knock off your apples onto the ground to rot. For these reasons, pests are an important thing to consider when putting bird feeders in your yard. If you've tried chasing your backyard squirrels off and that hasn't worked, there is at least one way you can scare them off even when you aren't around. You don't have to get a dog, just a pie tin.

The first step is to go to the grocery store and purchase a pie. It can be any type of pie as long as it comes in a tin. Once you've eaten the pie, just wash off the tin. If you don't like pie, you can purchase tins in the baking aisle at Walmart for less than $4. Buy one for every bird feeder in your yard. You don't need replacements because aluminum doesn't rust.

It should only take a couple of minutes to rig up this pest repellent. You're going to want to cut a slit in the tin using an X-Acto knife. Assuming that your bird feeder hangs from a hook, remove the feeder and pull the hook through the hole in the tin and reattach the feeder to the hook. The pie tin should look like a roof on top of the feeder. There is no hard science on why this method works for repelling squirrels, but gardeners have theories. The most agreed-upon theory is that the unnatural metallic surface reflects light in a way that squirrels find upsetting.

If you continue to have squirrel issues, there are several other tricks to keep squirrels away from your bird feeder. No need to buy a BB gun, either. Since squirrels have very sensitive noses, you can sprinkle cinnamon on the edge of your bird feeder or around your plants to deter them. Squirrels also hate the smell of coffee grounds, which can double as a fertilizer for your garden. You can even plant certain herbs like mustard and mint, which squirrels tend to avoid because of their scent. Also, nothing freaks out squirrels quite like birds of prey, so try putting out owl decoys. But these recommendations are just a few of many simple bird feeder upgrades.