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Outwitting Squirrels: 101 Cunning Stratagems to Reduce Dramatically the Egregious Misappropriation of Seed from Your Birdfeeder by Squirrels

Outwitting Squirrels: 101 Cunning Stratagems to Reduce Dramatically the Egregious Misappropriation of Seed from Your Birdfeeder by Squirrels

List Price: $12.95
Your Price: $9.71
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Extremely funny but helpful with practical ideas and advice
Review: As I was standing at my double patio doors with my nose pressed to the window watching the squirrels raiding my bird feeders, I became so agitated I abruptly jerked the door open to scare them off and banged myself in the mouth with my door. I decided at that moment to wage war. Although I haven't won yet, the book offers good advice on how I can get revenge without doing bodily injury to the little monsters.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny, good, and wise... what more do you want?
Review: Hey, I like and feed the little rodents myself, but they're party crashers in the bird world. Our feeder says very clearly: "Bird Station." Furry rats need not apply.

This is not merely a good read but a funny book. Mr. Adler has scored five stars from me, even before I read about Rosie O'Donnell's rave.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: One thing works for sure, cayenne pepper in bird food
Review: I bought the book but only one strategy has kept the squirrels out of the feeder, bird food with cpasicum pepper pre mixed. Those that say capsicum doesn't work are using only a recipe amount for human consumption which isn't enough. Buy the capsicum laced food and the birds will feed and you won't have to modify your feeder.

People have asked us regarding the safety of mixing capsaicin in with the bird seed to repell squirrels from eating the seed. Here is one reply from a couple of scientists.

"I asked Russ Mason, an expert on chemical repellents, whether birds are affected by capsaicin. Here's his reply: "No--the ethmoid branch of the trigeminal nerve innervates the eyes, nose, and oral cavity. This is the nerve responsible for mediation of chemical irritation. There is no evidence that birds code capsaicin (red pepper) as an irritant at concentrations as high as 20,000 ppm (the hottest chili is about 2,000 ppm). Mammals like squirrels (rats, mice) reject capsicum concentrations as low as 1-10 ppm." In other words, birds are insensitive to red pepper, period. They could be irritated by excessive dust, however. Robert H. Schmidt, Associate Professor, Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife, Utah State University, Logan UT 84322-5210"

Rating: 0 stars
Summary: Outwitting Squirrels Has Gotten Rave Reviews!
Review: I have been amazed (and pleased) by the reviews Outwitting Squirrels has received. Rosie O'Donnell said, "Bill Adler, Jr. is my hero. I love this book. Go buy this book."


Here are some more comments:

Bill Adler, Jr., a writer in Washington, has just published a treatise titled, Outwitting Squirrels...[His stratagems are] particularly appealing. --The New York Times

At last! A book that addresses life's really important issue, or in any case, the issue most crucial to people who like to feed birds. --The Detroit Free Press

A masterpiece of squirrel stratagems. --The Wall Street Journal

What the birdfeeders of America long have needed is a guru...I'm pleased to announce there's a new voice on the front lines of birdfeeding. His name is Bill Adler, Jr...Adler assembled his findings into a nifty volume entitled Outwitting Squirrels. --Minneapolis Star Tribune

An excellent book...both entertainingly witty and extremely helpful. A must. --The Ottawa Citizen

With this second edition, squirrels have never been more scared. --Arizona Republic

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny and Informative
Review: I love both birds and squirrels. I don't mind feeding the squirrels, I just don't want them destroying my bird feeders. With the help of this book I was able to set up a bird feeding station that was safe from squirrels but also had a ground feeder just for them. It's a great book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good fun for birdlovers.
Review: I must admit that I'm a bit nutty over brids, and I don't much like the squirrels pilfering expensive seed. This book gave me some good advice for keeping the tree rodents away from the feeder. And it is funny too. Any birdlover will appreciate this.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Inadvertantly increased my appreciation for squirrels
Review: I really enjoyed this extremely humorous book. After reading it, any failure on any birder's part to get rid of his sleek, well-fed squirrels is understandable. They're great athletes, motivated and social to boot.

It is great stocking stuffer for your squirrel-obsessed birder spouse or friends!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: One thing works for sure, cayenne pepper in bird food
Review: I wish I had known about this book two years ago. Mr. Adler provides insight into the single-minded focus of these furry creatures and their expensive impact on attempts to fill the backyard with a variety of colorful birds. Be sure to read the section on Nixalite. If only Bill Adler could be convinced to write a book on squirrels and their egregious misappropriation of the attic.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Serious approaches, humorously written
Review: I wish I had known about this book two years ago. Mr. Adler provides insight into the single-minded focus of these furry creatures and their expensive impact on attempts to fill the backyard with a variety of colorful birds. Be sure to read the section on Nixalite. If only Bill Adler could be convinced to write a book on squirrels and their egregious misappropriation of the attic.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Squirrels are smarter than most humans
Review: There are no "squirrel proof" feeders or methods. Most squirrels will figure out ways to get the food from a bird feeder that most humans would never figure out.

In fact, watching humans try all sorts of things they THINK will stop the squirrels, and then seeing the squirrels outsmart them always gets a laugh from me, because humans always think they are so much smarter than the "dumb animals"!

Here is the only thing you need to know, and the BIG SECRET to keep squirrels from breaking your bird feeders.

Put out some food for the squirrels too!

If you leave a pile of food for them, they will have no need to raid the bird feeder!

They like sunflower seeds, so just get a bag of all sunflower seeds, or mixed with corn, and everytime you fill up the bird feeder, put out some food for the squirrels too.

Sure, they like peanuts, but most of the year they are going to just bury those, and they will make a pile of peanuts dissapear faster than the same size pile of sunflower seeds, because they will sit and open each seed, and a pile of those will keep them busy for hours.

In fact, I find it is more of a problem keeping birds out of the squirrel's food, than it is keeping the squirrels out of the bird's food.

The birds prefer the seed on the ground than to having to deal with the feeders too.

The key is to put what each likes the most, in their respective feeders. Thus, when they have a choice, they will rather have what they like better, than to bother with the other stuff.

But if you let their pile of food go empty, then don't get mad when they turn to the bird feeder again.

Just having a regular feeding time everyday is good enough too. My squirrels all know when they are going to get their food, and don't bother anything else. The bird feeders never get busted and the birds get to enjoy thier feeders, while the squirrels enjoy their treats.

Squirrels have "nap time" around noon, so you don't really have to worry about them around that time of day. In case you wonder why you don't see so many squirrels around that time, and earlier and later in the day you see them.

Same thing if you have problems with animals ripping apart your trash. The solution is so simple, even some HUMANS have figured it out! Leave some tasty food scraps for the animals so they don't need to rip apart the trash bags! And don't throw away so much food in your trash, use your garbage disposal unit!

If you have some food you don't want, rather than throw it in the trash, put it outside somewhere for the animals, so they don't have to rip apart the trash bags to get to it. Meanwhile, with no smelly food in your trash bags, no animal will have any WANT to rip apart the bag in the first place!

Believe it or not, just as you can train your dog, all the squirrels in my neighborhood, know what they are allowed to take in my yard, and what they are not allowed.

In fact, one time, I was not able to meet one squirrel for his daily feeding, so I just put the snacks outside earlier so I wouldn't have to go out at that time. Well, when I looked out the window, the squirrel was sitting near the nuts and would not take any of them, she was just sitting there waiting for me. I went outside, and as soon as she saw me, she was happy and started eating. She figured to eat the food without my permission would have been stealing or something, so she waited until she knew it was ok to take the food.

Now every squirrel has a different personality, just like people do, so this doesn't happen with all squirrels, but some have more ethics and morals than others do, just like with people.

On the average, most squirrels are easier to deal with and better to get along with than most humans are on average.

But the more you try to figure ways to OUTSMART these animals, the more you will be defeated as they are a lot smarter than you are. The fact they can get into human designed "squirrel proof" bird feeders should PROVE that fact already.

Instead of having a war with them, why not just make friends and make a deal with them? They can have some treats of their own, so long as they don't bother the snacks for the birds.

Has been working fine without any problems for me for years.

I have several broken, chewed through and vandelized metal "squirrel proof" bird feeders in the garage that I keep to show to "newbies" from the days before I became more educated about wildlife and animals.

With bird feeders, your worst enemies are the sparrows! They just throw all the seed out of the feeders, emptying an entire feeder in only an hour or two, because they throw to the side all the seed they don't like, and most of it ends up on the ground. They don't just eat a bit, and then fly away like all the other birds do, they will stay at the feeder until it is completely empty, and will not let any of the nicer, more colorful birds NEAR the feeder.

Other birds will all get along with each other and eat together and share, but the sparrows are the worst of their race. They scare all the other birds away from the feeders, and empty them dry.

With most birds, you can have a feeder up for many days or weeks, but as soon as the gang of sparrows find them, they are empty every day.

Interesting no one ever tries to market a "sparrow proof" feeder or write any books on how to discourage THEM.

Unlike with squirrels, where you can give them their own feeders and food piles, the sparrows won't just take one. If they are eating at one feeder and other birds go to another feeder, the sparrow will go to that feeder and scare those birds away and eat from it.

Sparrows remind me a lot of humans sometimes.




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