Farmall Cub

i love to set up the feeders in the fall ,suet and thistle for the little ones.i'll feed them until spring then they should be alright.i may be asking for trouble as my fruit trees are near by.
michael

I just made about 30 suet and seed balls at work yesterday the birds love these things and they are real easy to make.

Just suet cakes from TSC @.79 each.

I wish I could set out suet for the birds. Even in a cage the possums get it the first night out.

DanR wrote:I wish I could set out suet for the birds. Even in a cage the possums get it the first night out.

a .22 and a flashlight could be entertainment all night

We have fed birds during the winter season for many years. But maybe not this winter. My neighbor has always had a few cats, usually 3-5. Not much of a problem. However, his cats have really excelled in reproduction this year. I counted 18 cats recently when they gathered at feeding time. And when those reproduce, well, I don't like to think of that. With so many cats next door we are hesitant to feed birds as this might lure the birds into our yard where many will be caught and eaten. All suggestions, short of poisoning cats, are appreciated. Dan

Try a live trap. Then take them to a shelter where they will be neutered.

Dan R: We have considered transporting the cats to another location. The problem to most possible solutions which we have thought of centers around our relationship with the neighbor. He is elderly, in his mid-eighties, is now and has been during the 25 years or so that we have lived here, one of the best neighbors which we have ever had. His wife died of a heart attack around fifteen years ago. Within a few months following her death, he obtained a cat and also two or three goats and these animals have given him a new lease on life. He now has reasons to get up each morning, he is needed. They get him out of the house rather than setting inside and brooding. So, with that in mind, whatever we do must be something which doesn't hurt his feelings. He is a real gentleman. We have thought of erecting a couple of eight foot poles maybe 15 feet apart, with feeders attached to a wire and centered between the poles. There is still a problem with ground feeders but cats would not be able to reach the ones which feed at the feeders. I am looking for other solutions. Dan

That is a problem. I know well what an animal can mean to an older person. Time to build a mini chicken coup. Birds in, cats out. I may do that for the possum problem.

DanR: I think that you may have provided a solution. Maybe fence a small area beneath the hanging feeders, most ground feeding birds would gather there since seed from the feeders would fall there. I believe that may work. Thanks, Dan

saw something really cool today, i tried to get a picture but it happened to fast, actually i was so excited i was kinda fumbling with the camera. a hawk swooped down and grabbed a dove, i guess everything has to eat.

I'm not sure how high a cat can jump, but couldn't you put the feeder on a five or six foot pole with a tin collar (like a squirrel proof feeder) around the pole?

Bob

daddydip wrote:saw something really cool today, i tried to get a picture but it happened to fast, actually i was so excited i was kinda fumbling with the camera. a hawk swooped down and grabbed a dove, i guess everything has to eat.

hawks are amazing birds. i recently took a pic with my cell phone of a large hawk sitting on a fence watching a field behind the PO. i tried to get a closer pic but because i was in the big noisy truck i had to take it when i could and sure enough, he flew away when i got closer. He is to the left of the cedar tree in the clearing, sitting atop the fence.

We feed the birds. The bottom-less pits nearly eat us out of house and home!

I don't want to highjack your thread but this guy uses any bird feeders as bait and he upsets all the birds, the robins all go nuts.