Cheap Raccoon Baffle Thwarts Squirrels Too

I’ve had a real increase in inquiries about squirrel proof feeders, I know I talk about them often and in particular the Squirrel Buster, but I’d like to clarify a couple things. First, although it does work well to keep squirrels off your feeders I do feel there are better and cheaper ways. Since most people feed a variety of food in many different styles of feeders, I think it makes more sense to make a multi hanger station and squirrel proof it. The Squirrel Buster will be rodent free, but it does nothing for the two styles of peanut feeders or suet feeder which are an even greater attractant to bandits of the bushy tail variety. I don’t know anyone who is satisfied with only one feeder, so if you want to add variety you’ll have to squirrel proof them anyway. Sure you could add a dome over each of these feeders that, if placed exactly right will be squirrel proof, but these things are very expensive. A small dome that is usually referred to as a weather dome in the industry (because they are iffy when it comes to squirrels), is around $20, but the big one that is more likely to work is closer to $35, multiply that by the number of feeders you are likely to have out and it becomes substantial.

The other downfall, these domes and squirrel proof feeders do absolutely nothing to deter raccoons, they simply climb the pole or tree and drop it to the ground, where they open the lid and empty the whole load.

On several recent call-in radio shows the only advice that was given to keep raccoons off feeders was to take them in every night. Who has time, space or the memory to do this every night? Not to mention, you come downstairs in the morning to see the dog with a very satisfied grin and a “suet mustache” or the cat rubs against one of the tubes, knocks it over, it dominoes the rest and kitty spends the night playing peanut hockey around the house.

There is a way to raccoon proof your feeders, you can buy a pole or maybe make one with things you find around the yard (I’m not talking about a Red Green scrap metal and duct tape affair either). It could be made out of a 4x4 with 2x4’s crossed at the top and hooks screwed into all 4 ends. You could also Jerry-rig old flag pole, close line pole or cool looking piece of drift wood. I like to make a 4 hanger station, some go more and some go less, but I think if you are going to the trouble to baffle the pole, you might as well have 4 feeders on it. Any more than that creates a lot of traffic and mess around the feeders. The two things you need are: a pole strong enough that a fat raccoon won’t just bend it to the ground (half inch copper pipe doesn’t work, they can bend it, if you have a larger diameter copper pipe you’d be better off selling it for scrap and using that money to buy something good) and a baffle about 4-5 feet up the pole that they can’t climb around. You can use a commercial baffle or make one out of a section of 6 inch stove pipe with a cap or my favourite, a maple sap bucket. You just have to find a way to attach it to the pole. Wooden poles are easy, you cut an appropriate sized X in the bottom of the bucket (or the cap for the stove pipe), bend them up and screw them to the post. For metal posts, I hose clamp two pieces of wood or L brackets to the post where they will hold the baffle in place. Smaller baffles work better if the float freely on the clamp.

So if you raccoon proof your feeders, the squirrels can’t get on either and you don’t really need the Squirrel Buster. Where I do recommend it is to keep pigeons and other larger birds off or if you want to hang a feeder on your deck or so close to your window that the squirrels can jump to the pole, above the baffle.

I’ve been told other methods of squirrel/raccoon proofing, such as greasing the pole, this is only a temporary fix and how do you know when it’s time to “re-grease your pole”? When all your feeders are gone? Carried of into the long grass and shrubs at the edge of the woods. If you examine the edge carefully you should be able to see the disturbed path the raccoons made on nightly trips to your feeders to check the grease levels on the pole. If you can’t find them right away don’t worry, you’ll get them when you brush mow. (I doubt the lifetime warranty covers brush mower damage, but I haven’t tried yet)

I’ve been asked about cayenne pepper in the seed, I think this is a bad idea that is slowly fading away, it doesn’t seem to deter squirrels or raccoons, in fact some say they eventually prefer it. Although the birds seem to eat it, what effect does it really have, there are several complaints from people who get a blast of the hot powder in their eyes while filling feeders, who’s to say the wind doesn’t blow it into the birds eyes too? I can’t imagine what repeated exposure would do to a birds eyes long term.

So far my 4 arm hanger is 100% squirrel and raccoon proof, I’ve even noticed less collateral damage (corn, grapes, garbage, sheds, etc.) since the feeders haven’t been a nightly draw. I’m still on guard though, I make sure the cordless reciprocating saw, acetylene torches and ladders are locked away every night.