Re: Hummingbirds in my garden
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: Hummingbirds in my garden
  • From: &* C* <1*@rewrite.hort.net>
  • Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 13:38:55 -0500
Those feeders are the ones I use for hummingbirds. Thirsty squirrels can always use the bird bath, which is also attached to our deck. I have had trouble with raccoons (far more destructive than squirrels), but solved that by bringing in the feeders every night. Our suet feeder is in a wire cage, suspended from a tree branch at least 20 feet off the ground. Chipmunks, plentiful at ground level, have not even tried to access it. The woodpeckers go through a suet cake about every two days, though.
Cathy, west central IL, z5b

On Aug 13, 2014, at 6:54 AM, Auralie Logan wrote:

We always have at least one pair of hummers. Over the years we have tried  many
kinds of feeders, but have found that the flat red ones that look like small frisbees,
with about six feeding spots around the rim work bet.  This year we only had one
pair early in the season, but they must have hatched out a whole nestfull for I now
see several at one time, and yes, they are territorial and chase each other around.
 
The problem that has developed this summer is that since we bought a new
squirrel-proof seed feeder, the frustrated squirrel sits on top of the humming-bird
feeder and tries to drink the sugar-water.  I guess he sticks his tongue down the
holes.  I'm hoping he will rot his teeth so he will stop chewing up the suet-feeder.
He has destroyed three this summer, and since we put the suet into a wire
cage that he can't get into, he sits on top of it and tries to chew the wire.
 
That wire cage has helped to keep the squirrels from the suet feeder, but now
a chipmunk comes and sits right on top of the suet-cake.  He and the birds are
going through more than a cake a day.  It's getting too expensive.  I just hope
he will get too fat to get through the openings - or maybe his cholesterol will
go up enough to cause him problems.
 
Auralie
 
In a message dated 8/12/2014 11:20:04 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 1*@rewrite.hort.net writes:
----- Original Message -----
> From: "Catharine Carpenter" <1*@rewrite.hort.net>
>
> I have been feeding them for years. Have a feeder in the front and in
> the back yard, because they tend to be territorial, and many times
> will chase other hummers away. Making your own sugar syrup is easy
> and a lot cheaper than buying the commercial stuff.

We've tried a feeder in the past, but they never seemed to visit.  I
wonder if they'll use it now that they have a draw with the Browallia
flowers... 

I'll put up the feeder tomorrow.  :)  I want a whole gaggle (oh, I looked
it up, it's a 'charm' or 'hover') of hummingbirds! 

Chris

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