Plastic owl mounting
 

The Wife and I have had squirrels climbing all over our bird cage and even chewing holes in it. I bought a plastic owl from Home Depot. It has a round hole with plug on the bottom to put sand inside to keep it in place. However, I hope to be able to mount it on top of my bird cage frame for maximum effect. Has anyone done this successfully before and would you share your methods with me.

:bigbow:

I have four squirrels I feed peanuts to for three years and none have eaten through our screen. Have you seen them. I kept birdseed in the lanai and it was a rat that had chewed through screen and into the bird seed bag. I had to put the bird seed into a plastic container to make it stop and then put out rat poison inside an upside milk crate. The rats can fit through the holes in the crate but it's keeps other animals out, namely a rabbit that we have come all the time. Do you have food of any kind inside your birdcage? That's what they smell. I guess it could be a squirrel, they climb my screen but that's all they do. The fake owl generally works for birds, every neighborhood pool has one mounted on the trellis around the pool to keep bird droppings off the recliners.

We tried it the squirrels and Owl became friends.

The trick is to buy a real owl.

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yeah, but from WHO???
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I've had squirrel problems. Good luck with the owl!
I bought a hav-a-hart (have a heart) trap from Home Depot and when I catch one, I haul 'em out to the forest preserve and release him there. I've caught a dozen or more, palm rats too.

Squirrels are very persistent and there is very little you can do to deter them, trap and release is the best method.

Owls are Us has them for a real good price, guaranteed to eat squirrels too.

No food in bird cage at all. Maybe rats. I don’t really know. But squirrels are all over the place. If I could trap the squirrels I could drop them off at your place and you’d have more to feed. 🙄

:boom:

Tried it for pigeons in California. Pigeons pooped on owl.

:clap2: funniest part is it's completely true. ! after watching the results, even up north, this method doesn't always work. sooner or later they figure out the statue isn't a threat

Try a 22.

:1rotfl: :1rotfl: :1rotfl:

[QUOTE=Sailohio;1887385]The Wife and I have had squirrels climbing all over our bird cage and even chewing holes in it. I bought a plastic owl from Home Depot. It has a round hole with plug on the bottom to put sand inside to keep it in place. However, I hope to be able to mount it on top of my bird cage frame for maximum effect. Has anyone done this successfully before and would you share your methods with me.

Can squirrels actually recognize plastic owls as owls? I know my 12 lb. papillon LOVES to chase squirrels, but if the squirrels don’t move, she can run right by them without seeing them. She chases things that move and can’t find them if they stop. She loves to meet dogs, but when there are dogs on television, she pays no attention at all and doesn’t seem to see them as dogs. Thus my question about whether a squirrel would recognize a plastic owl as an owl. And then there is the issue another commenter raised: would the squirrel soon realize that the “owl” doesn’t move at all. Squirrels are pretty smart. Even if they thought there was an owl, they would soon grow accustomed to it.

My house in Pennsylvania came with a plastic owl in the basement. I mounted it on the partial wall separating the refrigerator from the dining room. It’s been watching me eat for years, and I never have to feed it. I’ve never had any problems with squirrels in my dining room since I put it there, but I don’t think that counts as evidence, though some people might find it convincing.

I DID once catch seven juvenile raccoons trying to reach my bird feeder in the course of five days, using a large Have-a-Heart trap. I let them all go in the same place several miles away beside a creek in the woods. For squirrels, I used the small trap.

My mother attached a slinky on the post of her bird feeders, no more squirrel problems!! Bought it on Amazon

We had the same problem with squirrels- owl doesn’t work, but ultrasonic pest deterrents did work! I know some don’t believe in them, but they are solar & detect motion - had them for over a year & no squirrels on screen anymore!

If you have the receipt return it!

Try getting some realistic rubber snakes and put them up there! If they don’t scare the squirrels they will at least scare your neighbors!

During squirrel season and since you cannot shoot them in the villages. Trap them, kill them and they are quite tasty barbecued in the crock pot or fried up.

I have had to put TWO plastic owls on my birdcage to keep the big water birds off. I put them in the corners with a medium sized L-bracket. Drilled two holes in the bottom of the owl (can put a bolt on one by reaching through the hole) and 2 holes on the vertical piece of the bird cage frame. Works great!
Recommend the owls with moving head $18 on Amazon.

Harry Potter
 

Check with Harry Potter.

Squirrel away
 

It is easier to shake, Squirrel Away, on the ground twice a year. Found it at Ace. Also use Snake Away.

Squirrels are too smart to be fooled with a plastic owl. They seem to be smarter than some people. Make a jalapeno spray with boiling water and soak a cut up jalapeno in it. Strain it and spray it on your screen. It also makes a good plant spray that keeps chewy bugs away.

Meat is kind of tough, used to have them via road kill before moving here.

Do you have recipe for a good squirrel marinade?

No shortage of amusing suggestions. As to using sand, I doubt it will stay up in a storm.
In any case you need to keep moving where the owl is to have it be effective.

Some have said shoot them. This is not farm country and it is illegal.
Some have said have a hart traps and move them. I think that too is illegal.
While it is illegal to do so, if you trap one drown it. A squirrel in a have a hart trap?
They are far bigger when you try to open the door to let one go then they look in a tree.
It is a huge RAT with a furry tail.

I screwed a 1/2" piece of PVC to one of the uprights using sheet metal screw; the hawk/owl slides over this and moves in the wind a little. It was effective for about a month and then the tree rats were back climbing on the screen.

food in lanai
 

I agree, I had bird food in the lanai. I had it double wrapped in heavy plastic, in a locked heavy plastic container and the squirrels were STILL all over my screens trying to get into it. I had to take the container into the garage. I still keep it wrapped up that way tho, just to make sure nothing could get into it.

Since my back yard is one of the forest preserves, I do not appreciate pests being relocated there. However, I am sure our resident family of bobcats wouldn’t complain.

Squirrels and owls
 

I agree 100%. First, no squirrel has EVER eaten into my cage, but I mounted TWO owls and it did not keep them away. I had them up for over 10 years and the only way I ever get rid of squirrels was the Hav-a-Hart trap and relocation (30+ in one year). If something is eating through your cage, you can be pretty sure it is rats. I have TEN "rat hotels" around my cage, refill them with poison every three months, and rarely do I find no bait has been eaten. But NOTHING has eaten through my cage in years and I've never even seen a rat, so they're eating the the poison and dying. (You can get all you need from domyownpestcontrol.com at a reasonable price.)

Maybe you can buy a motion activated owl..hmm research it.

The school I worked at tried them and they would just land on them.:)

What you need is an Animatronic Owl, or perhaps an Animatronic Hawk.

PBS' program "Spy in the Wild" showcases the use of such animatronics, apparently made by this company.

You have to move it around. Can't stay in one place or you will find the squirrels chewing on it.