Some bird feeders and Tom Cruise.

The Tom Cruise of Tree Rats

My war on birdseed eating, wire chewing squirrels is well documented on my blog. [Squirrel War, They play, and we pay].  I quit shooting them with a pellet gun because they just seemed to enjoy the challlenge too much.  I only shot them in the ass, and the pellet never penetrated, but it made them disappear for awhile. After I installed a gun port in the kitchen window, the population seemed to triple.  I'm not kidding, it was like they called up the Tree Rat National Guard.    We bought a feeder that shocked them with static electricty, and that was way fun to watch as well.  Here's a clip of it in action, before they figured a way around it.  About 3 years ago we discovered safflower seed.  Birds love it, squirrels will not go near it.  That took care of feeding the birds, execept we wanted to attract certain birds more than others, and that meant exotic seed as a side course.  The best feeder in the world, by far, is this levered perch deal (right).  When anything heavier than a fat Cardinal lands on the perch, its weight brings a cover down over the seed ports.  In 7 years no squirrel has defeated it.  We stock it with  sunflower seeds mostly. Two years ago we received from pal Joey a similar contraption, but much fancier, that we could hang near the main safflower station.  That way we could provide mall-like  dining diversity.  It used the same weight sensitive pedestal, and things looked good.  I stocked it with what is known in the squirrel world as ''Beluga Caviar,'' or shelled sunflower meats.  Our squirrels went into a frenzy trying to get at them. Watching them try to break into Fort Knox provided so much entertainment that MS and I would take to eating lunch over the sink so we could watch the show.  Ha-ha you stupid squirrels. This feeder is ''Handcrafted in China'' for Perky-Pets.  A check of their site indicates it's no longer sold. I guess this design flaw is the reason why. The ridges on the roof provide enough purchase that a squirrel can, Tom Cruise-like, execute a Mission Impossible heist of the seed.  They are a worthy opponent.