The hazards of greasing your feeder poles to squirrel proof your feeders can be detrimental to your birds and squirrels. 

 

Every year we have customers say that they have greased their feeder poles to keep squirrels from getting to their bird feeders. Please do not grease your poles to keep squirrels away from your bird food. Whether it's vaseline, WD-40, axle grease, vegetable oil, or another greasy or oily products greasing poles can be very harmful to birds and squirrels.

Here are a few important reasons why pole baffles, WBU Hot Pepper foods, and Squirrel Proof feeders are better than greasing your feeder poles:

 

  1. Most clinging birds (especially woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches) will land on the side of a feeder pole and shimmy up or down the pole until they are at feeder level before flying from the pole to the feeder perch. If there is grease on the pole, it will get all over birds feathers. Birds can not clean grease off their feathers, making it difficult for birds to fly. 
  2. "Grease on a birds feathers or on a squirrels fur can also make it hard for them to regulate their temperature which can create an insulating layer of warm air between their feathers or fur and skin during cold weather. This in turn can make it hard for them to stay dry in wet weather."-Sudbury, MA WBU store
  3. The obvious reason is, if squirrels or birds should accidentally ingest what you use to grease your pole, it can be make them very ill internally. 

The best ways to squirrel proof your feeders:

  • "If you feed birds but don't want to feed squirrels, come in and let us share with you, many safe options for discouraging squirrels. We can introduce you to food that squirrels don't like, such as safflower or WBU hot pepper foods, but birds do." - Sudbury, MA WBU store
  • We also have squirrel proof feeders that are weight-sensitive and close when a squirrels weight gets on the feeder, but not when a bird lands on it. (birds only weigh a few ounces versus squirrels which weigh a few pounds. A chickadee weighs less than a nickel!)
  • We can also show you the different squirrel baffles we carry, the best way to use them, and how they attach to your pole. 

We hope you will pass this information on to others. All information is worth having and this information is very important to both know and share. The more informed we are, the better chance we have of protecting the birds we all love. (Thank you to our sister store in Sudbury, MA)

For more information on proper and safe squirrel proofing, please stop by the Granger, IN Wild Birds Unlimited Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 12pm-5pm. 

Give us a call at 574-247-0201 or visit us online at Mywbu.com/granger.

Thank you from your team at Wild Birds Unlimited in Granger.