Hi, I wonder if squirrel baffles would work, they are large dome shaped bowls with a hole in the middle which you can attach to poles either above or below feeders to stop squirrels getting at the food, that might stop them, others on here will be able to say if they work, I've never had to use them as I don't get rats or squirrels.

Thanks I shall have a look on ebay. Would be good to know if they work as don't want to waste money that could have been spent on bird food but then again the rats are eating it all at the moment! lol! Their favourite is the suet balls and pellets! Doesn't help that the naughty and messy starlings keep knocking all the food over the sides of the basket so it attracts the rats.

I have that trouble with woodpigeons at the minute chucking all the food out of a feeder I have on top of my wall to get at the seeds that fall to the bottom of the mix I put out, I'm lucky though I can sweep it all up at the end of the day as I don't have a lawn, and the birds spend most of the day picking up what the pigeons have thrown out anyway, I keep thinking I may as well just throw it on the floor though lol.

If you hang on a while I'm sure it won't be long before you start getting some advise on the squirrel baffles, their a friendly bunch on here, and you should get some good advice.

Well I guess the ground feeders like black birds get to benefit if they get there before the rats! The black birds are quite partial to grapes that are on the turn! My other half has offered to take out the rats with his air gun which I was horrified at. I know they're a nuisance but they are just wildlife trying to survive but unfortunately they have survived too well and as we back onto the allotment they have burrowed underneath the fence and have brought along their new babies too. Last year the local cats caught most of the babies but I think with the cold weather the cats have not been around as much. My cat is pretty useless! He just sits and watches them! There again he hasn't got any teeth left to catch a rat! lol! He'd have to gum them to death if he could ever muster up enough energy to chase them! I'm sure the rats must sit there laughing at him as they are so blatant!

Is it just me or is the first post in extra large text with no space between the lines so it's very difficult to read?

Salsachica Doesthe text change to normal text when you edit it?

Most bird feed sellers also sell some method of preventing squirrels from climbling up poles, or from landing on specific feeders. I think these should work against rats too.

Best wishes Chris

Hi Chris, no it's not just you. I suspect it has been copied and pasted from somewhere else - which doesn't seem to work on this forum. (That's usually been done where you also get all the "rubbish" text at the top of a post as well).

Yes the text did come out rather large for some reason and I was unable to change it. I was just typing merrily away in normal text size of approx 12 and then there was a blip and the text just jumped to that size and wouldn't change back.

A few people have now mentioned squirrel proof feeders so I shall look into it.

Thanks for the info.

Kind regards

Salsachica