Nature Notes: How to keep squirrels away from bird feeders

• By MARLENE A. CONDON
• Apr 29, 2025

I receive many catalogs, some of which sell “pest control” products. I dislike seeing the word “pest” used when referring to our wildlife because it evokes negative feelings in people, causing them to think that certain animals are extremely dangerous or useless and that these creatures should be destroyed.

Many folks get angry about wildlife when the real problem is an environmental one that should be solved first or an issue that has resulted because of how someone is doing something.

For example, when folks feed birds, a big difficulty can be keeping squirrels away from the feeders. Gray Squirrels enjoy seeds as much as the many species of birds that come to feeders, and they can be incredibly persistent about getting their share of the seed supply.

Several years ago, products started coming onto the market for treating birdseed with red pepper before placing it out for birds. With names such as “Scoot Squirrel!” and “Prevent,” these products would supposedly make the squirrels’ mouths burn for a while, causing them enough discomfort to avoid your birdseed.

I cringed when I saw these products being pushed even in bird magazines. It was touted as being safe for birds (because the avian creatures supposedly can’t taste it), but I had doubts. Nor did I think it proper for folks to make squirrels suffer, no matter that the pain was only temporary.

My concern for birds is that they will be temporarily blinded if pepper gets into their eyes, and the same goes for squirrels. If you’ve ever gotten red pepper in your eyes (I had when I used red pepper spray to keep a dog from biting me), you will know how painful it is.

Your eyes burn and water for a long time (if I recall correctly, it was more than 30 minutes for my eye to stop burning enough to see out of it). Thus, birds and mammals could suffer severe pain and be incapacitated long enough to get caught by a predator if the red pepper gets from the seeds to their eyes.

This is not improbable because the red-pepper coating could easily get onto feeder surfaces that the animals may touch directly with their eyes. Because a squirrel handles the seeds with its paws that it might then use to wash its face, it could deposit the red pepper into its eyes directly. I implore you to avoid placing such concoctions onto your birdseed.

Years ago, I overcame the “squirrel problem” by putting my feeders on poles with baffles to keep mammals from climbing to the feeders. The poles and trees, shrubs, and tall brush piles were placed at least 8 feet from my house because squirrels can jump horizontally that far from a stable perch.