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Stop the predators. OK you've fallen in love with the idea of attracting birds to your yard. You've even built some bird houses, only to find that others are happy to eat their food and even them or their young. Yikes! What to do now. Well first that's nature. On the other hand being human kind we have a natural proclivity to try to control that to some extent. Here are a few helpful hints.

Squirrel from the feeders. Try a combination of mixing 1 teaspoon of cayenne to 2 cups of food. The birds don't mind it but the squirrels don't like it. If that doesn't stop them add a quarter of a cup of safflower seeds to your bird food mix. Squirrels can't stand safflower seeds and will soon leave it alone. You can use my husband's favorite method and shoot the squirrels with a water gun. This is a big mess and only keeps the squirrels away for moments at a time.

Snake prevention. Grease the bottom of two feet of the bird nest pole with a mixture of 1/4cup Vaseline mixed with 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Use a pipe flange, inverted funnel, or cone guard on the pole about a foot below the nest. Attach a 24 inch square of hardware cloth directly below the bird nest box.

Get rid of invasive shrubbery or trees in your yard. Birds such as robins and thrashers have a much lower predation rate when nesting in native trees and shrubs.

Raccoons can be deterred by greasing the bottom two feet of the bird house pole with carnauba wax.

Hawks and other predatory birds. Sorry that's just life or death so to speak.

For bees and wasps. Apply a thin coat of chemical free soap to the roof of the bird house to keep wasps and bees from attaching to the roof of the house.

Use EMT (electrical conduit) as pole material for mounting bird houses as it is zinc coated and stays slick for a long time deterring snack and raccoons.

Build a little roof overhang about one to two inches and place entrance holes about inches below the roof.

Good luck and happy birding.

Learn more about this author, Betsy Young.
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