One problem I face in my yard is that the bird feeder keeps getting taken down by squirrels and other animals that are not supposed to be there. Unfortunately, every time I try to solve this problem it always seems to fail since it is a free-hanging bird feeder. This prevents me from stopping squirrels from jumping onto the feeder from where it is hanging.

I thought of making the bird feeder put into the ground, but then the squirrels would just climb up. I researched some anti-squirrel bird feeders that would solve this problem I was faced with. I then saw a video where a guy used a slinky to stop squirrels from climbing up his bird feeder. This video helped me solve my problem of the squirrels getting to the bird food since the slinky has stretching principles preventing the squirrels from grabbing onto the pole and successfully climbing up it. I used this idea and added it to my bird feeder. To make sure the squirrels cant jump onto this feeder you need to place it an area where there is nothing a squirrel can jump from to get ontop of the feeder. I recommend a area in an open yard with no trees nearby.

The wood I used was from my old deck that we took down to add an extra garage to our house. The slinky was just an old toy that I was no longer using. The bird feeder of course was an old one that the squirrels. This kept the materials ultimately free for me since I was reusing every material in this new design.

This is a link to the designed I made using onshape: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/7ee09b3a2f3cb2bb882c9b87/w/b1307855ac59ef1fa6a75c16/e/2a9d9270c312b80c41054263?renderMode=0&uiState=646619bbc4b5d56681355d81

Supplies

The supplies you need are some scrap wood, a spring, an old bird feeder, screws, a drill, a screwdriver, bird food, a shovel, a heavy-duty stapler, and a saw.

Step 1:

Step one is cutting out the wood to make the post part of the design. You can make your own measurements but I used four 2x2x8" planks and one 2x2x36" plank.

Step 2:

Next is to add the spring to the tall part of the post so the squirrels won't climb up the pole. I put it about 10 inches down from the top of the post and used a heavy duty stapler to secure the spring. You only need to staple the spring twice on the top you need the bottom to move freely.

Step 3:

The next step is to combine all the wood pieces using screws and pre-drilled holes drilled in by a drill. I recommend secrewing the 2x2x8 wood pieces 6 inches from the bottom to create a very secure base.

Step 4:

The second to last step is to drill and screw the bird feeder onto the top of the post and add the feed into it. I put a piece of wood on the top of the post to support the feeder.

Step 5:

The final step is to find some flat ground to place the feeder in by digging a hole deep and wide enough for the stable part of the post to be placed in. Place the post in and cover up the hole with the dirt you just dug out.