Homestead Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder
I don’t usually do articles on products because I don’t want to come across as a salesman but once in a while something comes along that you just have to tell your friends about. This birdfeeder is the best I’ve ever owned.
Bird watching is a favorite past time of mine. I have a big elm tree outside of my office window and enjoy seeing my feathered friends play in the birdbath and peck at the seeds. There is something serene about watching wild life.
Squirrels are also fun to watch but they eat an enormous amount of food and I was going through seed really fast. I have two big oak trees that supply them with plenty of acorns so it’s not like they are going to starve. In warm months they have many other options for food so I don’t feel too guilty, plus the fact they are quite destructive to homes so there is no need to help their population.
Several years a go I found a bird feeder made by Homestead that looked really well made. It’s heavy duty steel, powder coated to protect from rust. There is an adjustment so if you don’t want larger birds to dine you can set it for only the smaller ones.
It holds eleven pounds or two gallons of seed so you don’t have to refill it very often unless you have a lot of visitors. It comes with heavy duty hardware to attach it to a post or hang from any sturdy place like a tree limb or strong hook. The bottom part come out easily for refilling seed so you don’t have to take the hanging part down off of the tree limb if later on it has grown a great deal.
It looks just as great as it did when I first hung it from my tree. The only thing I would suggest is to take a tomato paste or soup can, clean and open both ends and cut a slice down one side. Place it on the tree limb and then put your feeder over this so your tree limb won’t grow over the hanger. We found this out the hard way but were able to cut out the feeder and save the branch. It’s not the feeder’s fault; trees just have a tendency to grow around anything that is in their way.
Make sure you hang it far enough away from a tree, fence or house so that a squirrel can’t still reach. You can't tell by the picture but mine is two feet away from the tree trunk. If hung correctly they won’t be able to get in no matter how hard they try. It is funny sometimes to watch squirrels try so hard to get the food only to fail over and over. They are acrobats and persistent little boogers.
Last year I was looking for another bird feeder just like this one and couldn’t find them anywhere. I couldn’t remember the name and mine doesn’t have a brand on it so I just put in searches for “squirrel proof feeders” and could only find a few that either required a pole or was flimsy and cheap in quality. I finally gave up hope of finding another one and purchased a long skinny one with a thin plastic sleeve inside. It works but the springs come off and have to be reattached every time I refill it and I’m sure it won’t last too much longer.
A couple of weeks a go I was at a seed store and while I was there thought I would look at the garden decorations. Nearby they had bird feeders and baths and lo and behold they had my feeder. I got so excited a woman thought I had lost my mind. I explained to her how wonderful they were and she bought one too. I should have gotten a discount but the fellow at the cash register didn’t agree with me.
Now that I’m no longer needing one I have since seen them on Amazon for much cheaper than I paid the seed store. I’m going to post a link to Amazon so y’all can order one if you want but I’m also going to put the company’s name, address and phone number just in case Amazon stops carrying them.
Homestead, Gardner Equipment Company, Inc.
Homestead division
167 W. Kindt St.
P.O. Box 106
Juneau, WI 53039-0106
Phone: 920-386-4880
