During these Covid-19 days, my family and I have become a lot like domestic, homebound cats who spend a good deal of their time fixated on the birds just outside the windows.

We hung a few new feeders and have devised several ways to keep local squirrels from raiding our precious birds-only, black-oil sunflower seeds. However, we have FAILED to keep these cunning ninjas out of our feeders more times than we have succeeded because—I begrudgingly admit—SQUIRRELS ARE AWESOME!

Just today, I came across this video from YouTuber and engineer, Mark Roble, who coincidentally has come to this same realization after building an amazing obstacle course for his newly beloved backyard squirrels. This is a must-watch video:

So, if you want to feed the birds, hang your feeders up high with fishing line.

These great build/make/print projects are not only fun to make, but will have you singing along with the birds in no time flat.

• Build a simple wooden bird feeder using these instructions written by Adam Kittrell—the other Adam at the Hub.
• Print a birdfeeder using this parametric 3D model. (That means you can modify the design before you print it.)
• My family loves these 3D models for window-mounted bird feeders.
• Some of these 3D models are also really quite stunning:
  • https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3705723 
  • https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1594688 

Go Nuts on Feeders!

Of course, you could just give in, and make a squirrel feeder for those adorable furry tree rats as well! These instructions show you how to make your own bird-proof squirrel feeder.

The more you learn about something and understand it, the easier it is to love and appreciate it. Check out these Eastern Grey Squirrel facts. Before long, you, too, will be mumbling and fussing to yourself that SQUIRRELS ARE AWESOME!