Thanks to RoseAnn Kirsch in Nebraska for this great tip and story!
We make our suet bird feeders a little different than yours. We melt the fat and peanut butter in a large pan in the oven, then add as much birdseed (instead of flour or cornmeal) as will stick together in the melted mix. Next we let it cool some, then put a mesh onion or fruit bag inside a plastic grocery bag ~ to make less of a mess with this project! Then we fill the mesh bag and tie it shut to hang in a tree with a bent wire hanger. Any 'leftovers' in the plastic bag can be pressed to the outside of the mesh bag or sprinkled on the ground. It won't be wasted.
This mixture works great for children to make as gifts, too. Tie a heavy string, to use as a hanger, to the top of a pinecone. Then pack the seed mixture tightly into the cone. Put into a sandwich baggie, leaving string hang out so it won't get greasy, and give as gifts to folks who like bird watching. :o)
With the price of food rising for us humans, it may be more difficult for folks to feed their winter birds as once accustomed. This idea may help some who may not be able to otherwise.
Instead of buying suet or fat, I save fat for feeding the birds. Through the year, I skim the fat from the variety of meats I cook, putting it into containers and either freezing them or keeping in our 2nd 'fridge. The mixture doesn't seem to hinder the birds from coming each year. I am glad to not be wasting anything and still be able to feed the birds! I think the fat and peanut butter added makes the value of the bird seed go further, as they get more calories from it this way, and it isn't scratched away as it often is out of a dry feeder.
We do this every year and hang it out the kitchen window and sure enjoy watching the variety of birds that come each day.
My brother-in-law made a large, crude suet feeder to put in their big tree. He laid out chicken wire and when they cleaned their deer, just threw the scraps of fat & suet onto the wire. When done, he wrapped it and secured it shut and hung it. My sister worried about odors, but it was consumed by the time warm spring breezes blew. Occasionally he had to lower it to push the wire in closer for them to reach to the remaining suet. The birds loved it and seemed to invite their friends! It was a good way to use the scraps from processing their deer, and the wire could be reused if wanting to make another the next year. Am not sure about the squirrels as they only had suet in it...?
We don't have a lot of squirrels here, but I do have a funny story for you. We have chickens and they have their trough inside the coop. One summer I noticed a squirrel going up the side of the coop into the open window and leaving with corn from the trough. Well, I thought he could get his winter supplies elsewhere, so we put wire over the windows. Not to be deterred, the squirrel was then noted to be seen running in and out the little chicken door! We laughed and laughed, and figured perhaps he did need the free lunch after all!
We make our suet bird feeders a little different than yours. We melt the fat and peanut butter in a large pan in the oven, then add as much birdseed (instead of flour or cornmeal) as will stick together in the melted mix. Next we let it cool some, then put a mesh onion or fruit bag inside a plastic grocery bag ~ to make less of a mess with this project! Then we fill the mesh bag and tie it shut to hang in a tree with a bent wire hanger. Any 'leftovers' in the plastic bag can be pressed to the outside of the mesh bag or sprinkled on the ground. It won't be wasted.
This mixture works great for children to make as gifts, too. Tie a heavy string, to use as a hanger, to the top of a pinecone. Then pack the seed mixture tightly into the cone. Put into a sandwich baggie, leaving string hang out so it won't get greasy, and give as gifts to folks who like bird watching. :o)
With the price of food rising for us humans, it may be more difficult for folks to feed their winter birds as once accustomed. This idea may help some who may not be able to otherwise.
Instead of buying suet or fat, I save fat for feeding the birds. Through the year, I skim the fat from the variety of meats I cook, putting it into containers and either freezing them or keeping in our 2nd 'fridge. The mixture doesn't seem to hinder the birds from coming each year. I am glad to not be wasting anything and still be able to feed the birds! I think the fat and peanut butter added makes the value of the bird seed go further, as they get more calories from it this way, and it isn't scratched away as it often is out of a dry feeder.
We do this every year and hang it out the kitchen window and sure enjoy watching the variety of birds that come each day.
My brother-in-law made a large, crude suet feeder to put in their big tree. He laid out chicken wire and when they cleaned their deer, just threw the scraps of fat & suet onto the wire. When done, he wrapped it and secured it shut and hung it. My sister worried about odors, but it was consumed by the time warm spring breezes blew. Occasionally he had to lower it to push the wire in closer for them to reach to the remaining suet. The birds loved it and seemed to invite their friends! It was a good way to use the scraps from processing their deer, and the wire could be reused if wanting to make another the next year. Am not sure about the squirrels as they only had suet in it...?
We don't have a lot of squirrels here, but I do have a funny story for you. We have chickens and they have their trough inside the coop. One summer I noticed a squirrel going up the side of the coop into the open window and leaving with corn from the trough. Well, I thought he could get his winter supplies elsewhere, so we put wire over the windows. Not to be deterred, the squirrel was then noted to be seen running in and out the little chicken door! We laughed and laughed, and figured perhaps he did need the free lunch after all!
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