For the past several weeks, I’ve had to take down the bird feeders as soon as it gets dark because the raccoons have taken to dining here each night. Not only do they dig out the rocks that were holding the bird feeder pole in place in its hole; one night when I was running late, I caught one climbing up the pole and swatting at the feeders, trying to knock them down.
Every night I took the feeders in. Every night the raccoons would dig out the rocks looking for stray seeds. Every morning I would straighten the pole and hang the feeders. And every night……
Last night I forgot to take down the feeders. This morning, not only was the pole down on the ground, but one feeder was totally destroyed and the other was missing. The darn varmints must have decided that they felt like “take out”.
So, today he cemented the pole into the ground. One problem solved.
But how do we keep the raccoons from climbing up the pole once we replace the feeders? They manage to climb right over the baffle that keeps the squirrels out.
Barbed wire wrapped around the pole, I suggest. He doesn’t want to hurt the ballsy critters. I figure that they’ll get pricked once and they won’t try it again.
I haven’t found anything online that guarantees to keep raccoons out or away from anything.
At least, for now, I’m reprieved from my Sisyphean task.
I still think barbed wire is the answer.