Squirrels are the bane of many bird lovers. They are active little pests, and their leaping ability is amazing at times, as they will stop at nothing to get to the food in your birdfeeder. Bird lovers have come up with a variety of ways to defeat these critters. Here are just a few.

One simple way to inhibit squirrels is to simply use a squirrel baffle, which is typically mounted on pole below the feeder or on the hanger above the feeder and simply stops them from climbing to the feeder you have mounted there. However, if your feeder is close enough to a tree or a roof, the squirrels will often just leap past the baffle to the feeder itself. In that case you may have to resort to a squirrel proof feeder.

Four popular types of Squirrel Resistant Bird Feeders include:

Baffled Bird Feeders - The effect of this is similar to adding a baffle to the mounting pole for your feeder. Here the baffle is simply built in to the feeder, often this is done by adding a baffle to the built in hanger on the feeder. Once again, this needs to be mounted in a place that an adventurous squirrel can't get to by leaping or jumping.

Caged Bird Feeders - This is a brute force solution to the problem of squirrel. These put a large cage or mesh around the actual feeder which keeps the squirrel from reaching the food, but has holes in it large enough that the birds can reach through and easily feed. Obviously this works better with small birds, but not so well for larger birds who are close in size to a squirrel. Also the squirrels can still perch on the feeder and still be a nuisance .

Weight Activated Squirrel Proof Feeders - These feeders escalate the battle with your squirrels, and actually attempt to dislodge them from the feeder. These will typically have a perch or some other landing area that is hinged or moves in some other way. The will then either attempt to discourage the squirrel by closing a baffle so they can't get to the food, or in most cases they will have the perch or the entire feeder rotate or drop the squirrel away from the feeder. These are entertaining to watch, and are generally not harmful to the squirrels. You can find models of these from Heritage Farms.

Motorized Squirrel Proof Feeders - The ultimate weapon in the war against squirrels, these can be the most fun to watch as well. The most popular of these are the Droll Yankees feeders but Brome makes one as well. In fact, here you can see a video of the Droll Yankees feeders in action. Extremely effective, but keep in mind they run on batteries so you will occasionally have to change or recharge the batteries.