Keeping Squirrels Off My Birdfeeder with an Electric Fencer

[@retiredbitjuggler3471]

I have been playing mental chess with squirrels since I retired 4 years ago. I enjoyed the give and take and enjoyed watching them defeat my squirrel countermeasures. I would up my game and they would study and attack the new challenges until they found a weakness. I truly enjoyed the interchange (in spite of my wife and children thinking I had lost my mind). However, the cost of feed has reached a point where I had to cut my loses and just overwhelm their resourcefulness with brute force. I took an 8’ 4x4 post, put a 4’ 2x4 tee on top of that to hang my feeders on. I then shrouded the post in a 5’ length of 5” diameter galvanized ducting to prevent them from climbing up. I drove a fence post spike into the ground 10’ away from anything a squirrel could jump from and secured the 4x4 post on that. Problem solved, but the fun is gone. 😢

[@kreynolds1123]

I appreciate the willingness to experence a shocker before subjecting other creatures to it.

[@garbo8962]

Best thing about squirrels is they taste good. Have a retired neighbor that feeds them several times a day 365 days a year. They dig up my lawn to bury nuts all year long.. Never once saw one of them retrieve a buried nut. We had a neighbor that used to trap at least a dozen a year on his small lawn. He would paint a yellow or orange stripe on them then release them 6 miles away.Told me none ever returned but if it did would not give it a second chance but would test their swimming ability by placing them while in the cage to a filed 55 gallon drum.of water. Get tired of sweeping up peanut shells off our steps, sidewalk & patio. Tried putting vinegar & hot pepper on lawn but then they just bring over peanuts from neighbors lawn.

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

I did 15 cage to water filled wheel barrel in one week, I had ONE that appeared to REFUSE to die, I felt sorry for him & his will to live so I pulled him up & let him go

[@charlesbutler8057]

Squirrels are on Amazon as you speak ordering rubber squirrel boots😂

[@JusticeAlways]

I did similar thing...used finishing nails as standoffs on a wooden bird feeder. Then attached bare copper wire...circumventing the feeder. Attached wires to extension cord...routed to inside the house. Waited for squirrel...when he started feeding I plugged it in... bizamm! squirrel flew off. After a while squirrel figured it out to not touch the wires by "tip toeing" over them. Funny thing...he'd tip toe over wires...I just didn't energize...watching him tip toe was hilarious. I'm a engineer too...guess folks are finding out what we do in our spare time. 😄👍

[@davidhazen2394]

Thanks for the video. I love the fact that you allowed yourself to be shocked it was very entertaining!

[@Anthony-nv7gd]

Yur the man. Well done. I have tried EVERYTHING! Gonna try this.

[@tfp0052]

He has to be an engineer. Ten thousand dollars of technology to protect a ten dollars bird feeder! But, he can't resist an interesting problem that needs fixing!

[@TRPGpilot]

10K worth of teck? ? Zimbabwe dollars?

[@maxi-me]

Great footage; that's a good setup and squirrels are incredibly resilient. Cool to see Robins use it, they seem to prefer dining on earth meats. When they cleared off the Mesquite groves for a development behind us, large rats invaded our attic by dropping on the roof from an oak. When I trimmed it back, they just scaled the bricks. I secured every possible entry except a gable vent they had breached. I installed for them a convenient two rung "ladder" of bare copper, at the bottom of the gable. I then hooked up one of those transformers like you used, which allowed them out (with much trepidation) yet discouraged them from reentry. Nothing "persuades" freeloading mammals like good old EMF 😅

[@JusticeAlways]

120 VAC works very well...no need for fancy pants transformers..etc. (I'm a cheapo guy) 😜👍

[@Chubbydippin]

Good design. "Fencer"? Never heard it called that before. I finally gave up on my bird feeder because the squirrels would wipe out the feeder in about 1 hour.

[@tomgiorgini9154]

great fun love watching them fly

[@kevincase6202]

I took mime and replaced the transformer with a 12K volts and then watched the tree rats fly and spark

[@jimbeedle679]

when i was a kid--i used a model T spark gap and a train xformer--workwd super on Mom's bird feeder !!

[@isgar2266]

Nice video really enjoyed it!!!! I have same problem here in southern Texas damn squirrels steal my birds food. Feed is expensive now I enjoy the birds not the squirrels. BUT!!! I don't want to hurt the squirrels. Still it's funny to watch, thank you for posting.

[@engagementSquared]

great information flow, physics back story, and video work.

[@_CAT-lg4sr]

Yeah, I had problems with raccoons, possums, squirrels, etc. Finally did a 3" separated parallel bare wire setup -/+/-/+ ~ with the wires laid in shallow, narrow kerf saw cuts connected to a 15KV neon sign transformer because I had one. Each only visited once or twice and got the message fast. They never came back.

[@rearspeaker6364]

15k, surprised the tail didn't burn off the first time!!

[@USMC-Sniper-0137]

I enjoy squirrels too..... I enjoy watching them get shocked...........

[@marko63362]

LOVE this idea! High Five! Next spring I will explore doing something like this,. Looking forward to your solution for dealing with the mice!

[@redwolf8539]

Great video. I'm so sick of those rodents eating everything in sight and leaving nothing for the birds. +++

[@VirusForPrez]

I wonder if this thing would be any good agaist Porch Pirates ?

[@mikehoward8201]

Ha ha, reminds me of a friend of mine who had to take a leak, so he unknowingly pees on an electric fence wire! Also, I have seen male dogs run up to a fence, hike up the back leg and leak on an electric fence wire! They do flips! Ha ha

[@dianabenobo]

I found that a feeder which limits the approach of birds also limits the approach of squirrels. A small rectangular tray of less than 1 in in diagonal diameter, is enough for one bird at a time keeps the squirrel attack down to one squirrel at a time and minimizes their destructive spreading of the food to the ground where they can invite the whole neighborhood for foraging.

[@rosslangerak8361]

As you point out, grabbing a live wire causes your muscles to clench so you can't let got. Whenever moving wires around or touching a potentially live wire, touch the wire with the backs of you fingers. If your muscles clench, they pull away from the wire.

[@icarus3604]

Been looking for a set up like this for a while.. For me this is the next chapter in the squirrel wars. I’ve tried all kinds of deterrents on the feeders and I’ve built and modified all sorts of defences and deterrents but it’s time to let them ride the lightening.. Let the games begin.. (I enjoy watching them but they can get through 2 litres of sunflower hearts per day)

[@donaldhoudek2889]

I had to laugh! About 5 years ago we had the squirrel/bird feeder issue. They would jump off the privacy fence and land on the bird feeder hanging from a decorative pole. Watching from the kitchen window I was really getting aggravated. Since I just changed the coil on my 65 Mustang to a HP one, I went to the shed and took it out. Had an extra car battery so I brought that out also. I put 2 strips aluminum tape on the top of the fences top horizontal 2x4. Ran a pair of 18 AWG door bell wire from the wired in coil and battery to the kitchen window and on the inside I put a push button switch. Well for the first 2 days the squirrels stopped on the tape I hit the button and they went 3 feet into the air. Then they went to the middle fence horizontal 2x4 and I then did that one. Also lasted a couple days. They finally went to walking on the tops of the pickets and launching from there. Decided then to supply enough food for the squirrels and birds. Took down the feeder when the fruit rats started tapping the food supply.

[@SirNightmann]

Yeah, I remember when I was a teen I crossed an electric fence, the wire was just below the groin and the wire shocked me on both legs,, and I will tell you lol , I never crossed that fence again ROFL.😅

[@rosreif4033]

And a pellet gun work really great

[@stanleyharrell6009]

Search for edgun leshiy on KZbin. He has the ultimate setup for squirrels with a pellet rifle.

[@DailyMyChildhood]

That’s so cool ! You’re so talented 😍

[@kittty2005]

If you have problems with deer run a ground wire to the ground and put a small sheet of hardware cloth on the ground attached to the ground wire and attached to the ground of the fencer, they stand on the the hardware cloth and touch the hot wire with their nose or tongue and WOW what was that, yeah make sure all fragile things are removed from the area as it can cause a stampede if there are many, because they are naturally jumpy.

[@redwood1957]

Did you use electric on the mice? I could not finf that video. Thanks for sharing

[@paparoysworkshop]

I don't have any problems with squirrels on the bird feeders because they are happy with what I put in the squirrel feeders. Every critter is welcome to get some food at my place. Especially in winter. The colder it gets, the more food I put out for them. Nobody is chased away and nobody gets shocked.

[@gordbaker896]

I use 110VAC Bare the wires, anchored 1" apart in zig zag pattern on a board and plug it in.

[@JusticeAlways]

Use finish nails for stand-offs ...it works.

[@chandamagallanes5722]

Great video--Where did you get that Mechanical Engineer tee shirt? It's great!

[@Bugnetblue]

Make me laugh. I am working on a electric fence defense. I tried hugely potent pepper mixed in the sunflower hearts and the squirrels still came back. Electric is the way to go. It sure worked for me when I tried to cross farmer's fences to fish.

[@skepticalmechanic]

I’m doing this thanks!!

[@ricktarded5943]

How about skip the 110V stinger and go straight to 50A 220V stick welder? Time to FRY'EM!!!

[@potpie5417]

Mechanical engineer? Why am I not surprised.

[@williamlewis4379]

Jeff, enjoyed the video! Beside testing the wire with your hand to see if it's working, would you be able to use a multimeter instead? However most multimeters are rated for 600 to 1000 volts. I've read that these fence zapper put out around 5000 volts. Any thoughts? Thanks

[@rearspeaker6364]

the 1-mile ones only put out 1000 volts.

[@JusticeAlways]

Just use 120 vac straight from wall outlet...it works. (Just be careful!) 😜👍

[@bonniedeibel1546]

We had 3 female dogs that were outside in a large pen, dog house, food, water. Well cared for. All 3 would climb the chain link fence (pen). We hot wired it by stringing a wire around the top of the pen. The first dog got zapped. The other 2 didn’t know yet what happened. Later each one got zapped & they never climbed out again. They caught on fast. Eventually we didn’t have the wire plugged in to zap them. They knew where the wire was & still never tried to climb out. When dogs climb a fence, they jump down on the opposite side & can injure themselves. They don’t comprehend the possible fact they could get injured doing that.

[@dirtyscoundrel2013]

If it's not fun why did you keep touching it?

[@johnpossum556]

Nice. My building has never been attacked by animals since its 1958 birth date and this year a adolescent downy woodpecker decided it would look better if a machine gun had hit it. So something has decided to live in its holes and eject my fiberglass insulation. Got a woodpecker video in the works??

[@davidjames1063]

Bug spray those holes.

[@charlesbutler8057]

Squirrels are demons😂

[@weemanhodges1]

Put chicken wire on top of the feeder as well.

[@chrismayer3919]

Nice… but how long before those bastard bandits learn to knaw/sever the hot wire and disable the trap? Squirrels aren’t fools… 🐿️

[@rearspeaker6364]

the wire is pretty tough.

[@mikesabota2570]

Cheaper and easier method....22cal pellet to the dome.. Guaranteed results..every time!!

[@plantbasedprepper]

Do you have to have the ground wire on wood or bricks to complete the circuit? I have a brick wall and the squirrels are going right through my electric wires. I'm not sure how to stop them unless I put up a fence. Here is my video showing the problem. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4PSoGh8nbaaa6M

[@dallasrieck7753]

we are all engineers soooo engineering 12 squirrel 0 😉

[@richardturk7162]

I was hoping you wouldn't do the big long drawn out explanation thing but you being an engineer you can't help it, its like you have to prove something. Electricity is a pretty basic thing and most people understand it.

[@SmokyMountainBlessed]

🤣🐿

[@Mhadboss]

tbh ... u should hire styropyro for electric things ...

[@peterharman8466]

Hilarious 😂

[@davidjames1063]

Afro Engineering !

[@luigi5890]

Bushy tail Tree Rats

[@prestoncheapbtheadphoneste3010]

What a beautiful white dude. Oh. Wait. This video is about animals. 😐

[@Hogger280]

That bird feeder is very wasteful - birds are pigs and will root a lot of the feed over the side and onto the ground.

[@will_doherty]

When you touch the live wire you're only feeling a fraction of what the squirrels get - If you put one hand on the ground wire and the other on the live at the same time, I guarantee you won't have a silly grin on your face afterwards - you'll be doubled over cursing what you just did. Engineer...

[@gundamdetractor337]

" poor squirrels " the guy that work hard to put food for the birds? nah, who cares about him, right? funny your logic 🤡.

[@jongonegone1262]

another bird brain, bringing mice rats squerrls, to his property, has no clue how many mice are living in his car garage attic, they call me, i give them bill for $3000.00 keep feeding the birds.

[@richardpalen2327]

You should not feed birds. Of course it attracts squirrels duh. Then you get angry and want to hurt them. Someone should wire your house so you get shocked every time you try to eat. Take down the feeders you jerk!

[@5xq38p4u]

If you are an animal lover you should love all types instead of electric. This is how mass murderers start out. The power of control over defenseless animals.

[@mariaconcepcionmroque8111]

🌎❤️🕊😊 😡 You Are Very Mean Person!!!

[@rearspeaker6364]

if he was mean, he have a 50 k transformer on it, Definity would get fried. this is only a 1000-volt jolt, 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off.

[@moose.knuckle]

You would do it too,........if your 3rd world country had electricity

[@maxi-me]

You've _got_ to be kidding. These creatures are NOT Disney characters. They can be quite territorial and demonic. On my property we've seen them attack a nesting mockingbird mom and dump the eggs.