"The Responsible Suet Alternative"
Backyard Tips - Coping with Squirrels
The Four Natures Keepers, Inc. concept is based on the experience of zoo professionals, along with the care and thought that goes into the day to day challenges of maintaining and enriching the lives of a wide variety of animals. As stated in our philosophy statement, we believe that all the world's animals are facing the same life situations whether they are captive in a zoo or confined in an isolated habitat fragment. Based on that philosophy, we have to treat animals within our personal environment similarly to those animals in a zoo environment.
One of the problems faced by zoo keepers on an almost daily basis, is providing the animals in their care with ways to stimulate natural behaviors. In captive situations with very few changes within the animals environment they have a tendency to become more aggressive, overweight and lethargic. 
Whether providing a polar bear with a large block of ice, containing frozen fish or primates with a PVC pipe filled with seeds that must be manipulated to get their goodies, activities are planned to challenge their brain and motor skills,at the same time allowing the animal a way to use its natural skills. At the end of their hard work they are rewarded with a favorite treat item. As a member of the "Squirrels are Destroying My Bird feeders and Driving Me Crazy Club" it only stands to reason that I draw back on my experience as a zoo keeper and begin to challenge them! As with some of my favorite captive animals it seems that squirrels share the motto "If we can't eat it or breed it ...TEAR IT UP!"
With that in mind I set about designing and building some backyard squirrel challenges. I have found that feeding the birds in the front yard and leaving a section of my backyard as a squirrel domain can, as long as I am diligent about it, keep the two species separated and allow both to eat and utilize their space. By choosing a particular food that draws squirrels, even though you may think you are spending more to support those culprits, in the long run you will be saving money by not having the squirrels destroying your feeders, selecting their food choice and scattering the rest, and running off the birds we want to attract or feed.
A log can be drilled with different sized holes, that are filled with raisins, nuts in the shells,corn, peanuts, fruit and peanut butter. No squirrel worth his bushy little tail would be able to pass this up! The different depth of the holes will require different strategies and lengths of time to acquire the special treat hidden within. A smaller log or piece of wood drilled and stuffed can be hung from trees or poles requiring the squirrel to balance and hang on in just the right way to retrieve his treat.
As the squirrels master this you must be prepared to move onto a new form of challenge. That is when we go back to the zookeepers favorite, the PVC Challenge! A PVC pipe with threaded caps that can be taken off for refilling and cleaning. Drill holes only large enough for the food items to come out. Place food items ( I've found shelled peanuts, sunflower seeds and raisins work best) in and hang. Sit back and watch as the squirrels figure this one out. I guarantee that you will be laughing in no time and forget about how those same varmints were driving you crazy not long ago. Birds, too, try their luck at these challenges, and can be quite entertaining. Making a tightrope for squirrels between trees and sliding a piece(s)of PVC pipe over the tightrope causes the rope to be unstable and will roll as they step on it, until they learn to jump over it, then just place a longer piece of pipe on the tightrope so they must start over to conquer the challenge and get to the goodies. Designing boxes and an assortment of devices and doors to operate to get to the prize can be done but will require more work on your part.
Like so many things the more you put into it the more you will get out of it. Remember,your challenge or enrichment devices must be rotated, sometimes frequently, because once the challenge is gone the animal is quickly back to it's old habits. We at Four Nature’s Keepers, Inc. encourage you to think of your yard as an all encompassing habitat for many native species. We are all the Keepers Of Our Own Wild Yard. In order to survive, one species relies on another and we rely on them all.
For additional information, suggested reading:
Outwitting Squirrels: 101 Cunning Stratagems to Reduce Dramatically the Egregious Misappropriation of Seed from Your Bird feeder by Squirrels by Bill Adler
Squirrels: A Wildlife Handbook (Johnson Nature Series) by Kim Long
Squirrels by Brian Wildsmith
Squirrels at feeders photos by Tony Northrup - To see more of his work go to www.northrup.org