Bears and hummingbirds don't mix.

[Bird]

We live in an area that attracts an enormous amount of hummingbirds.

I personally put out 64oz of nectar per day.......6 feeders.

Have to buy sugar in bulk at Costco.

 

We have a wrap around deck with the front of the house being elevated so feeders are 15-20 feet off the ground.

 

Bears are eliminating the feeders one by one and making a mess while waking us up each night.

The wife says it would be cruel to stop feeding the birds.

 

Tonight will be interesting as I have fishing line , Christmas bells, a Remington and rock salt.

DNR has been notified.

 

Oh, been feeding hummingbirds for many years and this is the first year that bears have been an issue ?

 

 

[gim]

27 minutes ago, Bird said:

The wife says it would be cruel to stop feeding the birds.

I can assure you the birds will be fine. There’s plenty of food for the birds. Cut of the food supply for the bears otherwise they’ll keep coming back.

[GRiver]

Yep @gimruisis right , had a momma bear and two juvenile cubs getting the seed feeders one year. Took them down for awhile, didn’t take long.
Neighbors took their hummingbird feeders down at night and put them back in the morning. 

I’m too lazy for that……  Anyway, she eventually moved on.

[padlin]

Bears got ours too, in the middle of the day, wiped out the regular feeders too on different days. 
 

How can a bear get them 10 - 20’ off the ground? I’ve changed to hanging everything from a wire strung between 2 trees so the bottoms are 6’+ off the ground, so far so good.

[TnRiver46]

Bird feeders are my best source of business, it’s usually raccoons and skunks  but only because im Not allowed to trap bears 

 

 

[Bird]

@TnRiver46

I scoop out the bird feeder every evening or it turns to kindling.

[Darth-Baiter]

can you just get more creative with hanging a hummingbird feeder?

[TnRiver46]

10 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

can you just get more creative with hanging a hummingbird feeder?

Not for raccoon. I’ve seen them climb 30 feet off the ground to get them 

[Darth-Baiter]

a raccoon couldn't get to one if I put my mind to it.  but I would need a manlift to set up the pulley system.  

[Bird]

@Darth-Baiter

This is the first time that a bear walked up a flight of steps in the back of the house and came to the front.

Wife has hanging plants with feeders attached, bear simply ripped everything down and lapped up the sugar.

I got something not so sweet on the menu ?

[TnRiver46]

14 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

a raccoon couldn't get to one if I put my mind to it.  but I would need a manlift to set up the pulley system.  

That’s what they all say. Then they call me to eliminate the raccoon. I’ve seen them undo the nuts to the power wires on an HVAC unit in an attic…… learned a long time ago whatever you think a raccoon cannot do, it can 

[Darth-Baiter]

my friend put a pulley up a tree and draped it all the way over to another tree.  he would lower the feeder, and then fill it.  then pull it back up.  it was on a thin Stainless steel cable.  I think a squirrel could tight rope to it, but it was a hummingbird fountain thing.

  but yea.  raccoons are awesome.  

[gim]

6 hours ago, padlin said:

I’ve changed to hanging everything from a wire strung between 2 trees so the bottoms are 6’+ off the ground, so far so good.

 

This could work.  Assuming the OP doesn't also have raccoon problems, as @TnRiver46 stated.

 

I have deer that waddle right up to my bird feeder in the winter, tip it, and suck in all the contents.  I fixed it by simply moving it higher.  I don't mind the deer eating spilled feed on the ground, but refilling that feeder every other day got old.

 

 

[Bird]

@Darth-Baiter

@gimruis

I did the elevated bird feeder for quite some time.

Squirrels could shimy the cable upside down but then another issue reared it's head.

A Red tailed hawk swooped in for a squirrel and broke his wing on the thin cable " sad " so took it down.

[gim]

That's unfortunate @Bird.  One solution to a problem just creates another problem, apparently.

[TnRiver46]

There are reasons they tell you not to feed wildlife, but nobody ever listens and im the benefactor, not the wildlife 

[padlin]

I had 1/8" cable that the squirrels could manage,  swapped to 1/16". Made it thru last winter. Hadn't thought of the hawk issue, which we get, I'll try tying on some strips of cloth or some such. 

[KP Duty]

My humingbird feeder is popular, but I have a red-throated guy that camps out on a vine above the feeder and chases off other birds when they fly in.  He's a tiny A-hole.

[galyonj]

On 8/7/2023 at 10:20 AM, TnRiver46 said:

Bird feeders are my best source of business, it’s usually raccoons and skunks  but only because im Not allowed to trap bears 

 

 

 

Bean's favorite show is birds and squirrels in the feeder that's suction cupped to one of the living room windows.

 

I'd give anything to watch her come face to face through the window with a big ol raccoon. She loses her mind when another cat comes onto the porch.

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, galyonj said:

 

Bean's favorite show is birds and squirrels in the feeder that's suction cupped to one of the living room windows.

 

I'd give anything to watch her come face to face through the window with a big ol raccoon. She loses her mind when another cat comes onto the porch.

Ironically I just caught a raccoon at someone’s house and she said “I’ve never seen my cat so scared”

[galyonj]

I wouldn't rule anything out with her. This is the cat that brought a chipmunk in the house, then kept it cornered just to screw with it.

[Bird]

UPDATE:

 

Bear showed up again last night, tripped my fishing line tied to a bunch of empty cans.

Went out the front door with a 12 gauge shotgun armed with rock salt and at 15 yards shot him in the behind......he left in a hurry.

DNR said it's a humane way to keep destructive bears away.