If you are unfamiliar with the Squirrel Buster brand of bird feeders, allow us to bring you up to speed. Firstly, they are owned by a Canadian company known as Brome Bird Care with headquarters in picturesque Knowlton, Quebec.
Following years of research and engineering, they developed what most believe to be the most effective squirrel deterrent feeders on the market today. With over 4 million happy customers around the globe, their patented design utilizes gravity to either open or close access to the seed located within the feeder.
Operating with a spring mechanism, these feeders are adjusted to allow for bird species of all kinds to safely perch and feed. When an animal with significantly more weight (like those pesky squirrels) mounts the feeder, their weight alone closes access to the feed inside, leaving more for your backyard birds!
We have carried Brome products in our store for more than 20 years. Our relationship with Brome has been very well respected over the years and those fine folks over there certainly know what they’re doing.
Which brings us to their NEW Squirrel Buster Suet Feeder – the first of its kind on the market. As such, we had the pleasure of unboxing one of these exciting new products and wanted to provide you with some initial reactions and feedback so far.
The Suet Feeder
Just as the name suggests, this feeder was designed and engineered specifically for suet. As many of you will already know, our birds are not the only ones that take a liking to suet during the winter, spring and summer months – many other mammals are attracted to its sweet and sultry scent.
Like all other Squirrel Buster products, this suet feeder is also spring-loaded but allows for two suet cakes simultaneously while providing unbeatable protection against feeder raiders such as squirrels. Additionally, these feeders include a customized suet shield that acts both as protection against unwanted visitors and Mother Nature, adding more hours to the lifecycle of your suet.
Catch Tray
One of the first features we noticed was the catch tray located directly below the suet insertion points. As anyone who has offered suet to their backyard birds know how much is pecked away and usually ends up on the ground below. While this is great for our ground feeders (and those who enjoy leaving extra on the ground for squirrels), these catch trays will not only keep the ground below clean of debris, it will also offer more opportunities for other birds to perch and feed.
Not your average suet cage
One thing that was worth noting was the size and weight of this new feeder – as you might imagine, it’s built ultra-durable. As such, it is quite heavy and will need the right support system and circumference clearance to work effectively. We recommend at least 18″ clearance around all sides to prevent critters from reaching the feeding area from a foothold of something nearby. A sturdy wall hanger, garden bracket, S-hook from an extended tree limb or a solid pole system will easily do the trick.
Who am I gonna see???
There are many varieties of suet loving birds. Depending on your location, you may see the following birds visit your brand new suet feeder:
Woodpecker – Nuthatch – Chickadee – Brown Creeper – Blue Jay – Northern Flicker – House Wren – Tufted Titmouse
But what you will not see are squirrels and for that I think we owe Brome Bird Care a big ‘ol Canadian Thank-You.
