Feeding station

I'm waiting for a feeding station that I've ordered to be delivered. The hooks for hanging feeders are quite open and I'm wondering if they can be squeezed closer together to stop crows and animals taking them. Any ideas would be much appreciated please.

 

Not quite sure what you mean. But most hooks are made of mild steel and can be closed up with a pair of pliers.

This is a bird feeder we bought but returned because the starlngs swung on it and emptied it as the feeding apertures were too big. As you can see it is suspended from a cup hook screwed into a beam of our pergola. If we'd kept it, I'd have closed the hook up a lot, so the feeder couldn't easily come off.




Conversely you can get "eyes" of any size. i.e. like a closed up cup hook. These you can open up slightly with a pair of pliers if you need to hang something from it rather than tie it to it.

 

This is the one @Doghouse Riley. I'm referring to the hooks that the feeders hang on.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Selections...550270252&sr=8-4&keywords=bird+feeder+station

 

I would expect they will be made of mild steel, so should bend with a pair of pliers. I'd grip the very end of each hook with pliers. (I'd use a mole wrench, if you have one) holding the other bit with your hand and try twisting it a bit at a time. The rest of the hook needs to be supported whilst you bend it, to prevent it breaking at the top.

 

Thank you. I'll check them out when it arrives to see how pliable they are, I don't want to break them.

 

I wouldn’t bend the hook closed. You would then need pliers every time you need to fill up the feeders and I think you’d find it too much trouble.

 

If you fill the feeders in place, then you could put a cable tie around the feeders hanger and the hook, this will help the feeder to stay in place

 

Redwing I didn't want to close them completely which I stated in my post.

I need to remove them Jiffy for filling and washing from time to time. Thanks for the idea though.

Thanks Shiney. I've dropped the idea of closing them in case they break. There are no squirrels here but crows may be a problem. There's also my mystery animal from last year that I still haven't discovered. I suspect it's a Pine Marten and very adept at removal. I'll be keeping a vigil for this again overnight during spring and summer. I'll see how things go and if the feeders are removed I'll have to devise something.

 

Lucky you. I would be very excited to have a pine Martin coming into my garden!