Many of you know of my ongoing battle ….the battle between feeding the birds and feeding all of the other wildlife that seems to want to be a part of the Chiles household.  We get them all—-squirrels, chipmunks, deer and the occasional rabbit who eats what the others have kicked out.  I have chronicled my fight over the years and blogged about it.

Finally I gave up and designated the winter birdbath to feed them….not sure the neighbors were thrilled but the deer were happy.

Then I read an article that said that feeding them in the winter was not good because their bodies could not handle the corn when they were in the winter months and not used to eating that richly.  Sigh.  I may be to blame for a declining deer population in Iowa…..but I sincerely doubt it.  We still have plenty.  Just last night a lone doe came through the yard which set the cats into hunting mode.  Like they would know what to do with a deer!!!

The squirrels were the crafty ones….always there right when the birdfeeders got filled up.  Cleaning them out and gorging on sunflower seeds till they looked as if they would explode.  They were quite bold, especially this fella that seemed to fall asleep while eating.

My husband, being the wonderful man that he is, totally surprised me this year on my birthday with a super duper bird feeder.  I had no idea what was in the box.  Well, imagine my surprise when I unwrapped Wild Bill’s Squirrel Zapping feeder!!!

A thing of beauty, is it not??? But wait…there’s more!!!

Yep—run on a 9 volt battery!!!  That little baby will deliver a “gentle” shock to any squirrel who ventures in to the 24 hour dining stations!   Hahahahha!! Don’t tell PETA—I will probably get reported!!!  It did say a gentle shock…..

So birdfeeder assembled and we are ready for installation…….Chris goes to town….

Buddy and Holly love to watch the birds so of course they were on hand to watch the installation –from the safety and security of the sunroom, of course. They are pampered indoor pets, after all.

Finally it is ready…….but after getting it mounted on the pole in a makeshift fashion it was decided that yes….we really did need to spend MORE money in order to get the mounting bracket. Sigh.   It looked dorky (sorry, Chris) and the top would blow off at the slightest gust of Iowa wind.

So back to Amazon Victto order the kit and more time passes before the perfect solution  to the most awesome birdfeeder in the world.  Most definitely the best one in the neighborhood!!

Of course once the mount came it was too big to fit in the pole that Chris had already put in the ground—-so a little more work and last night—VICTORY!  The bird feeder is in place….

$$$$$$$$  and 100 pounds of bird food later and we are in business for the birds!!!!!!   It has 3 separate compartments so my feathered friends can dine in style on their choice of sunflower seeds, nyjer seeds, or wild bird seed mix.   Now they need to start coming.   Or I will be sad.   This morning in my zeal to see if anyone was feeding I kicked over my coffee cup…..I told you—-I am excited about this!!!   So excited that the java hit the floor.  🙁

I will let you know how this works out…..if nothing else it will be a good point of reference for low flying planes !!!!!