Data Entry Contest: What memorable mammal have you seen around your feeders?
For the eighth season in a row, Project FeederWatch and our sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited are rewarding registered FeederWatchers with the chance to win prizes. Celestron has joined the fun by offering one pair of binoculars to each data entry contest winner as well. After entering counts into the FeederWatch website, on the submission confirmation page, participants have the opportunity to share a story, memory, or tip by clicking the “Enter to Win” button. We randomly select two winners per prompt. Our fourth Data Entry Contest prompt this season was:
Along with birds, mammals can also be regular visitors at bird feeders. Tell us about a memorable mammal you may have seen at or around your feeders!
Congratulations to our winners, Kayla Niner and Michelle H.!
Kayla shared:
The most memorable mammal at my feeders was a raccoon! It came by one morning just as I was having breakfast, checked out the ground under the peanut feeder, and then headed off for a drink from the pond (which is kept open with a bubbler for all the neighborhood wildlife). I love seeing the curious and innovated raccoons stop by, even if they have walked off with my suet feeder before!
Birds aren’t the only animals that appreciate the natural resources your yard provides. Water sources such as a pond or bird bath can attract mammals who may be looking for a drink. In colder climates, a bubbler for a pond or a heater for a bird bath can prevent ice from forming on the water’s surface. If you decide to implement a bird bath, consider placing it near shrubs, trees, or a brush pile to provide added protection from predators. Find more tips on how to landscape your yard and improve your habitat on our Gardening for Birds page.
Michelle shared:
I love watching the antics of squirrels and chipmunks at the feeders, but what takes the cake was seeing a flying squirrel in my tray feeder recently! It was such a delight to watch the little guy chow down on the seed cake in the tray. It was one mammal that I knew I had in my yard, but I’d never seen it, since they’re so secretive. It’s the only kind of squirrel I’d kindly welcome back to my feeders any time!
Opinions on squirrels vary widely with our FeederWatchers; some love squirrels, but others find them a nuisance species. It can be funny to watch a persistent squirrel finagle its way to your bird food, but may be discouraging to see them consume volumes of seed. One way to deter pesky squirrels is to distract them by feeding peanuts or dried ears of corn in a location some distance from your feeders. Others may be prevented from reaching food with baffles or squirrel-proof feeders. See more tips on deterring unwanted feeder visitors on our Feeding Birds page.
Thanks to everyone who participated and shared their stories for this prompt – we wish we could share all of your submissions! Read the stories from past winners on our blog. Email feederwatch@cornell.edu with questions. Stay tuned for when we announce our final data entry contest winners of the season on April 9th, 2024.
Interested in becoming a FeederWatcher? Join the fun now!
6 comments on “Data Entry Contest: What memorable mammal have you seen around your feeders?”
We have all kinds of Squirrels, gray, black, one blond, and one with a very short tail, we call him/her stubby. We also have opossum raccoons and lots of deer at night. I have 4 ring cameras around our house so we can watch the night time wildlife. In the winter we feed black oil seed, peanut pick outs, no millet mix, sunflower fine hearts mixed with Niger seeds. I took a tree branch about 3 inches in diameter, drilled 6 hole 1 1/2 diameter, filled them with suit, woodpeckers just love it to eat on, because it is like being on a tree. I have 13 feeders around our house also 2 heated birb baths, in the winter.
My most memorable mammal seen at my bird feeder was a red fox. One morning I looked out a window and saw a red fox jumping up to the hanging feeder where a nervous squirrel was sitting. The fox could not reach the squirrel after many jumping attempts. Finally the frighted squirrel jumped to the gound, but the fox was not fast enough to catch it. The fox had missed his breakfast, jumped over the yard fence and departed.
An opossum laying in the feeder! It is the type of feeder that is suspended on the arm of a metal tree, 5 ft. up. He had to have climbed up the skinny pole to get in!
I have small farm adjoining US Gov. game land with 2 acre pond. I have seen red shouldered hawks trying to get at the birds on the feeders. Also one night saw a bob cats, often foxes and of course raccoons squirrels and I have found beaver teeth marks on the posts. Snakes, always issues with snakes. I have photos of a long black snake climbing up a tall Shepards hook to get at the hummingbirds. I stopped using Shepards hooks for feeders. My solution was to put the feeders inside the underground dog fence. I have a big dog . He loves to chase mammals. He has caught squirrels right out of the tree branch (7’high) but interestingly he never kills or harms what he catches . It’s a game to him . Most of these birds and mammals know us well ,they’ll even tease him but it’s fun to watch and he keeps the songbirds safe.
The dog also keeps all the feral cats away, luckily he can’t catch them but they are afraid of him.
South eastern Indiana,raccoons,deer,opossums,snakes squirrels!
I have the usual mammals, squirrels, racoons, opossums, etc. but the oddest mammal was a rabbit. we don’t get much snow down here so during our last snow(which we get every 10 to 15 years) I guess the rabbit could not get much in the way of food and was eating sunflower seeds knocked out of the feeder by the birds.