Participant Photo: Pileated Visiting My “Inverted” Feeder Station

I had the idea for this feeder station (a central wooden core for feeder arms and “auxiliary” posts for pole-mounted suet cakes)–all to be suspended on a winch/pulley system to keep entirety out of the reach of bears which had damaged simple feeder suspension from a tree. I call this an “inverted” Feeder Station as this is essentially a pole-mounted feeder that is suspended (and therefore, upside down, so-to-speak) from a tree. This whole affair is about 14 feet off-the-ground. It managed to thwart the squirrels, too, for a while. It is still hit or miss for them. Sometimes they are unable to grasp the feeder arms on they way down from the dome, and I hear a satisfying “thud” as they hit the ground. Other times they manage to hold on.