Urban Farmgirl

predators!

Have you considered

04:14, Monday, December 11, 2006 .. Posted by melm

Offering the squirrels some "sacrificial" feed, such as peanuts or corn cobs/cracked corn, of their own? I did this with Stellar's jays in my suburban yard and ended up ultimately enjoying them *more* than the little birds. Their antics can be amusing, and sometimes if you throw them a treat of their own they'll leave the little birds' goodies alone.
If you're buying seed at a store like Wild Birds Unlimited, they normally have affordable bags of these things. You could also pick up a big bag of peanuts (in the shell is even cheaper!) at a warehouse store like Costco or something along those lines. They'll still eat it, even if it's not "officially" from the bird food company.