Out of the blue a friend started telling me she had just learned that if you mix red pepper flakes in with your bird seed, the squirrels will go away. Apparently red pepper flakes don’t affect birds but the squirrels hate them.

She had no idea I was having squirrel issues; she’s a new friend.

So I went home and tried it. I have a tube-shaped feeder with a cage around it. The little acrobats hang on the cage and scoop seed out of the bottom openings. So I mixed in a handful of red pepper flakes, walked into the house and watched.

The first hungry squirrel ate and ate and then I saw it shake its head like it was crazy and hop away. Cool!

But (and there’s always a “but”), it came back and resumed it’s meal. Again, shaking its head and hopping off. The little guy kept at it though and emptied my feeder by flicking it all to the ground. Then it picked through the pile in the grass and kept eating.

Maybe my pepper flakes aren’t hot enough. Or maybe both of us were misled.

If it’s worked for you, or if you have any other tricks, let me know.