Unsolicited Testimonial!

Seeing as how my $40,000,000 Nike shoe endorsement contract has still not come through, I guess I might set my sights a bit lower. I might be able to get a bucket of bird seed out of this, but I am ready to say that I think I have found the best bird feeder out there.

I went out yesterday when I got home and emptied out the remainder of the seed from the three I purchased recently, and despite the near-daily deluges, every single one was dry inside. AND DESPITE a voracious squirrel and dove population, they have successfully withstood their assaults and provided a variety of tiny little wing-ed friends with tasty victuals.

The feeders in question are made by Heath Manufacturing up in Coopersville, Michigan, and the one to get is the Mixed Seed Feeder Combo.

This one is more expensive than their other ones, because it comes with a neato plastic scoop with a filler spout running through the handle and with metal perches and a metal cap and a feeder tray.

NOW then--the feeder tray is a no-no, unless you're just TRYING to give a place for squirrels to hang on and pigeons to wallow in, so don't put it on. The other tube feeders they sell, without the scoop and tray, have plastic or wood perches, which again are no-no. Wood rots, and both wood and plastic are very susceptible to being pecked away to flinders. You need metal. But, since you only get metal perches when you buy the Combo package, what this means is if you wind up buying more than one feeder, you wind up with extra scoops and trays that you don't need.

Luckily, these make charming gifts for people you don't like that much.

These feeders have done very well--they are reasonably water resistant, and what water does get in either drains or evaporates quickly enough that the seed doesn't sprout. They are slick and round, which make it hard on the fuzztailed tree rats to get a foothold. The perches are short enough, too, to make it hard for them to get their corpulent little bodies over to the spout to feed on them, as well as being too small for larger birds like doves and buzzards to alight on them.

I give it the Possumblog Lackadaisical Housekeeping Seal of Approval!

(Note to the good folks at Heath--I will be glad to serve as your celebrity spokesmarsupial. Again, just a bucket of seed or two in compensations will be just fine. Maybe some money, too. But not more than maybe six or seven mil. Unless you're feeling generous.)
posted by Terry at 9:47:00 AM