After the squirrels dragged off my last peanut-butter pine cone, I had to come up with alternative peanut-butter feeders for the birds, as there was not a plain pine cone to be found in our area, not even for purchase. Oh, I used our old peanut-butter perch, and my husband made me a new log feeder (seen in images below), but I bemoaned the loss of our pine cones, such fun little feeders, and I scolded those naughty nabbers, the ever-getting-fatter bushy-tailed pigs squirrels.
To my great delight, Marilyn K., who blogs at Adventures of a Vagabond Volunteer, offered to send me some pine cones, as she was surrounded by them at her current location in California. Marilyn is volunteering at different national wildlife refuges around the country while seeing some of most beautiful flora, fauna, and landscapes nature has to offer. Well, send me those pine cones she did, and within a few days about a gazillion pine cones arrived on my doorstep. I’m just giddy! They are the most gorgeous pine cones I have ever seen!
Seriously, this is the mother lode of pine cones. And there are enough pine cones to last me a very long while, especially as I intend to go back to wiring them so those sneaky squirrels can’t sneak them off to their sneaky hiding spots. But the biggest and bestest of them all was this Godzilla pine cone, dropped by a gray or ghost pine. Check out the size difference:
I know there are too many pine cones in this wonderful bounty for one wildlife-loving family to use. I’ll likely share some with the kids I work with and with other wildlife gardeners, so they can make their own feeders. I’ve decided, though, that the giant pine cone shall remain peanut-butter free. It will be too much fun to show it to kids at a nature talk.
I am indebted to Marilyn, who took time from the holiday season and all her adventures to mail me pine cones from across the country. Marilyn, let me speak on behalf of all the wildlife back in Texas who will benefit from your act of kindness — thank you so very much! The birds are already delighted, and they work their way through our peanut butter/corn meal blend incredibly fast. The squirrels aren’t shy about trying again, either — but if they can’t steal away the pine cones, they’re content to at least eat what they can.
This Bewick’s Wren feasted with determination.
And possibly this was the reason — another Bewick’s Wren was squawking from the nearby perch, impatiently waiting his turn. Hey, it’s not my fault all the peanut butter on the perch was gone!
My husband has been enjoying all the wildlife visitors and captured some wonderful images of his own. The Red-Bellied Woodpecker below is one of the birds we’d actually made the log feeder for, and I’m glad it approves.
This little warbler kept playing peek-a-boo.
And if there was any doubt about whether a squirrel would have a problem going up a shepherd’s hook, let us show you:
Such clever little tricksies, them squirrelsies….
You have given those cones a new life. I picked up the survivors from a bunch that were being run over by cars in a parking lot. And I told you wrong about the Coulter pine. Last week I learned that the pine cone I sent you is from a gray or ghost pine that is a common plant in the foothills. The Coulter pine cone would have been about 14 inches long but about as big around. Maybe I’ll have to find one to send you for your naturalist talks. And be sure to go to Kisatchee National Forest or some other place where long leaf pine trees grow. They are almost the size of the gray pine cone.
And I had to put squirrel baffles on my shepherds hooks and make sure they were NOT within about 8 feet of the tree. And I put a squirrel baffle on top of my hanging logs – I hung them from branches. It’s really fun to watch the squirrel jump down to the baffle and go sliding off.
Meredith,
I did pine cones and peanut butter also this year, the White-breatsed Nuthatches love them. I use Lobolly Pine cones there are common here. I think Long-leaf Pine cones are as big as your big pine cone. I think that yellowish warbler is a Pine Warbler, not seen any here this season..
That thing is HUGE!! Agile too.
Oh, and the pinecone is quite large as well. 😉
Marilyn, I corrected the post — thanks for letting me know about the gray/ghost pine. If you run across a Coulter pine cone, I’d love one for sure — how fun to compare all the sizes.
I haven’t wanted to do an official ID of that yellowish warbler, as I have yet to get a clear image of it. But you could be right about it being a Pine Warbler. I’ll try to get better images. Our closest Lobolly Pines were in Bastrop, where the big wildfire was in September — alas.
These pine cones poke, too, Alan. Therefore, I love them.
Great photos of the birds and squirrel. I love squirrels–I know they can be a pain, but their cheekiness always makes me smile. Except when they dig up a seedling I just planted…
I also found your peanut butter/bird seed recipe and plan to try it–thanks!
Meredith, I got some Squirrel Away capsasin (active ingred. in red peppers) powder @ Wild Birds Unltd. to mix with my peanuts and peanut butter. Squirrels won’t touch anything with this in it. I leave one or two for them and put the red pepper in everything else ‘nutty’. Birds love it, for some reason.
If I’m in a time bind, I buy the hot pepper dough suet cakes from Home Depot – $1.59 a cake. WBU’s pepper bird cakes are way too expensive. I find that the birds actually prefer them to the traditional suet/seed cakes.
Oh, those silly squirrels! He is a cutie, though. I have a ton of pine cones that a friend gave me, and the inventory lasts for years. If you need more next year, let me know–I have too many to use myself. I use them for fire-starters, but I think I will try your bird feeder idea–with a little red pepper added to keep the squirrels away!
So glad you got a bunch of pine cones – I remember making pine cone feeders for birds when I was in elementary school…so much fun…but I’m guessing the parents and teachers who were helping were probably thinking “so much mess!” instead…
So far my squirrels haven’t messed with seedlings, perhaps because there is so much other food around. Good luck with your birdies!
Sandy, I’ve thought about the red pepper stuff before. Maybe it’s time to give it a try. Thanks!
I can always use more pine cones, simply because I like to do these projects with kids. But try the feeders first — they are so much fun!
It can be messy with some kids, that’s for sure. But I try to plan ahead with easy clean-up methods to keep it under control.
I’ll keep a look-out for more cones. There are tiny ones around also.