This picture is from 1999. The circular pile of sticks at the base was beginning to work. Seeds and seed shells were falling in the center and the foot traffic stayed there.
The solution to the problem above is also visible in this picture. The squirrels had chewed up two 3-liter bottles by then. I used a heated ice pic to make the necessary openings which would allow for placing the bottles mouth-to-mouth with the iron hook rod running through their centers.
Each bottle could spin about the axis of the iron rod, although the bottom bottle would hang on the lower hook. But the top bottle spun freely and that was all that was necessary to make a squirrel think twice about jumping on it in an attempt to climb down to the perches.
The bird bath, by the way, is just a cheap plastic job. I think I got it at Home Depot. The column is hollow and screws attach the bowl to the column. I filled the column with water to give it weight.
In the Fall, when the leaves fell, the center of the base would fill but eventually get packed down into the base by birdie foot traffic.
These and the pictures on the next page are all from 1999.
