So, I don’t really have a backyard, just an “out back,” so no fences or anything. I’ve had the feeder out for over a year and there’s been no issues, but recently, two cats have decided to make my feeder their hunting ground. I believe one of them was successful (I found a discarded wing). Any suggestions on how to keep the kitties away? I love cats, so I’m not looking to hurt them.
For anyone wondering about this, capsaicin (the stuff in hot peppers, etc. that makes them hot) was evolved by plants specifically so that birds could eat them and therefore spread their seeds over long distances while other animals, primarily mammals, would not.
Birds are 100% unaffected by the stuff. (So are most reptiles, for whatever it’s worth.) It does no harm to them to shake a perimeter of it around your feeder area or even mix it into your bird seed.