This gift's for the birds...

For Christmas this past year, my mother gave us this great "squirrel-proof" bird feeder. And so far, it's proven to be just that. Not one squirrel has even attempted to tackle it. Maybe they read the box? In the background is our suet feeder. We put it up last summer but didn't get takers. A few weeks ago, I washed the container and installed some fresh suet. We were hoping the new bird feeder, hung nearby, might encourage the birds to try out the suet. But so far, that hasn't happened.

As for our resident fox squirrels, I might add that they do have their own feeder. For more than a year, we've kept a corn cob holder filled, and the squirrels love it. From our dining room window, we enjoy watching them hang upside down by their toes as they gnaw on the cob and dine on the corn kernels.