By Bill Adler Jr. Outwitting Squirrels: 101 Cunning Stratagems to Reduce Dramatically the Egregious Misappropriation o

by Bill Adler Jr.

The 48 million Americans of all ages who enjoy feeding wild birds and spend more than $3 billion a year on bird food alone all share a common enemy—the squirrel. For 25 years, Outwitting Squirrels has been leading the charge to help bird lovers defend their feeders from these fast, greedy, incredibly crafty creatures who pillage birdfeeders before owners’ very eyes. This classic defense manual for the besieged bird feeder has been fully updated to deal with the more tech-savvy, 21st-century squirrel. It provides 101 cunning strategies, both serious and hilarious, for outsmarting these furry, but not so cute, creatures. Author Bill Adler Jr. discusses the different bird personalities and the best seed to attract them. He rates birdfeeders based upon how squirrel-proof, or squirrel-vexing they are, and discusses creative anti-squirrel structures and devices. Spooker poles, Perrier bottles, baffled fishing line, Teflon spray, Vaseline, water bombs, cayenne pepper, and Nixalite—the author has tried them all and he regales readers with his squirrel adventures and misadventures.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Animals, Birds, Nature, Science Nature, Science

Paperback

First published September 1, 1988

About the author

Bill Adler Jr. is an American writer living in Tokyo.

He's the author of Outwitting Squirrels (The Wall Street Journal: "A masterpiece"; Boing Boing: "One of the funniest books I've ever read"), Boys and Their Toys: Understanding Men by Understanding Their Relations With Gadgets, Tell Me a Fairy Tale: A Parent's Guide to Telling Mythical and Magical Stories, and No Time to Say Goodbye, a time travel novella, and other books.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't even have to get up and check. He's there right now. I know it.

The Grey Menace.

Tilting my bird feeders, pouring the seed into his gullet with all the gusto of a frat boy suckin' on a beer bong.

It's not that I begrudge him the food. It's just that when he's there...the birds are not. Plus, he and his ilk have chewed holes in countless feeders, and sheared the little plastic perches off of many others.

This book was entertaining and informative, though ultimately, not very helpful. There is a "know-thine-enemy" section where you can become intimately acquainted with squirrels. And there are plenty of reviews of available bird feeders, but the author admits there is no such thing as a squirrel-proof bird feeder - only squirrel-resistant. Most of the suggested do-it-yourself methods involve baffles and wire, and range from the unattractive to the downright hideous. No thank you.

As you can see in this amusing video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHVTIf... - virtually nothing will keep a squirrel away from an easy food source.

My favorite personal method for scaring away these varmints involves a ninety-five pound Golden Retriever, barreling at top speed toward the critters and chasing their furry little asses right into the neighbor's yard - teehee!

I also like Professor Vagn Flyger's method for outwitting squirrels:

"The best way to cure the problem is to treat a squirrel like a chicken. Any recipe that works for chicken will work for squirrel. And they're low in cholesterol."

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and informative. The attention and dedication to detail are primo.

Some of the "stratagems" are actually just jokes, but there is an abundant well of practical knowledge if wild birds are a topic of interest.

Besides the breakdown of the various types of feeders and a quantified rating system, I thought the most valuable information was the types of feed that attract particular birds and the author's descriptions of the personalities of the birds these different feeders attract.

Edit: 7/25/25 A wild cardinal was hanging out on one of my sunflowers and actually took a huge dump on it. Wtf???

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third time I’ve read this book and though there is always something new that I learn from it, it never really solves my squirrel wars.

My husband and I have been pretty successful keeping our furry friends out of our bird feeders. He made a great baffle that sits below the feeder which twists and flops and keeps the squirrels from climbing to the feeder. No other trees are close enough for them to jump (very important) and the only time we have to worry is when we get a bountiful snow storm and piles are high. Squirrels are great at charging the snow hill and jumping to the feeder.

So what’s our problem? We have a beautiful Japanese maple tree in close proximity to the feeder. In recent years this has turned out to be a squirrel’s delight. Like little gourmands, they dine on the buds in the spring and some other seeds in the fall. This is proving stressful to the tree and we’re afraid if we can’t keep the squirrels off it, we are going to lose it.

We do enjoy watching their antics and really would like to live in unison with them. This year we have a real beauty with a really red bushy tail. I call him Little Irish!

Outwitting Squirrels is a great resource and does have some excellent stratagems as well as some humorous solutions. Some of my favorites

Bury rubber acorns. Confuse and confound them.
Rattlesnakes are a major predator of squirrels. Acquire some for your lawn.
Sic the IRS on them.

So short of bringing in a busload of hawks or red headed woodpeckers (squirrels don’t like them) or taking pot shots at these cuties, we have no idea what to do. There’s another book called Squirrel Wars: Backyard Wildlife Battles & How to Win Them by George H. Harrison. I just ordered a copy. It's up next on my list!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

My anger, respect, and determination towards outwitting squirrels has never been higher after reading this

[VeganMedusa]

Not a book I'm ever going to read (no squirrels in NZ) but can I still put it in my favourites just for the title?

[Octavia Lavender · Rating 3 out of 5]

'...we may wish them dead, or at least wish they had an effective predator. In my experience, they do trap easily but unless you have a gun you'll have a demented live animal squawking at you. It's illegal to drown it (and also cruel) and impossible to bash it cleanly on the head without getting bitten. ...If you can't shoot a squirrel cleanly, you can only take it to a delighted vet, who I believe will be obliged to kill it for you at considerable expense because of it being verminous.'

I would be interested to find out the full backstory on why the author has such a vendetta against squirrels. Something makes me believe it's a little more personal than just gardening.

This book was bought for me as a gift due to squirrels eating my herbs (namely my lemon balm). I was hoping there would be slightly more advice on how to deter the squirrels without resorting to violence however, it was an easy book to read. I also learnt some interesting tips on combatting nuisance plants/insects/aphids/weeds etc.

3* stars because I don't have a problem with rabbits, deer or moles.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Christmas we go to see my grandparents and every Christmas there's no one there my age, so usually I just hole up in a corner and find something to do to wait for dinner. This year I grabbed this copy because it was either that or Great Expectations (apologies to Charles Dickens).

How effective is this book? No clue. I'm not a bird feeder and I don't have any particular hatred for squirrels (my grandmother does, though - I've never seen fatter squirrels than at her place).

BUT this book is hysterical. Laugh-out-loud funny. Adler's 101 ideas for outwitting squirrels aren't the main focus of the book, but they are the best part. I'd 100% recommend this to bird enthusiasts and serious gardeners. (My family thought I was weird for reading it. Are they right? Probably, because I'm reviewing a book on how to outwit creatures with brains smaller than a walnut.)

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend got this for my dad, who has been at war with the backyard squirrels for many years. It very much succeeds at being both funny and informative -- probably more than you'd expect, given the title.

[MKF]

DNF
The squirrels took my book so the owners of the one birdfeeder in our area will not be very happy.
Actually the book was decent though I don't understand why people try so hard to fight squirrels. I would think that it would be expected that wildlife other than birds would also eat seeds placed outside. Why would you expect squirrels to behave differently when it's their nature to find food for survival? There's still some decent ideas but I think I would try adding both bird and squirrel feeders and not complain if they share both feeders.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an odd hybrid of helpful facts about feeding wild birds and helpful/anecdotal information about outwitting squirrels. You won't want to read every word but there is something useful and amusing for everyone.

[Thomas Scholtes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without a doubt the most in-depth guide on how to stop squirrels from eating your birdseed that I've ever read!

This book is funny, well-researched, and extremely informative when it comes to squirrels, birds, and being able to enjoy watching both from the comfort of your own home. I was given this book as a gift after commenting on the hilarious sight of squirrels attacking a family members bird feeder. I too have a bird feeder, but fortunately, no squirrels. So while not immediately useful to me, I would check in on this book every so often, and ended up learning much more than I thought possible. I took some advice on bird feeders and the type of bird seed I was using, the location of the feeder, and I've seen an influx in overall total birds enjoying my seed, as well as different types than were previously visiting. Based on my experience, everything in the book is tried and true, and the facts and suggestions should be of help to squirrel sufferers everywhere.

I think the only thing about the book I didn't like was the overall length, as a lot of the same jokes and ways of describing hungry squirrels grew repetitive. I think there was a whole chapter meant to be a joke as 101 ways to stop squirrels, but a lot of the contents had already been used in the chapters before. But even without the jokes, this book is full of a lot of good info and if you've ever been angered into screaming due to squirrel infestation of your bird feeders, having this book may add a few more years back on to your lifespan.

[Scott Summerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A silly Christmas gift yet oh so relevant to me, Outwitting Squirrels is downright hilarious. Though the book tackles the subject from the perspective of saving your birdfeeders and the seed within from squirrels, the overall idea has merit that was pertinent to me due to my history with squirrels literally damaging part of my roof in multiple years. The fact that the book opens with the declaration of war I felt so strongly in my own experience let me know this was on the right path, and also going to be funny as hell.

I would say this is about 80% serious and 20% blatant humour, as there's even a 101 list as the title suggests and some of the suggestions are pure comedy but, it's needed in the moment! The great side effect is that in the serious stuff you ALSO get humour, as dealing with squirrels isn't exactly an every day regular thing.

For me there was a bit too much detailing bird seed and birdfeeders themselves compared to the actual squirrel stuff, and in it being a third edition there was some weird overlap and repetition somehow, but all in all this was everything I'd hoped it could be from seeing the cover the moment I unwrapped the gift!

Recommended even if you didn't see the trailer for The Nut Job 2 and think "that's a horror movie" like I did!

[Marlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure how much one can say on how to outwit a squirrel. The author has a sense of humor and I thought his fight with the squirrel and his bird feeder was very funny. I could identify. Much of the book is also about birds, bird feeders, and birdseed. He has quite a few pages where he describes various birdfeeders, how squirrel-proof they are, how easy it is to see the birds, etc. This was nice, but would have been much nicer had he had a picture of each of these along with the information.

My own experience is that squirrels are very acrobatic and can get to anything. I now have a birdfeeder that has a feeding tube surrounded by wire which is on a spring and will move up and down. So, anything heavier than a bird pulls the wire cage down and the intruder cannot reach the feed. That has worked pretty well, although it does not keep the squirrel from trying. But then I accidentally got the full-proof answer. I got a Border Collie. After a few squirrel deaths, the squirrels have decided our yard is not the best place to be.

[Katrin V · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exhaustive look at how to keep squirrels off your birdfeeder. At times hilarious and other times very practical and ingenious. The bottom line is that you need to get comfortable with the fact that unless you trap squirrels each year and move them to another spot 2 miles away you will probably find them finding a way to get to your birdseed. I am now intrigued by the idea of setting up squirrel feeding in a different part of the garden to have the benefit of their entertainment away from the birdfeeder. Parts of the book need 5 stars and some a lot less - it took me 2 years to push through as it kept putting me to sleep at night! Glad I made the effort.

[James Uscroft · Rating 1 out of 5]

Err... Just Feed The Squirrels As Well?

As someone who's never fed either birds or squirrels, I honestly don't see what the problem is here. Are you like the A-hole who knitted 100 scarves for charity, was told that they would really help the homeless, and then took them back because she only wanted to help the victims of the wildfires who were also homeless, but were the 'Right Kind' of homeless?

Because my Sister in Satan, if you can afford to spend hundreds of dollars on supposedly 'Squirrel Proof' bird feeders, then you can afford to feed the squirrels as well, and I honestly can't understand why you wouldn't want to.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Squirrels: some may find them cute and want to feed them, but others find them an annoyance and want them gone. Bill Adler Jr.’s Outwitting Squirrels: 101 Cunning Stratagems to Reduce Dramatically the Egregious Misappropriation of Seed from Your Birdfeeder by Squirrels offers some pre-made and crafted defenses for your birdfeeder(s) against the thieving and destructive efforts of squirrels.

To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.

Though entertaining with humorous anecdotes of battles waged and sarcastic comments, the title was a bit misleading regarding the content covered; from the title you’d assume that it’d primarily feature squirrels, but this covers birdfeeders more heavily than the squirrel side of things. As someone who had squirrels force entry into their kitchen ceiling and cause a ruckus, I’ve got no fondness for these creatures and thought this would be a humorous and relatable read about these critters; instead there’s a heavy, and repetitive, focus on types of birdfeeders, which was informative, but there is some discussion on ways squirrels might be deterred from each of the types of feeders. Hands-down, the best portion of this book was the list of the 101 stratagems, which was a brief inclusion of serious suggestions and clever jokes toward the end of the book.

Overall, I’d give it a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of both sides of our family enjoy either feeding birds or watching them or both, so I’m perhaps a prime candidate for this book, but I found it rather disappointing. It was funny at the beginning but then became a weird factual march through different specific birdfeeders (which is already outdated—it didn’t mention a whole cluster of good squirrel-resistant bird feeders that I know were being sold more than 12 years ago) as well as…lists of patents for different designs?? The writing really tried to be funny but never actually succeeded after the very beginning.

[Philip Guy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confession time - I didn't finish this.

I am not a gardener, so I am not sure why my wife bought me this. On the surface it appears to be a humorous book about dealing with garden pests, notably squirrels. This is not entirely untrue, but the book covers every obstacle a gardener faces, with the consistent conclusion for each being "nothing you try will work". After reading this book, I doubt anyone would ever set foot in a garden, trowel in hand, ever again. The format wears thin very quickly to the point that I could not face any more after reading one third of the book.

[Jennifer S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I’m not a bird-feeder, at whom this book is aimed, I did enjoy the opening chapters where Adler describes his fruitless battle against the squirrels who are stealing his birdseed. Factual chapters on birds and squirrels were less interesting but I liked the descriptions and ratings of a wide variety of feeders. If I were someone with backyard feeders, this would be a fun read.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous -- concerned mostly with keeping squirrels out of bird feeders. It was a Xmas gift to me because I was concerned with keeping squirrels out of my life, but especially out of the attic. Live traps and high-powered air rifles (in the right situation) are the solution. To say nothing of sport.

Believe I sold this book when I moved from the hunting grounds after about 17 years.

[Cj Zawacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny book of great ideas for the keeping of those tree rats, squirrels, off your birdfeeders. Some fun stories, many great suggestions of squirrel proof feeders and placement of do and don't of those feeders. At the very least, after reading this, I can know that I am not alone in hating or loving this lil' thieves at my feeders.

[Valarie Boone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book - very funny book and loved the ways to outwit the squirrels - probably none will work but worth the try anyway. For those of us who deal with this problem on a day-to-day basis, you have to have humor with these frustrating critters or you will go crazy. This gook is well-worth the read.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite so much fun as the title promised. It is amusingly written with lots of information on birds and squirrels, in the States. By far the biggest section (43 pages) though is an evaluation of bird feeders. The 101 strategems of the subtitle are confined to a jokey list.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid bird watcher, I get annoyed at squirrels attacking our feeders. So many squirrel stories I could tell. However, as my husband and I read this book together, I found myself plotting ways to block these creatures. We had a few laughs too.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but squirrels almost always seem to win.

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of facts about squirrels. Lots of humor. Some about birds and bird seed. What bird eats what seed. Rates a lot of bird feeders. That was handy.

[Jodi Tooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but not really helpful. Nice to know others struggle with squirrels.

[Margie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, informative and sometimes hilarious. I would have liked more photos of the various bird feeders.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being an avid birder my whole life, I didn't find much "new information" about squirrels... perhaps a good read for novices?

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love squirrels and this book is all about foiling them and getting rid of them. At the same time it is written with humour and some sneaking affection.