I’ve had off and on trouble with gray squirrels eating up all the suet at my bird feeding station. My hopeful solution? I stocked up with a 12-pack of spicy suet, specifically Pine Tree Farms Hot Pepper Cake Suet from Amazon.
I tried using spicy suet in the past. It did great at keeping squirrels away, but I unfortunately found that birds didn’t enjoy eating it.
With a recent influx of gray squirrels eating all of my damn suet, I decided to try again with a new product. Will Pine Tree Farms spicy suet succeed at repelling squirrels while also drawing in birds? Read on for my experience and review.
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Pine Tree Farms Hot Pepper Cake Suet Works and Birds Like it!
I put the suet into my cage feeder and it’s immediately stopped squirrels in their tracks. I watched several squirrels take a few bites and immediately run away to a nearby tree (to cry, I assume).
How does spicy suet and bird seed work? Won’t it harm birds too? Squirrels, like humans, taste spicy food intensely and are repelled from food that’s too hot. But, birds don’t sense capsaicin like mammals do. So, they aren’t bothered by spicy bird seed. According to Wild Birds Unlimited, birds may also enjoy the taste of spicy food.
More important, my neighborhood birds also enjoyed eating this suet. I’ve gone through a couple cakes in two weeks. So far I’ve noticed Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Black-Capped Chickadees, Nuthatches and Sparrows eating it. Nice!
Related Content: How to Attract Woodpeckers to a Feeder
One important thing to keep in mind when using spicy bird feed is to be careful handling it. You don’t want to touch it and get that hot pepper oil in your eyes. Wearing gloves is essential when handling spicy suet or bird seed. Wash your hands thoroughly after putting it out.
A Closer Look at The Suet
I bought a 12 pack of these cakes from Amazon at around $28 at the time of this article. Not a bad price at all for a specialty bird feeding suet cake. I’ll post shopping options and links below.
The ingredients are: Peanuts, corn, rendered beef suet, and capsicum pepper. It’s a good source of protein and fat, which is especially important in the winter.
Related Content: Hot or Not? Testing Spicy Bird Seed – Does it Work?
Shopping Options
Here are a list of places online you can buy this spicy suet. Let me know if you see other places selling it. I can always add to this list.
If you end up buying this spicy suet, let me know in the comments section below what you think of it. If you have questions or comments, I always welcome those: debaundan@gmail.com