We're baffled

As I mentioned yesterday, on our trip to the garden centre we had intended to buy a fat snax holder. These little balls of goodness come in their own nylon mesh bags, but with a warning that small birds' claws can become trapped. They shouldn't really be hung up in these bags, but rather in a specially-designed holder. Perhaps more frustrating for us was the constant attention of the squirrels, who found the bags altogether too easy to lift off their hooks. The sight of several fat snax balls being dragged away across the lawn had made up our minds that we needed to protect them behind a strong wire cage.

Imagine our delight then, while perusing the various fat snax holders on offer, along with other garden-bird-feeding equipment, to discover the existence of a specially-designed Squirrel Baffle. For only a fiver, this clear plastic dome is attached to the feeding station pole, preventing Tufty from ascending to the banquet above. A bargain! They've already cost us more than that in stolen fat snax!

The baffle, even easier to assemble than the incinerator, was in place in minutes, and so far today each of us - Nikki, Natalie and myself - has witnessed its efficacy in foiling Tufty's attempts at purloining our avian comestibles.

The squirrels still climb the pole. They can see the food, hanging temptingly, through the baffle. On reaching the underneath of the baffle they adopt a confused look, glance right and left hoping to find a way through, or past, or over. Finding none they slide dejectedly back down the pole and slink off across the garden in search of alternative aliment. Result!