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| At our last house we put up a suet feeder and used a peanut butter based product. When we had a few warm, sunny days, it melted, and left a dead spot in the yard.
Well, we moved and just had rather expensive sod put down. My oldest son made a bird feeder in class last week, a pine cone covered in butter and rolled in bird seed. I am afraid to hang it for fear the butter will do the same thing here. Should I wait until we have a really good cold spell to put it out. That way maybe the birds will eat it before it melts? Anyone else experience this? I love watching the birds, and planted my new flower beds with plenty of things to attract hummers and butterflies, but my DH will "have a cow" if I kill the yard, LOL! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by catherinet z5 (My Page) on Sun, Nov 12, 06 at 12:44
| Are you sure it was the peanut butter that killed the grass, and not coons and opposums digging it up to get the pb? |
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- Posted by catherinet z5 (My Page) on Sun, Nov 12, 06 at 12:49
| P.S. "Real" suet comes from the fat around a cow's kidney. (or is it a pig's??) Anyhow....if you can get that from a butcher, it doesn't melt at all, like the store-bought suets do. |
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- Posted by highalttransplant z4/5CO (My Page) on Sun, Nov 12, 06 at 15:40
| It looked burnt in the spot directly under the feeder, where the suet was dropping off in globs. Besides, we only had rabbits and red fox in our neighborhood. Well, the occasional porcupine too! Our neighborhood was accurately named "The Meadows". Anyway, my son asks me everyday when we can hang up his feeder that he made, and I am not sure what to do. |
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| Warm temperatures will melt the peanut butter. Let's see: son's enjoyment and appreciation of the birds OR a bit of dead grass? Which do you think is more important? I doubt VERY much that the peanut butter will kill the yard. But if that is a serious issue, you could put a temperary layer of mulch down around the feeder, OR hang this feeder in an area where it wouldn't particularly matter if a 5 square inch of sod was killed. ;-)
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- Posted by knottyceltic S/W Ontario 5b (My Page) on Sun, Nov 12, 06 at 22:11
| Ya, why not hang your suet thingie on a pole/stick/whatever in the garden beds. That way if it does melt then you won't have to worry about any damage. OR.. Hang it where you want and buy about 25cents of bulk grass seed and sprinkle in the spring IF there's a dead spot. Barb |
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- Posted by knottyceltic S/W Ontario 5b (My Page) on Sun, Nov 12, 06 at 23:02
| Here in Ontario we also have a suet that is called "No-Melt Dough" and can be hung in summer or winter with no dripping or melting. Here's a link: http://www.pinetreefarmsinc.com/Never Melt Suets.htm If you search online using "no melt suet recipes" you will find tons of home recipes. Barb |
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- Posted by catherinet z5 (My Page) on Mon, Nov 13, 06 at 18:13
| Or maybe you could hang some sort of plate under it.....like an aluminum pie pan or something?? Makes you wonder what the heck's in that pb! ;) |
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