If you're anything like me, you have jars of half-empty herbs and spices lurking in your pantry. Well, the good news is there are two common staples you can put to positive use in your garden—chili powder and cayenne pepper.
It might sound a bit unorthodox, but sprinkling these punchy products in your yard can help ensure that birds aren't beaten to their supper by pesky squirrels and foxes.
As nesting season gets into full swing, hungry birds—think robins, blackbirds, and wrens—need all the help they can get, so it's an especially important time to ensure any food you leave out in bird feeders isn't poached by another animal.
Whether it's bird-specific food like fat balls, suet, or mealworms—or leftover household scraps like bruised apples and pears, all-natural jelly or jam, or orange halves, you can sprinkle spicy spices on them—which birds won't mind, but foxes and squirrels will avoid at all costs.
This simple, cheap trick will ensure that you're really able to feed the birds.
Other Ways You Can Help Birds
It’s important to wash your bird feeder and birdbath with a weak bleach solution every few weeks to prevent the spread of disease. Be sure you hang your bird feeder in the right spot, too.
Plant native shrubs and trees that provide food and shelter that birds like. Serviceberry, sunflowers, and coneflowers are just a few good options.
Put out a bird box and always keep cats indoors (or on a leash, but they are cats so may have opinions about that).
