DIY Knothole Feeder

Have you ever seen those cool pictures of birds and squirrels poking there heads out of knotholes in trees? The photographer must have spent days following birds around trying to find their nests. Well I actually have done that and gotten some neat shots of birds bringing in food to their young. But what do you do about the times when its not nesting season? Well one day when I was getting some wood from the wood pile I came up with a great idea. I picked up a piece of firewood that had a knothole in it and the bark came right off of the wood with the knothole in it. I got to thinking... Some of you out there are already ahead of me here. Why not add a feeder to the backside of the bark? After a number of tries of using wood, wire and string I finally settled upon using some wood screws, a coffee can and some Plaster of Paris. Basically its a simple messy process. Put the can on a stick. Spray paint the inside of the can black. Put the can opening on the back of the piece of bark centered over the knothole. After that you drill a circle of wood screws into the bark around the can. Be carefull here not to go through the bark with the wood screws. Next you mix up a batch of Plaster of Paris and build up a wedge or ramp around the can onto the bark. Making sure to cover the wood screws to hold it all together. Let it set for a couple of hours and your done. All you need to do now is find a convenient fence or pole to mount your feeder on. It is best to place it near other feeders to help critters discover the feed that you put inside of it. Be sure to take into consideration what kind of light you want to fall on it. It also helps with birds to place feeders of any kind near bushes for cover. They are a lot more comfortable feeding in places they know they can dive off into safety if a predator comes near like some photog with a giant lens of some kind. As usual I have attached some directions and some samples of what can be accomplished using this type of cool cheapo feeder.

God's light and love to all,

Chris