Customer Reviews

Brome 1055 Squirrel Buster Mini

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I purchased this product because the squirles were eating all my bird seed. I was happy with the product and it was easy to assemble, fill and hang. My only complaint is that in order for it to be 100% squirel proof it needs to be hung at least 18 inches from the nearest post. My hanger only has about 12 inches of clearance, so it's not 100% squirrel proof in my situation, but it still cuts down on the amount they can reach, and my seed that used to be gone in 2 days has lasted over 2 weeks now. It would have been helpful to have that stipulation on the outside of the box instead of only on the insert inside the bos, or else I would have taken that into consideration in my purchase. On the whole I am happy with the purchase.

I've watched squirrels for a long time and they are remarkably clever little devils, their inability to avoid speeding cars on city streets notwithstanding. Despite the real thought that has gone into designing this feeder at least one of the critters in my back yard managed to defeat it fairly easily. He simply hung down from the crossbeam to which it was attached, grabbed the entire feeder and shook the bird feed out of it onto the ground. The contents were gone within a day and the birds got very little of it.

Now, what I'm planning to try to foil this animal is to extend the hanger by attaching a very thin wire to it, which is what will actually hang from the beam. If all goes according to plan, the squirrel will then not be able to reach the body of the feeder to shake it, and the extender wire will be too thin for him to use it to climb downward. We'll see if it works...

In the meantime, I note these other drawbacks: the metal loops that serve as bird perches fall off quite easily, or can be pulled off by squirrels, and are then difficult to find on the ground; more seriously, the loop at the top of the seed compartment is configured in a way that one has to tip the filled feeder way over to reattach it to the hanging mechanism, thereby making it almost impossible to reinstall after filling without spilling some of its contents.

This is a great small bird feeder that does a fairly good job at deterring squirrels, although it's not "squirrel proof" - something that more or less is a pipe dream.

The feeder is the right size for your smaller birds, specially finches. We've had lots of gold finches, chickdees, etc. The larger birds, especially the Blue Jay, don't bother with the feeder.

We've even had cardinals at this one, although it may be a bit compact for the larger ones.

In design, it's nice. It is small, so it doesn't hold as much feed as maybe we would like, but what it does hold ends up primarily in the tummies of the birds, instead of the squirrels.

The crook of the rod that holds the feeder upright has rusted a bit, and I wasn't pleased about that, but it hasn't impacted the performance of the feeder, and I think it would take a very, very long time to rust through. There is no visible rust on the outside of the feeder.

Squirrels are thwarted, for the most part; however, they are successful at knocking seed out by shaking the feeder. Ours is hung in a way that doesn't allow for the upside down scoop and stuff method, but they have tried. We've got one little guy who tries to reach it from the ground and he just cant quite get to it. I imagine if he could, he'd knock it around a bit and go after the spill.

I find the price to be a bit high, but this is a quality feeder that will last a long time and won't be chewed through.

my feeders were being eaten out by doves and other big birds, so I was looking for a feeder that would keep squirrels out and the bigger birds - the doves have found elsewhere to eat and my feeder is accommodating all my smaller bird friends - love it!

I purchased this product to replace another Brome feeder that worked well for years. This feeder does prevent squirrels from getting to bird seed. But it has a major flaw. As another reviewer mentioned, the design of the inside funnel at the bottom of the feeder makes it easy to get jammed up when you use seed that contains peanuts, corn, or large sunflower seeds. If you have this type of seed you will end up going outside several times a day to shake the feeder to get the seed to fall through to the bottom. Great if you need some exercise, not so good if you do not want your neighbors to see you yelling in frustration as you pound the feeder against your deck railing.

Do not purchase this feeder if you want to use bird seed (such as Lyric Delite) that contains larger food pieces such as peanuts, tree nuts, or corn. The larger Brome 1024 Squirrel Buster Plus feeder will work better for this type of seed. Stick to smaller bird seed and the product should work fine.

I live in an area where squirrels run rampant. After researching bird feeders, the literature pointed me to this wonderful product. Before using it we would go through 10 pounds of bird seed in about 2 weeks time. The squirrels were constantly hanging off the feeders and shaking them till they were empty. There would be seed everywhere. Now the feed lasts almost 4-5 weeks. The squirrels are discouraged and no longer come to feed. Buying both the large (which hangs by the birdbath) and the small (which hangs on the window) we have been able to finally enjoy bird watching with minimal distrubance from our neighborhood squirrels.

Length:: 0:43 Mins

Got this little bird (minus squirrel) feeder three days ago. Read the instructions, filled it with seeds and nuts, hung it off the back porch and watched it via video camera. After feeding a dozen different squirrels for a long time I really felt vindicated watching these little thieves become frustrated not being able to get to the bird food. I laughed out loud. Being out there only a few days I'm sure the crafty little imps will learn some way to defeat the feeder. When and if that happens I'll move it to a new location and they will have to begin their attack all over again. In the mean time the cardinals, wrens, bluejays and others will enjoy the free food.

I hope to update this review with a video clip...

Well here it is and I draw your attention to the obscene gesture that little would be thief gave me just before jumping back on my porch roof.

I did not buy this feeder to keep squirrels away, so I can't speak for it in that regard. I got it because I wanted a compact, attractive feeder that held all sizes of seeds. Within several minutes of filling and hanging this feeder, birds began to use it. It was very simple to put together and is not at all flimsy.

Length:: 2:35 Mins

This clip simply allows you to see how well it accommodates feeding smaller birds (to appropriate tunage).

After being constantly thwarted by my tenacious gray squirrels, I tried this product in desperation. I wasn't sure it would really work as promised, but it DOES! After several attempts to get at the seed, the gray squirrels simply don't bother with it anymore and instead forage for seed underneath it or at neighboring feeders. Plus, the birds really like the design; there are more birds visiting and I have seen new species since putting it out. I am thrilled with this product.