Skip to content
Grow In Backyard
Squirrels & Wildlife

Do Squirrels Eat Suet Balls? Enthusiastically — and Fast

Suet is dense fat, which is exactly what a squirrel wants. Why fat balls disappear overnight, and the feeder designs that actually hold.

By Salma 2 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
Two fat balls in green plastic nets hung beside a wooden bird feeder
Photo: Alexas_Fotos, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay
On this page

Suet is concentrated fat, and a squirrel is an animal that optimises for exactly that. A fat ball is not a bird product that squirrels happen to steal — it is the best thing on the table.

Seed and fat, rated by squirrel appeal

offeringsquirrel interest
Suet / fat ballsmaximum
Peanutsvery high
Black oil sunflowerhigh
Sunflower heartshigh
Mixed seed with cornhigh
Nyjer (thistle)low
Safflowerlow
Capsaicin-treated seedavoided

Cut the fat balls out of the netting

Plastic mesh bags trap birds by the feet and tongue and squirrels by the limbs, and the injuries are severe. Several conservation bodies advise against ever hanging them in the net. Use a rigid suet cage instead.

Feeder designs that hold

designholds squirrels out
Weight-triggered portsyes — tests mass, not cleverness
Caged surround, ~4 cm meshyes
Baffle above and below on a smooth poleyes, with clearance
Plain hanging suet cageno
Netted fat ball on a branchno, and unsafe

The clearance that makes any of it work

  • 1.5 m minimum above ground, and above anything beneath it
  • 3 m clear horizontally from fences, branches, bins, walls
  • Nothing overhanging — they drop down readily
  • Smooth pole, not timber or textured metal

Capsaicin is the one product worth buying

Birds have no receptor for it and feed normally; mammals do, and squirrels learn to avoid treated seed within a couple of visits. Wear gloves when filling and keep the dust away from your face.

Common questions

Do squirrels eat suet balls?

Yes, and they will take a whole one at a sitting if allowed. Suet is rendered fat, which is the densest energy source on a bird table, and squirrels prioritise exactly that — high fat, low effort. A fat ball that was meant to last a week of cold weather for tits and woodpeckers commonly disappears in a single visit, which is the usual reason people start looking for squirrel-proof feeders.

Is suet actually bad for squirrels?

Plain beef suet is not harmful in itself — it is a natural-enough fat and squirrels eat fatty seeds and nuts anyway. The problems are the additions and the quantity. Many commercial fat balls contain added salt, and some include cheap fillers; and a squirrel that fills up on fat is not eating the varied diet it needs. The green plastic mesh bags are a separate and genuine hazard.

What is wrong with the mesh bags?

They trap and injure wildlife. Birds catch their feet and tongues in the plastic netting, and squirrels get limbs caught. Several conservation organisations advise removing fat balls from the nets before putting them out, and using a rigid feeder instead. If you buy netted balls, cut them free — this is one of the few genuinely dangerous things in ordinary garden bird feeding.

How do I stop squirrels taking the suet?

Weight-triggered feeders work, because they test mass rather than intelligence — a squirrel's weight closes the ports and a tit's does not. A caged suet feeder with a 4 cm mesh surround also works well. Both need siting that respects the jump: at least 1.5 m off the ground, 3 m clear of anything to launch from, and below nothing overhanging. Without that clearance, no feeder design holds.

Do squirrels eat nyjer or thistle seed?

Much less readily. Nyjer is tiny, oily and slow to eat in quantity, and it is delivered through fine ports that suit finch beaks rather than squirrel teeth. Squirrels will raid a nyjer feeder if it is easy, but they rarely persist — which makes nyjer one of the few seeds that largely sorts itself out. Safflower is the other: many squirrels dislike it while cardinals and finches take it readily.

Is there a seed squirrels will not touch?

Capsaicin-treated seed is the only reliable one. Birds lack the receptor that responds to capsaicin and are unaffected; mammals are not, and squirrels avoid treated seed consistently. It is sold ready-treated and is the single most effective product in this category — handle it with gloves and keep the dust out of your eyes when filling.

Backyard Weekly

Know what to plant, week by week

Join the weekly email for seasonal jobs, fixes for what is going wrong, and gear worth buying.

Not ready to subscribe? The planting calendar is free and needs no email.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Grow In Backyard will never sell your address.

Keep reading