Is there any way you can add a squirrel baffle or perhaps the saucer type feeders would discourage them? Sorry, I don`t have any other ideas to offer you - no squirrels in my neck of the woods.

Thank you. I have at least 7 resident squirrels and I had no idea that they like hummer food. They pry off the flowers and hang upside down from a tree branch and drink the fluid. I tried gluing the flowers in place, but they end up breaking off the flowers eventually. I was wondering if I put a bowl of hummer fluid by an area they eat if they would drink from that and leave the feeders alone? Otherwise, I can get baffles but they seem to be somewhat expensive at around $20 a baffle. We have raccoons, too, and I've read they can get into hummer food, but I think at this point only the squirrels have been an issue.

Do you know how they put the hummer fluid out for squirrels? In a hummer feeder in an area designated for the squirrels, or would they drink it from an open container?

I would think they would drink from an open container would save wear and tear on a regular feeder - it would probably attract a lot of bees and wasps as well, so a good idea to have it off and away from any place that gets used by your family.

If I understand your post, the feeders are hanging from tree branches. You could try hanging them from a pole away from the trees.

I have a terrible problem with squirrels. One thing I did a while back, and should do again, is to feed the squirrels until they are full. We had a dozen squirrels come out for a while, then something interesting happened. The number of squirrels became less. Eventually, we only had 2 squirrels. They may have been eaten by the predatory birds. They did repopulate though, so I need to do this again. I would feed squirrels in a place as far away as possible from the feeders, if this is possible to do. Also, squirrels hate peppermint. But birds might hate it too, I don't know. To get rid of the squirrels, you could try to put peppermint oil around. I don't know what hummingbirds would think though.

I wonder if it is the sugar water or just the water that the squirrels are after? Do you think they do have a water source nearby? You could try a bird bath and if they begin going there and not the h-feeders, then that will possibly leave your feeders alone as well as attract other birds.

Thank you for your response, but I actually have a pond and a birdbath in the area where the squirrels feed. I also live in Washington State and we have abundant rainfall here. All winter and spring there are always puddles in the yard. I've had the resident squirrels for years and this has been the first year that they've been going after the sugar water. They went after the sugar water more in the winter months than they are now that it is spring. I wonder if the sugar water helped provide them energy in the winter?