Freecycle and similar websites

Yesterday, I finished a book, offered it this morning and its been collected already.
On the Gardening Freebies site, someone has offered to swap a new Bird feeder for some, can you believe, orange Croscosmia/Montbretia. Guess what I'm digging up tomorrow?

   
Out went 2 bags of Montbretia and in came one of these in exchange (£21.99). 

I looked at the box for ages, wondering how they could pack the round feeders into a flat box - then I read the description!! Its just the poles and 2 little trays. Bit misleading putting that photo on the box - well, it misled me.   Glad i didn't buy it!!

Out went 2 bags of Montbretia and in came one of these in exchange (£21.99). 

I looked at the box for ages, wondering how they could pack the round feeders into a flat box - then I read the description!! Its just the poles and 2 little trays. Bit misleading putting that photo on the box - well, it misled me.   Glad i didn't buy it!!

Are you not going to ask for your Montbretia back?

I offered to give the bird thingy back but she said she had enough feeders in the garden and didn't want it.
The box photo shows 2 fat balls sitting in a tray - they wouldn't last 2 minutes here with the squirrels!

Can you make some hanging fat balls to go on it VC? A tray for water?

I already have 3 hanging fat ball feeders and they have to be squirrel proof. Anything not in a wire cage doesn't last! I've given up on the seed hanging tube things too as the scattered seeds attracted the rats.
I'll think of something, even if its growing sweet peas on it!

I have a similar hanger. in summer I put hanging flower baskets on it and grow a couple of climbing beans up the pole.

We had one of those hanger things outside the window of my mams room when she lived in an old folks home. She loved the tits and finches feeding and the robins and blackbirds feeding from the seeds and nuts dropping from the feeders, no mice or rats there the birds ate all the food.

Most nights, there's a mouse foraging outside the patio doors, picking up whatever the birds have scattered. Drives the dogs crazy as they want to catch the mouse, who scoots off into the vegetation as soon as the door is opened. The mouse I can cope with but I don't want to encourage the rats back, or the pigeons.

No slender feeding tubes here either, rats and squirrels decimate them. We have a rather unsightly upsidedown bucket underneath the bird table as a cowl to stop vermin climbing the pole. Used to put tubes of sunflower hearts out for goldfinches but if we do these day the sparrow thugs finish it off in hours, hence no goldfinches anymore