How to Create a Bear‐Proof Bird Feeding Station

Last Updated: October 24, 2018

Black bears are a common problem in some areas where people reside. In the spring, when emerging from hibernation, they will be very hungry and bird feeding stations with seed, fruit, and suet are very attractive sources of food. It makes little difference how tall a pole feeding station you might use -- bears simply push over the pole (they are large and strong). The approach used here is to create a station high enough to be un-reachable from the ground and safe from bears climbing poles or trees.

Steps

1
Pick two trees. They should be about 10 to 50 feet (3 to 20 m) apart. They need to be at least 4" in diameter at the height for attacking the wire. The desired height for attaching the wire should be at least 8' -- higher for wider tree spacing to allow for droop.
2
Mount the angle brackets to the back of the winch. Keep the angle away from the handle and parallel to the drum. You may need to drill holes in the bracket to fit the winch hole pattern.
3
Use some lag bolts to mount the winch to one tree with the direction control on the bottom.
4
Carefully use your ladder to put the eye bolt into the same tree as the winch.
5
Mount the other eye bolt in the other tree. Do this at approximately the same height as the first eye bolts. (The picture shows wire with thimble and clamp, and eye bolt. A Quick Link was not used, but is recommended.)
6
Install the thimble in the free end of the wire using one or two cable clamps.
7
Use a Quick Link to connect the thimble eye to this last tree's eye bolt.
8
Unwind the wire completely. Thread the loose end through the pulley, or disassemble the pulley to insert the wire. Keep in mind that if you do not have a pulley that disassembles, this is a crucial step!
9
Move the ladder back to the tree with the winch. Using the other Quick Link, attach the pulley to the eye bolt above the winch.
10
Attach the free end of the wire to the winch drum using one cable clamp. There is no strain on this attachment, so one clamp is very adequate.
11
Wind the loose wire on to the drum maintaining some tension on the loose wire. Add one or more S-hooks to roughly the middle of the wire before getting the wire taut. Place a feeder or other weight on the hook for ease in lowering the wire. Two people are helpful, but not critical, at this step.
12
Refill the feeders. To do this, toggle the winch direction control and hold the handle to unwind under control.

Warnings

Be very careful working on ladders, and have a second person hold the ladder as needed.

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No electrical, phone, or other wiring should be anywhere near your installation.

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Things You'll Need

Small hand winch - The smallest seem to be about 600# capacity; this is more than adequate. Get one with an empty reel or remove the web strap.
Spool of approximately 1/8" wire - Make sure it's one suitable for outdoor use. The length needed will be at least the distance between trees plus three times the height from the winch to the upper pulley. Since this wire often comes in 100' spools, that can handle most needs.
Turning block or pulley - A small block is used to transfer the pull off the wire from vertical, to the winch, to horizontal between trees. One with a removable wheel is ideal for ease of assembly and possible maintenance. A "single sheave fixed eye pulley" is the precise name.
Two "Quick Links" - These attach the picture to an eye bolts at one end and the free end of the cable to the other eyebolt
Wire rope thimble - Some come with clamps. Get one for your size wire. This is used to make a loop at the wire's free end that will not fail because of stress or wear. The clamp (one is sufficient) is used to hold the thimble in the loop. Extra clamps can be attached or used for holding feeder hooks.
2 shelf angle brackets - These attach the winch to a tree. These should be about 5" to 6" long, an inch wide, and 1/8” thick to be able to bolt the winch to one arm and the tree with the other arm. Get zinc plated or stainless for outdoor use.
3 to 5 cable clamps for 1/8” cable - One or two are used to attach the thing. The others are used to attach hooks to hold the feeders.
2 or 3 "S" hooks - These attach feeders to the wire. Small ones made from approximately 1/8” material are strong enough and big enough. Bigger hooks need bigger cable clamps!
2 eye bolts with a wood or lag screw - Size is not critical, but something on the order of 1/4” screw and 1" eye. Get zinc or chrome plated, brass, or stainless steel for outdoor use.
Lag bolts, machine screw bolts, washers, and nuts - These are used to mount angle brackets to winch and lag to tree. Zinc or chrome plated, brass, or stainless steel.
Ladder and hand tools