Hold the Salt!!!
There are some ideas that are really good ideas and then, there are the ideas that only seem like very good ideas at the time. I wrote about my “Ant Moat Solution” for more traditional hanging hummer feeders the last time, when I suggested using strongly saline water in the moats to discourage small birds from emptying the reservoir by drinking the water. Well, my old days in the chemistry labs should have raised a red flag, but observation has now filled in where initial recollection failed me. Let’s see, salt (NaCl) and copper (Cu)….what does that sound like? Well, together they create an electric current and the interaction between the two, while not dangerous, is certainly corrosive – especially if your water pH is on the acidic side. So, after a heavy rain washed some of the saline out of the reservoirs to drip down the copper hanging feeders, I noticed the start of discoloration on my copper. Again, unless it was very heavy saline for a long time, no structural damage would occur. However, the appearance of the discolored copper is less than desirable. So, for now, I am going to try a very weak saline and see if it still discourages the birds, but won’t continue the discoloration. If not, back to water and diligence to ensure the reservoirs don’t go dry.
Another problem with my described ant moats was using wire coat hangers for the hanging hooks. Of course, steel is also subject to corrosion and would weaken quickly in the constant saline bath of the reservoir. So, if you do want to try to use salt – which poses no issues for glass or plastic feeders, I would recommend using plastic covered wire or pure plastic for the hanging hooks.
A long time Foto Feeder™ user in CA wrote to me suggesting an alternative to ant moats all-together. Tanglefoot® is a product that is sold in many agricultural shops that discourages the ants with a very sticky physical barrier. It comes in tubes like caulking and can be spread over the path ants must follow to get to the feeder. I bought some a few years back, but never applied it because another friend and Tanglefoot user told me it is quite a challenge to keep the sticky stuff only where you want it. But, I guess with extreme caution, it must work, as it is often suggested in the literature I have read on deterring ants. As my friend wrote from CA, it is very important to be sure it is not on any surface where the hummers might land, as it would get on their feet and be difficult for them to remove. I would be very interested to hear any other interesting solutions you might have come up with
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