Squirrel food for the garden
Dedicated squirrel food is generally a nut and seed mix designed to give squirrels their own food source, aimed at drawing them away from bird feeders rather than encouraging them onto the same ones. It works best paired with a squirrel-proof feeder for the birds, rather than as a way to attract more squirrels into a small garden.
What to feed
A mix built around whole nuts, seeds and dried fruit gives squirrels something closer to their natural foraging diet than leftover bird food, which is often too fine or too processed to interest them much anyway. Feeding a dedicated mix in its own spot, away from bird feeders, is the main way to reduce squirrels raiding feeders meant for birds.
Fresh water matters here too, the same as it does for birds — a shallow dish topped up regularly is a simple addition alongside any feeding station.
Keeping bird feeders squirrel-proof
A squirrel-proof or squirrel-resistant feeder is built with a cage, weighted perch or spring mechanism that closes off access under a squirrel's weight while still letting lighter birds feed normally. These are worth the extra cost if squirrels have been a persistent problem, since a standard feeder rarely survives a determined squirrel for long.
Siting matters as much as the feeder itself — a squirrel-proof feeder hung near a fence, tree branch or anything a squirrel can jump from will often still be reached, so give it distance from obvious launch points.
In this section
Everything below is in stock with us, priced with delivery worked out, and packed and posted by hand in the UK.
Mr Johnson's Wild Life Squirrel Food
A 900g squirrel mix with pine nuts and rose hips, for reds, greys and blacks
£3.81
Supa Metal Squirrel Feeder
A powder-coated metal feeder for garden squirrels, or to divert them from bird feeders
£16.99
Supa Squirrel Proof Seed Feeder
A 45cm squirrel-proof seed feeder with spring-loaded perches, holds 1.6kg of seed
£32.99
Henry Bell Sterling 3in1 Squirrel Proof Feeder
A 3-in-1 wild bird feeder for seed, fat balls and peanuts, caged against squirrels
£29.99
Treat 'N' Eat Fatball 90g (No Net)
A single 90g high-energy fat ball for wild birds, netless for safe garden feeding
£0.29
Honeyfields Simply Suet Pellets with Insects
High-energy suet pellets with insects, at 490kcal per 100g, in two sizes
From£3.49
Brambles Float Swan Duck Food
Floating swan and duck food made in Great Britain, in two sack sizes
From£9.29
Peckish Complete Seed
A husk-free garden bird seed mix with Peckish's own added vitamin pellet
From£3.00
Peckish Robin Seed Mix
A 1KG insect-added seed mix from Peckish, marketed specifically at robins
£3.75
Peckish Winter Warmer Extra Energy Seed Mix
A 1KG winter seed mix with 9 ingredients and 20% oil for extra energy
£3.99
Sunflower Hearts
Dehusked sunflower hearts for wild birds, described as high in oil and no mess
£42.99
Johnston Jeff Selected Wild Bird Food
A wild bird seed mix with black oil sunflower for a wide range of garden birds
From£2.79
Common questions
- Will feeding squirrels stop them raiding my bird feeders?
- It can help, particularly combined with a squirrel-proof bird feeder, but it isn't a guarantee — a determined squirrel may still investigate a bird feeder out of habit even with its own food source nearby. The two approaches work better together than either does alone.
- Is it bad to feed squirrels in the garden?
- There's no straightforward answer — some gardeners are happy to feed them, while others find they cause problems for other wildlife or garden plants. If you do feed them, a dedicated feeding spot away from your main bird feeding area is generally the more manageable approach.
- What shouldn't I feed squirrels?
- Avoid anything salted, sugary or processed, which isn't good for squirrels any more than it would be for a bird, and stick to plain nuts, seeds and dried fruit sold for the purpose. Bread and cooked leftovers offer little nutritional value and are best left out entirely.
Related
Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.