Cole's HM05 Hot Meats Bird Seed, 5-Pound

Clean seed that the little birds like. So far, the squirrels ignore it, so that makes the extra expense worth it. Super fast shipping!! Will order another bag.

WORKS!! I have 7 various types of feeders, four are tube feeders. Not unusual to look out and see five or six squirrels in my back yard. Always one or two on the feeders eating away. My feeders were empty yesterday so I filled them with Coles. WOW! Squirrels would get up on the feeders and then get off. They definitely do not like that seed! Nice to look out and see the birds eating and not the squirrels. Kind of expensive but worth it. Seed now goes to the birds plus no more damaged feeders by the squirrels! Just bought another bag. Really works, for me at least!

99% of the squirrels do not like this, which is wonderful for me because they are tearing apart my deck in the winter time. I feed them elsewhere with something different. The birds, love them. I have chickadees, Blue Jays, Cardinals, nuthatches, woodpeckers, tuffeted tit, mice, and dark eye Junko’s.

SQUIRREL PROOF!! I have been using this for a couple years now and it is the ONLY thing that keeps the squirrels away. Those little suckers have destroyed so many “squirrel proof”’feeders when I used regular seed. I tried mixing my own cayenne pepper with regular seed and they still got to it. When I started using THIS seed, they never returned!! Woo hoo!! Highly recommend if you have squirrel trouble.

Birds love it. Squirrels stay away! Perfect.

So I'm an avid bird watcher and I have 3 feeders in my yard all summer. I recently ordered coles sunflower hot meats to add to my mix. I separately buy peanuts and black oil sunflower seeds, as well as dried worms and mix all of that for each of my bird feeders. Yes my birds are bougie and they eat very well which is why I go through on average 5 lb a week of my mix. So my order arrived Thursday today is Sunday and I've yet to have to feed a feeder. It's not that I had a squirrel problem I was just wanting to try it out in case this winter the Chipmunks would try. The reason I really don't have a squirrel problem is because I use squirrel Buster feeders. Anyway it's been extremely disappointing to see empty feeders now since Friday. It was my understanding that the birds could not taste the Cayenne but I don't believe that's true. It also means that the new mix of other seeds that arrived last Thursday totaling about $85 from Amazon is now ruined because I'm going to have to order all brand new seed and remix with what I know works. Terrible and expensive mistake.

You will receive three reviews in one today! REVIEW FROM HUMAN: Visually it looks to be good quality, and the packaging is fine. This was more effective as a squirrel deterrent than mixing cayenne pepper into cheaper food. Minus 1 star only due to price. BIRD REVIEW: Pretty tasty but not as much variety as our prior fruit and seeds blend. But the squirrels have avoided it, allowing us to eat in peace. SQUIRREL REVIEW: This is awful!!! It tastes horrible. How can those stupid birds eat this stuff??? Just smelling it makes me run away. Bring back the other feed and peanuts!!!!

Amazing! I bought only the small bag because I didn't think there was much real chance the "hot" element could actually deter the legions of squirrels I have for at least nine years been inadvertently and unwillingly feeding with a couple of fine quality bird-attracting seed mixes. But in the now six or seven days I've been using Hot Meats in my two feeders I have seen only one squirrel come near - yesterday. After cautiously inspecting the seeds which had fallen to the ground it finally gently picked one up in its mouth - then immediately leaped up onto the nearby (and, happily, freshly filled) bird bath to take the longest drink of water I've ever seen a squirrel take. It then walked away and hasn't returned. Nor have I seen any others of the many who always voraciously and enthusiastically devoured much (most?) of what they clearly deemed to be "their" food. Although I missed the very first hour or two of the Hot Meats stuff being in the feeders I have to believe, given the present complete dearth of squirrels anywhere near the feeders, that during those first several hours after the Hot Meats mix was put into the feeders all the others had experiences similar to the one I later witnessed. The seed doesn't disagree with the birds at all, however. In fact, it even seemed to attract more and more varied birds. For example, I got my first blue jay in five or six years, and a small flock of migrating White-Crowned Sparrows - a type of bird which has never deemed my feeders worth visiting - gorged themselves for several days. And there is still a bit more seed in the bag! Which reminds me, no squirrels means, at least in my yard, filling the feeders far less often while still providing the same amount of sustenance for the birds. I have have just ordered the much more ecomomical 20-lb bag. Yes, pricey. But since I was using a a great deal of less expensive (though not cheap) regular Cole mixes - most of which was being gobbled up by the squirrels - I fully expect to come out ahead money-wise by feeding only the Hot Mix seed. I'll also not have to fill the feeders nearly as often But since some reviewers have said this doesn't work well for their birds, you might want to try a 5-lb bag before springing for the largest one.