Advanced Formula Squirrel Away Zero Waste

Keeps the squirrels away and the birds coming in. Now if only I could keep that one big Dove away too?... (Hunting season is approaching so maybe that will take care of itself. ) The birds love it and I don't have weeds and thistle or sunflowers sprouting all over my yard and I don't have squirrels like I used to have making huge messes. Did you know their droppings are almost as big as a freaking rabbit! I love looking at thenm, but only in someone elses yard. Now we have bluejays and red finches and all kinds of birds, and yes even a danged Dove that has become a yard guest

I rarely write reviews but …. this stuff is too great to NOT write a review. I originally purchased the 5 pound bag for around $20.00. Pricey, but I was desperate. The squirrels are ravenous little monsters that have destroyed more than one "squirrel proof" feeder. I then purchased 2 more bags at the Black Friday pricing for about $12.00 because I can't live without this stuff now and the number of birds in my yard are multiplying quickly. The seed arrived dry and packaging was intact as you would expect. Delivery was quick, a couple of days. I was careful not to inhale too deeply when opening the seed bag, wondering if I would breathe in or smell the hot pepper coating the seeds but there were no worries there. Upon opening, I did not smell anything harsh and nothing took my breath away. I feed birds with my 8 year old so I was initially a little nervous but there were no problems. Both of us did wear gloves for handling just in case. Now to the important stuff. SQUIRRELS. I filled the feeders late Sunday evening. It is now Wednesday morning and my feeders are exploding with birds. The best part? NO SQUIRRELS! Yes, the little monsters did make an attempt. Its like they just know better. They sit on the tree and act like they are going to attempt to feed and then just climb back down. Is it the fact that the acorns are abundant this year or do they just smell the hot pepper in this and go away? I have no idea but it seems to be working! Its only been a couple of days but WOW is it nice to not wake up to shucks and shells everywhere and destroyed bird feeders. Since I am not entirely callous to the squirrel's plight, I have put out some squirrel feed at the base of the trees because, well, monsters need to eat too I guess. This also serves to "train" the squirrels (in theory) to stay OFF the bird feeders and feed from the ground by using positive reinforcement. Hopefully we can all live in harmony one day. I should also note that I have two chipmunks that live quite comfortably under my deck who, for the first time in their tiny existence, are also staying OUT of my feeders! BONUS! If this continues, I have vowed to only use THIS SEED in my feeders to consistently teach those furry little interlopers that my hanging feeders are FEATHERS ONLY zones. Now, about the the BIRDS. I really expected it would take a few days to attract anything to my feeders since I quit feeding the birds around July 2025 and it is now almost December. This was not the case. Just two and a half days after filling the feeders, the birds are coming in HOT! I live in West Michigan, along the lakeshore and this time of year I am getting non-migratory birds. I have chickadees, black-eyed juncos, finches, sparrows, tit mouses (mice?), flickers and nuthatches all bombarding my feeders. The flickers seem content to eat what has fallen on the ground as is their way. Curiously, I haven't seen that many Cardinals. I'll have to keep my eye on it. Those usually prefer black oil sunflower seeds but unfortunately the squirrels and chipmunks love them too. All of the smaller song birds seem to be attacking the food with vigor. I do have a few blue jays but those seem more interested in the squirrel food at the base of the trees. I am okay with that.

Don't bother. This was a waste of money. If you watch the clip, you'll see that the squirrels enjoy hot & spicy foods. They all take turns on the feeder and it's a daily occurrence. One will park there for 15-20 minutes having a snack while enjoying the view. 12/22/2025 This is a followup on my previous review: I use this food exclusively in a bird feeder with a builtin camera. Every single day the squirrels take turns parking themselves in the feeder and helping themselves to this food. I've even gone as far as putting this food in the feeder and then a layer of chili powder over it - it doesn't matter, they still feast on this "squirrel proof" food. And it's not just one, it's several of them. They'll spend anywhere from a few seconds to over an HOUR sitting in the food and eating it. Believe me, I have the daily videos. Don't waste your money. A cheaper alternative is putting some bird food in a container with a little olive oil, sprinkle in chili powder and mix it up - that seems to work a tad better and considerably cheaper. 2/22/26 I found a better alternative: since the feeder is flat, after putting food in it, I sprinkle it with hot sauce and not a single squirrel has come close to touching it. I've been putting out plenty of other treats out for them but, as soon as they were finished, they would go back to the feeder - not anymore..

***Update*** While this food definitely slowed down the squirrels, birds just don’t care for it. I filled the entire feeder with it which temporarily eliminated the squirrels but then the birds just didn’t care for it. Now I have one tiny squirrel that suffers through eating it. He’s not happy about it but he still goes for it. He doesn’t stay for long like regular food but if the birds won’t eat it, it’s a useless point. Unlike most people, I enjoy the squirrels. In fact, I have a picnic table area for the squirrels to try and encourage them away from the bird feeders. I have a lot of Northern Mockingbirds and they are very territorial and I worry they will hurt this squirrel but Marlene enjoys throwing their apples off their feeder and stealing their food. This is the only feeder the Mockingbirds use so it’s not a big ask in theory. So, I decided to do a test run mixing just a little of this food in the feeder. This reminded me of the jelly bean game “Bamboozled” we play where you don’t know if it’s a good one or bad until you taste it and Marlene played the game for an hour. The look of happiness when she ate a few normal seeds and would get comfortable but then the dead stare she would give the camera when she hit the spicy seed. Hysterical! Now this is not a fair test because Marlene knows there is still regular food in there so she’s gonna keep going but this did slow her way down. The Mockingbird checked out the new food but did not eat yet. Once I see the birds eat, I will replace completely and report back. Please enjoy this video and the stare Marlene gave me at the end.

After fighting squirrels for more years than I care to admit, I finally decided to spend a bit more on birdseed. Excellent choice because the birds continue to flock to our feeders while squirrels steer clear. Although this feed is more expensive than what we were using before, it means we have no more fluffy tailed rodents chewing up wires and railings on our deck and no more expensive repairs. Easy fix for an irritating problem.

A friend highly recommended this to deter the squirrels from our feeders, however; there is one squirrel that must be a mutant as it has no issues eating the food. The birds found the feed tasty, I guess, as they kept coming back but this 1 squirrel just was not deterred. I have a family of them that come up on the deck and try to get the feed, but this one is the only one that will eat it. As an aside, this same squirrel has no issues eating feed that I have manually put a hot sauce (made for this purpose) on. In fact, I thought I did it wrong and put a seed on my tongue and youch it was plenty hot to me. So it may just be this one squirrel. Overall, the birds liked it but for the price it's not worth it to me as this one squirrel will sit and eat the entire thing in one or two sittings. Video is kind of long, the first 47 seconds is me putting the food out and some commentary, the squirrel shows up at 48 seconds, and the remainder is the little bugger eating the seeds without issue.

Been using this for a couple of weeks and I'm really happy with it. I have at least 3 grey squirrels and 2 black squirrels, which were completely emptying my feeder every 3 days. Now I rarely see them, this week I've gone 2 days without seeing them at all, for first time. If they do have a go at the food, they might have one or two pieces and then go away, whereas previously they would sit for 30-40 minutes, constantly eating. Two things I was worried about after reading all the reviews: the birds wouldn't like it, and the squirrels would get used to it. First, the birds love it. I'm in NY and get red-bellied woodpecker, Cardinals, blue Jay, chickadee, mourning dove, nuthatch, and sparrows. The woodpecker is my favourite and I'd see it once every few days until I switched to this food; now I see them multiple times every day. The Cardinals seemed unsure at first, but now come back over and over. Second, the squirrels did seem to get used to it - at first they would not touch it and would be visibly uncomfortable. Then they did start to eat the larger peanuts, but they'll just have a couple of pieces then run into the trees and rub their face. They just don't like it. After 2 weeks, I see them maybe once a day for two minutes vs multiple times a day for 30-40 mins at a time. I can live with that! I didn't find it expensive given how long it will last without the squirrels eating it. Nothing else I tried solved the squirrel problem; this appears to have done the trick! And for those who are concerned, it doesn't cause any harm to the squirrels, they don't like it. You can see the reaction in the video - it makes them rub their face and they run away. One squirrel coughed a few times. They are not writhing around in agony. It would be like me eating a chilli, I would not like it and would not do it again but it would not cause me any harm. They just clearly don't like it. UPDATE: 2 weeks later and I have not had a single squirrel in that time. They don't even go near the feeder. And I'm still on my first bag - birds visiting constantly throughout the day and I'm approaching a month for one bag. I estimate another week at least before it's all gone. And I now have a northern mockingbird I didn't have previously. So still very happy with this after a month.

The first time we put some out, the squirrel that gets into the feeder made quite a face and left. But he kept coming back. Initially I was mixing it with regular seed, and the squirrel(s) got adept at sorting out what they could eat from what they couldn't. So finally I switched to nothing but pepper seed, and I am noticing fewer birds at the feeder - so obviously some of THEM don't care for it. (For example, I haven't seen the bluebirds since using this seed, and they were daily visitors.) I'm not seeing the squirrel anymore but SOMETHING is eating it all up at night, so I'm guessing that's a raccoon - and this doesn't seem to have any effect on them. UPDATE: OK, I tried switching to "Fiery Hot" from Wild Birds Unltd (which you can't get on Amazon) - and that had no effect whatsoever. It had an effect on ME - from now on when I pour it into my container I'm wearing a mask - but the squirrels aren't the least affected by it. So I'm going back to this brand. Key factor - eventually, I no longer saw "Mr. Big Tail" in my bird feeder after using this for awhile. Having switched, I see him every day.

If I could have given this a zero I would have. It’s a waste of money. The birds don't come to it. I have bought other seeds that deter squirrels and they work. I’ll go back to them!