Hanging Peanut Feeder

• Materials Needed
  Two 3" diameter (untreated) Wood Discs (may be cut from a 1"x6" with a jigsaw or purchased)
  One 3/4" Diameter drill bit (spade bit) and drill
  10" Square of Plastic Coated Hardware Cloth
  Coated Wire
  Staples and Staple Gun
  One Screw Eye
  One cork from a wine bottle

Directions

Cut the hardware cloth into a 10" Square and set aside. Drill a 3/4" (round) hole into one of the peices of wood. This hole will be used to add peanuts and will be closed with the wine cork. Make a pilot hole (1/8" bit should work) and inset the screw eye into this same wooden peice. The screw eye is used to hang the completed feeder.Staple the hardware cloth to the outsides of the wooden discs. Use the coated wire to weave the ends of the hardwarecloth together where they meet. I also cut off any sharp peices of hardware cloth. One could also put some aquarium sealer over particularly sharp edges for safety. Fill the feeder with peanuts, insert the wine cork, and hang the feeder!Peanuts should be unsalted and unflavored. A pound of shelled, non-salted peanuts cost between 2-3$ in grocery stores. It may be possible to find feed quality peanuts less expensively.

Results
After having built the feeder and used it, I am not sure I can any longer recommend it. The plastic is easily chewed through by squirrels. Therefore, the feeder must be designed with metal not plastic mesh if squirrels visit a property. Perhaps, a strip of plastic could be fixed over the metal edges with aquarium sealer to make sure no birds get injured. The peanuts also swell and such in response to moisture, so the idea of putting out a large quantity of peanuts in a feeder with no rain protection seems questionable to begin with. In retrospect, I have decided to abandon this feeder design but I'm leaving the article up as a critique of the design.