Peanut Elephant
Peanut Elephant
We literally timed birds to see how long it would take them to find this simple, nutritious mix and begin “chowing down”. The first time we set it out, it took about twelve minutes! After that, it’s was as though they’d been hanging around waiting for more because it took less than two minutes for them to fly in! Even if we go several weeks between refills, they find it quickly, no matter where we place it in the yard! That makes it great for taking photos. Even the most impatient photographer gets a quick chance at a close up.
We wanted to share it with you because it’s so simple and it’s guaranteed to be good for wild birds if you use the correct ingredients.
FOOL-PROOF, NUTRITIOUS SUET MIX
1 cup beef suet (You can render your own or purchase pre-packaged suet from your grocer’s freezer department.)
1/2 cup natural, unsalted peanut butter (It’s important the peanut butter has no additives of any kind and definitely NO added salt!)
- Mix the two together to make a consolidated mass. The consistency doesn’t matter as long as it sticks together when compressed. In fact, you can vary the proportions. We don’t even bother measuring! If your suet is liquid, wait until it has solidified before mixing. Good quality, natural peanut butter needs mixing before measuring.
- Press into cakes, balls, or tubes, as dictated by the shape of your suet feeder. Stuff into holes of trunks, or make your own feeder. You can make a suet feeder almost as easily as you made the suet mix.
- You can add other ingredients to the mixture, such as nut pieces, seeds, blueberries, sunflower seeds, etc. The beauty of this recipe is that it is so versatile and so flexible.
- To save time, the recipe is easily doubled, tripled, or quadrupled. Freeze excess in sealed packages.
HOW TO MAKE A QUICK AND EASY SUET FEEDER
- Cut a section of tree trunk from a firewood pile or a piece of recent deadfall. The log should be 4-8 inches in diameter and about 12-16 inches long with the bark intact. If the log chunk is too big, it may be very heavy and difficult to support. Do not use a log that is rotten or too green. A rotten log will fall apart and may be moldy, A fresh cut log may leak sap onto your suet mix and make it unpalatable. We use aspen or poplar as conifers can be too stringent though a well-aged conifer may be okay. The bark helps birds cling while they feed. If there is no bark, gouge foot holds with a carving tool. You can also get fancy and create perches by adding doweling or mesh. Also, trunks with natural bits of branch protruding make nice perches. (You can email us for a photo.)
- Drill holes randomly. The holes can be anywhere from 1 inch to 2 inches in diameter. We use wide drill bits of varying sizes. Screw a strong O-ring into one end for hanging. Stuff holes with the suet mix and hang it in a safe feeding place, away from cats and close to cover.
We made this feeder in about 15 minutes. The suet mix took about 5 minutes to make. Regular visitors include nuthatches, woodpeckers, chickadees, and magpies. By adding other ingredients we have also seen jays, finches, siskins, redpolls, grosbeaks, and sparrows picking at the feeder. If you want to exclude magpies (they can eat the entire recipe in about 5 minutes!), make it more difficult for them to perch by using a smooth-barked or un-barked log with tiny perches a magpie can’t sit on.
Northern Bird Houses (NBH) is an Alberta company dedicated to the conservation of wildlife. Operated by biologists, NBH provides top quality products for wild birds such as bird houses and feeders, plus an assortment of gifts, photography, and books for bird lovers. Visit [http://www.northernbirdhouses.com] for more great articles on wild bird conservation and to see NBH’s great selection of eco-friendly bird products. Want more bird info? Get free access to regular feature articles by signing up for the Bird Junkies Club.
Author, Dianne Wittner, is an award-winning biologist with more than two decades of experience in working with wildlife. Dianne is also the founder of the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation (www.aiwc.ca)
Do elephants really like to eat peanuts and bananas?
You know when we are kids and we are taught that monkeys like to eat bananas and cats like to eat fish, etc. You might recall that we were also taught that elephants like bananas and peanuts. Is this true, or just an urban legend? How does the elephant crack the peanut or peel the banana?
Yes, and other things as well, like grass and alfalfa. The animal doesn’t bother to shell or peel, it’s large stomach does the work. Seems gross, but allows the critter wore time to eat!
Adopting Peanut the Signature Endangered Asian Elephant
|
|
TY Teenie Beanie Peanut the Blue Elephant #12 McDonalds $3.88 |
|
|
Ty Teenie Beanie Babies PEANUTS the ELEPHANT, McDonald’s Special Issue 1998 #12 $4.94 |
|
|
TY beanie, PEANUT, THE BLUE ELEPHANT, Retirered 1995 $13.49 |
|
|
TY BEANIE BABIES Peanut Light Blue Elephant $3.00 |
|
|
1946 Parker Brothers Peanut The Elephant Game Board $14.99 |
|
|
Ty Peanut the light blue elephant beanie MWMT $8.80 |
|
|
VTG 1942 Parker Brothers Board Game Peanut Elephant Board Only Retro $0.99 |
|
|
RETIRED TY “PEANUT” DARK BLUE ELEPHANT $8.50 |
|
|
TY Beanie Buddy PEANUT the Royal Blue Elephant 14″ Plush MWMT 1998 Retired $9.99 |
|
|
Peanut Elephant 12″ by Aurora $14.49 |
|
|
TY Teenie Beanie Baby PEANUT Elephant #12 McD’s 1998 BN $0.99 |
|
|
Peanut (The Elephant) – McDonald’s Teenie Beanie (1998) $2.99 |
|
|
Ty Pillow Pals Peanut Blue Pink Plush Elephant $13.59 |
|
|
TY BEANIE BABIES “PEANUT” THE ELEPHANT RETIRED 1997 EUC $3.00 |
|
|
8″ AMY COE Mod LIGHT GREEN PLUSH Elephant PEANUT Box 1 $8.95 |
|
|
Pair of New Potholders with Elephants A pair of elephant potholders, each measures about 7″ x 7″, with a coordinating fabric back and yarn loop for hanging. Looks like an old-fashioned peanut sack. From a smoke-free, pet-free home…. |
|
|
Rainforest Cafe Tuki the Elephant Large Mug From Rainforest Cafe Orlando – large purple mug holds 16oz. Features Tuki the elephant. Written inside says “Tuki Makeeta – Loves Peanut Butter – Huge Imagination… |
|
|
Goin to the Zoo $16.98 … |
|
|
Red roses for a blue lady,Vic Dana;Hey there, Sammy Davis Jr.;Serenata,Sara Vaughan;At the end (of a rainbow),Earl Grant; The little shoemaker, Hugo Winterhalter; Stranger on the shore, Mr.Acker Bilk; With a song in my heart, Jane Froman; Summer samba, Walter Wanderly; Peanuts, The Four Sesons; Baby elephant walk, Lawrence Welk; Sonidos del mundo vol. 9 $10.99 1. March from the river Kwai (Orquestal) – Mitch Miller 2. The little shoemaker (Orquestal) – Hugo Winterhalter 3. Liebeskummer lohnt sich nict (Aleman) – Siw Malmkvist 4. Ta samba (Instrumental) – Andre Gagnon 5. Red roses for a blue lady (Ingles) – Vic Dana 6. Bambina, bambina (Italiano) – Tony Dallara 7. Hey there (Ingles) – Sammy Davies Jr. 8. Cherry pink and apple blosson white (Instrumental)… |
|
|
Stars and Stripes Forever – The Great American Piano, Paul Bisaccia $13.99 Stars and Stripes Forever (1897), John Phillip Sousa (Arr. Bisaccia) [4:18] The Banjo (1854-1855), Louis Moreau Gottschalk[4:24] Union – Paraphrase on the National Airs Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle and Hail Columbia (1862),Gottschalk [8:02] Pineapple Rag (1908), Scott Joplin [3:54] Twelfth Street Rag (1914), Euday L. Bowman [2:33] Swanee (1919), George Gershwin [1:39] Someone to Watch Over … |
|
|
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Chuckles Bites The Dust Plus Bonus Episode Once I Had A Secret Love [VHS] $12.95 This is perhaps the most famous episode of what was arguably the best TV situation comedy of the 1970s. When WJM-TV’s children’s show host, Chuckles the Clown, is accidentally killed by an elephant, while dressed as a peanut, his death provokes numerous newsroom jokes by Murray, Lou, and Ted–who are upbraided for their insensitivity by a shocked Mary. They all attend the funeral, and once it star… |
|
|
Alexander the Elephant Who Couldn’t Eat Peanuts (Human Peanut Allergies) $19.99 … |
|
|
Benjamin The Elephant Episode 15 $5.67 … |
|
|
Wahl Professional 8355 Designer Professional Vibrator Clipper $31.50 The Wahl Designer Professional Clipper features lightweight construction with twice the speed of pivot motor clippers…. |
|
|
Wahl Professional 8663 Peanut Cordless Clipper/trimmer $33.75 The Wahl Peanut Cordless Clipper and Trimmer is powerful yet compact and quiet…. |
Tags: bar, elephant, funny, melissa, peanut, peanut elephant, peanut elephant beanie baby, peanut elephant moon, peanut elephant moon kettle, peanut elephant rocker, royal blue peanut elephant
This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Toys and Hobbies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.