3 Of The Best Wild Squirrel Foods To Feed Your Critters


best wild squirrel food

What can I feed squirrels in my backyard? This is what I started wondering when I got my squirrel feeder. I already knew that they will eat anything, but I wanted to know what is the best wild squirrel food that will actually attract them to my feeder.

After doing some research and experimenting with backyard squirrels, I discovered that wild squirrel squirrels eat pretty much anything, even bird seed. However, my backyard squirrels seem to love Wild Squirrel Delight products that are extremely affordable and provide them with the nutrients they need. (I’ll talk about this more in a bit)

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What Do Wild Squirrels Eat?

It’s been about a year now that I started feeding the squirrels in my backyard. I wasn’t planning on feeding them, but they were eating all the sunflower birdseed from my bird feeders. So, I thought that if I set up a feeder for the squirrels, that would stop that problem.

It’s better to feed these cute little critters than fight them. You’ll find it easier to live with and it will save you a ton of money in the long run.

Well, it did and one squirrel turned to two squirrels and then three. Now I enjoy feeding them and watching my bushy-tailed friends.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that they are NOT picky eaters and will eat potatoes, bread, carrots, cheese and pretty much anything you feed them.

However, you need to realize that not all types of food are good for them. In fact, their little digestive system has a hard time processing foods with cellulose.

That’s when we started doing more research about the best types of foods for squirrels. We wanted to make sure that we were feeding our squirrels the right types of foods.

Some of the best wild squirrel food you can buy online are:

  • Wild Delight – Crunch N’ Nut
  • Exotic Nutrition Complete Squirrel Food
  • Audubon Park Critter Crunch

Plus…

I’m sharing some of the foods that we currently feed our squirrels as well as rounding up recipes, and other squirrel treats they’ll absolutely love.

If you’ve ever wondered “what can I feed the squirrels in my backyard,” you’ll definitely find your answer here.

Cheap Wild Squirrel Food

Feeding nature can be expensive. We currently feed both birds and squirrels in our backyard. The squirrels were eating all the bird seed, which was costing up a lot of money.

I’ve even put together an in-depth guide to keeping squirrels away from bird feeders.

We finally decided to stop the squirrels from eating birdseed. This alone has saved us a lot of money and we’ve used the money we’ve saved to buy squirrel food.

You don’t have to buy squirrel feed if you choose not to, I’ve also found some home squirrel treats you can try out below.

Top Overall Best Squirrel Food to Buy

Wild Squirrel Delight Squirrel Food

Wild Delight Crunch N' Nut Squirrel Food

My backyard squirrels love the different types of Wild Squirrel Delight foods and the best part is that it provides all the nutrition they need. We give them both the Wild Delight Shelled Peanuts, as well as the Wild Delight Corn on the Cob, which they absolutely love.

Wild Delight Crunch N’ Nut Wild Squirrel food will help you attract wildlife to your backyard. It’s a hearty blend of sunflower seeds, unprocessed peanuts, and corn that squirrels absolutely love.

Not to mention, it’s packed with amino acids, electrolytes, minerals and vitamins that are great for squirrels.

Feeding Instructions

Fill the feeder or spread evenly in your squirrel friendly area. Ensure that your critters have clean water nearby.

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Exotic Nutrition

Exotic Nutrition Complete Squirrel Food

Exotic Squirrel complete is wholesome nutrition for squirrels that visit your backyard as well as pet squirrels. This healthy blend consists of cranberries, rose hips, pumpkin seeds, corn, sweet potatoes, and apples that replicate the natural flavors squirrels love.

It also contains healthy nuts almonds, walnuts, and pistachios that will provide furry critters the chewing exercise they need for their sharp incisors.

The dried insects are a natural source of protein that squirrels are used to eating in their natural habitat.

What’s Inside?

This nutritious mix is perfect for ground squirrels, captive squirrels, flying squirrels, and grey squirrels.

It’s kind of like a healthy trail mix that consists of:

Pumpkin Seeds

Meal Worms

Dried Rose Hips

Almonds

Dried Apple

Corn

Dried Cranberries

Peanuts

Dried Sweet Potato

Pistachios

Dried Crickets

Rodent Blocks

Dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae

Peanuts

Feeding Instructions

The recommended daily amount to feed is 1.5 – 2 ounces to prevent your squirrel from gaining excess weight. Throw away any uneaten food after 24 hours.

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Audubon Park Critter Crunch

audubon park critter crunch

Audubon Park Critter Crunch is great if your squirrels love eating birdseed. The specially blend critter food is great for squirrels, chipmunks, jays, chickadees, woodpeckers, and quail.

Your backyard wildlife will love the natural blend of peanuts, black oil sunflower seeds, corn, and whole peanuts. It is ideal to use with platform feeders, table feeders, or hanging feeders.

Feeding Instructions

Just fill your squirrel feeder with this food and watch them go crazy. Don’t forget to give your backyard critters access to freshwater.

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More Feeding Tips

best wild squirrel food
Find some of the best foods to feed squirrels from the comfort of your home.

Our backyard friends absolutely love the peanuts for squirrels that we get for them on Amazon. We don’t overfeed them, and just use them as treats every once in a while.

The corn on the cob is perfect for feeding other wildlife such as raccoons, ducks, gray jays, blue jays, and geese. We’ve found that the best way to feed them is to use something like a corn squirrel feeder bungee.

We’ve also just thrown the corn on the ground and watched them carry it back to their nest. However, we’ve stopped doing that because we don’t want to attract rats to our yard.

Don’t even get me started on how much they love peanuts. We all know they love eating nuts, well these on Amazon are all natural without any salt, which we know is bad for them.

Plus, they love burying them for the winter time.

Squirrels Gone Wild Food

If you’re tired of your squirrels eating all the birdseed, then this Perky-Pet 339 Squirrel Be Gone II Feeder, has saved us tons of money in birdseed. It’s so cute with the chimney and our backyard birds seem to love it.

Plus its metal-construction makes it perfect for all weather elements. We’ve been using it for a few months now and we’re very happy with it. We’ll share some other squirrel proof bird feeders in a different article, later on, to help you save more.

Feeding Squirrels The Right Way!

It’s okay to feed squirrels in your backyard. In fact, once they start understanding that you’re NOT going to harm them, they will eventually get up the courage to take food from your hand. We haven’t tried feeding them by hand, but who knows maybe one day I will.

We enjoy feeding them and it helps us ease our stress and relax just by watching them scamper around in our yard.

That’s why I’ve done the research to find other types of foods they love and it’s perfect to feed them.

What Food Can You Give Squirrels?

If you don’t provide squirrels with food, they will eventually go to your garden or bird feeder. These opportunistic feeders love eating and consume a lot of food.

Your neighborhood squirrels need to consume a variety of sunflower seeds, fruits, vegetables, peanuts, and corn. It’s important to avoid feeding them too much of the same type of food.

Their little bodies require a variety of foods to provide them with the nutrients they need to ensure good health.

Homemade Wild Squirrel Food

Squirrels love homemade ball nuts and the best part is that they are nutrition for them. I’ve created squirrel nut squares (they look like a granola bar) and squirrel nutballs once.

Both times, I set them outside where squirrels hang out by my feeders and both times, they were gone within 8 minutes. They took the nutball and ran back to their den, it was an entertaining site to watch.

Maybe later, I’ll round up Here are some more squirrel food recipes you can cook up for your bushy-tailed friends.

Gourmet Nut Balls for Squirrels

These homemade nut balls are a perfect compilation of the ingredients your bushy-tailed friends need. Before using the recipe, you want to avoid substituting any ingredients, as it can result in the death of a squirrel. This is perfect if you have a pet squirrel or are just looking to feed your backyard friends. I’ve just used this recipe once and it turned out great.

The Recipe Calls For:

  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened peanut butter (organic and unsalted)
  • 1/3 cup plain rolled oats
  • 2 tsp flour
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds (unsalted)
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (hulled and unsalted)
  • 2 tsp flour
  • 2 Tbs water

You’ll want to combine all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and preheat the oven to 180℉. They take about 3 hours to make and you can get the rest of the instructions from Funny Squirrel Shirts & Gifts.

Nut balls are liked by most squirrels and they provide a great source of Fats, Vitamin D, Phosphorous, Calcium, Magnesium, and other vitamins that are required for proper nutrition.

The great thing about making squirrel food is that you can substitute the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds to use some of their favorite nuts such as almonds, chopped pecans, or walnuts. Whatever you do, DO NOT use sunflower seeds, cashews, or pine nuts as they should be eaten in moderation or they can cause health problems for squirrels.

Squirrel Treats

Amazon sells several different kinds of wildlife food. We love giving our backyard friends treats in the winter or colder months, when food is harder to come by. It makes it easier for them to get their nutrition and it makes us feel good knowing we’re helping out mother nature.

You can make your own homemade squirrel treats if you want, but we’ve found it just as economical to buy them on Amazon. They go crazy for Monkey Biscuits and the best part is that it’s the perfect wild bird and squirrel food, because they both love them.

Veggie Squares

These can be a great treat or meal for your backyard friends. You can feed them all natural veggie squares that can help provide them with the vitamins, calcium, and minerals that are important for their daily requirements.

You can either purchase this online or create your own homemade recipes. Thousands of squirrel lovers create their own food such as squirrel biscuits, veggies squares, nutballs, squirrel nut mix and etc.

It’s not hard to find home squirrel food recipes online.

Wild Squirrels Favorite Food

All squirrels love nuts, acorns, vegetables, fungi, plants, and pretty much anything they can get their hands on. Squirrels eat anything, so it’s not hard to satisfy their hunger. If you’re just starting to venture into feeding them, they will be scared of you.

Give it some time and before you know it, you’ll know what your backyard critters enjoy eating. If you’re thinking about hand feeding squirrels or just want to start feeding the squirrels this video will help you come up with the best wild squirrel diet.

Wild Red Squirrel Food

If you have red squirrels, then you’ll be happy to know that they eat pretty much the same things that the Grey squirrels eat, with a little bit more of a wider palate. The red squirrel diet consists of mushrooms, pine seeds, cones, bark, nuts, insects, fruits, and sometimes young birds, rabbits, and mice.

A large portion of their diet consists of pine seeds. Just like grey squirrels, you can have your red squirrels eating out of a feeder.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you feed squirrels sunflower seeds? Yes, they absolutely love eating them and will do anything to get to them. That’s why we’ve written this article to help you protect your beautiful sunflower plants.

Bottom Line

Before you feed any type of wildlife from your backyard, it’s important to find out what foods they can and cannot eat. Feeding them the wrong types of food can lead to health problems or even kill a squirrel.

 

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