I save my mesh bags from onions and other vegetables all summer. Then in winter I use them to put out suet or meat scraps for the birds. They work very well.
By Wilma from Rose City, Michigan
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
Feeding Garden Birds
Mesh bags, a warning: never put out any food in mesh bags, although peanuts and fat balls
often sold this way. Birds feet can be trapped in the mesh, causing terrible injuries. Birds with a
barbed tongue, e.g. woodpeckers, can become trapped by their beaks. Always put peanuts and
fat balls in a metal mesh feeder.
I would be cautious of doing this since the wings of the birds may get caught in the mesh.
What a fabulous idea! I think that is an excellent idea! the "mesh" would "hold" the items, but be easily accessible for the birds to get to!
Please do not reuse the plastic onion/produce bags for feeding the wild birds. I had used the bags for well over five years without a problem. It took one incident to change my mind about using these bags. On a cold winter day, a bird had its' leg tangled in the netting and could not get loose. It was a horrible sight to see and hear. Luckily, I was home and able to cut the netting to release the bird. It was so stressful for the bird and for me.
Fortunately, it happened in an area that I was able to reach. We had several bags filled with suet high on tree branches that my husband hung and it would have been impossible for me to reach. If I was not home to free the bird, it would have died from the cold or exhaustion, and its' leg would have definitely been broken since it was twisting and turning to free itself.
I see this idea used very often and I hope everyone reconsiders using these netted bags to feed the birds. It only happened once to me and after that incident, I would not ever want to take that chance again. Use the wired cages to feed the birds. I have purchased them in dollar discount stores at times, and at the end of season in clearance at a reasonable price. Even at the full price, it is well worth the purchase since they do last a very long time.
Thank you for the warning. I thought I'd heard the same warning before but I'm glad I read your warning!! Will definitely stay with the safe store bought feeders and suet--after all, they are not expensive!
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
