Hot Meats^TM

All of the birds love it and are constantly fighting for a spot at the feeders. Unfortunately, the squirrels are loving it, also. Time to look for baffles to keep them from climbing the poles.

Yes squirrels can be very persistent, especially in the winter when they are extra hungry, so baffles are always a good idea regardless of what's in the feeder.If you have not fed Hot Meats before, it's very possible that you would see squirrels eating Hot Meats over a brief introductory period of time, but you should not see a single squirrel devouring an entire feeder in one sitting. And since there may be as many as 20-30 squirrels in your immediate area. it could take a couple weeks for all those squirrels to taste it and realize that it's not a palatable food source. Once the majority of squirrels get the message, then you will notice a significant decrease in squirrel visits coupled with a significant increase in bird visits.

I was hoping to deter squirrels but they seem to love it.
I must have squirrels that pack sour cream or milk to squash the spicyness.
I will say the birds enjoy it too.

We are so glad your bird buddies are enjoying Hot Meats! Regarding squirrels eating it too - that is not unusual at first.Since all “Hot” products are based on taste preferences, they must be eaten for birds to learn it is a delicious new food source and for other animals to discover it is not their favorite flavor. Once you fill your feeder, you will see all kinds of different visitors, both bird and non-bird, trying it out over the next few weeks. It is important to know that chilies are not repellents. Within a short period of time most mammals simply decide they do not like the taste and move on to other more palatable food sources in your yard, thus freeing up the feeder for your favorite visitors to hang out even longer.Once all the squirrels in your area have tried it, you should notice that they will tend to leave the feeders alone.

Not only do birds LOVE it, no more seed wasted on pesky squirrels. Squirrels hate it! Tons of finches, doves, woodpeckers, etc eat it. Weirdly, this year even bluebirds are eating it.

I bought my first hot meats on a special on GMA. They looked like little cubes. Worked great. Reordered on Amazon and they are regular assorted seeds. Checked on your website and do not see the product I bought originally. What gives?

Well you certainly have us stumped here! We do not offer anything that looks like little cubes - other than Suet Kibbles maybe?? And Hot Meats is still on our website, so you should have been able to find it. We're sorry you were unable to reorder what you wanted, but we'd love for you to contact us directly (877-426-8882) so that we may assist you in figuring this out. We will be more than happy to go over your particular situation and hopefully provide some answers to your questions.

I have purchased Cole's Hot Meat Bird Seed for many years now and absolutely love the variety of birds that it attracts. We have a feeder just outside of our sunroom and enjoy the company all day long.

In the past we've also hung several feeders using department store brand food and had an issue with squirrels and chipmunks. They were devouring the food daily. All the feeders were taken down with the exception of the feeder with Coles Hot Meats as the food will deter rodents of any kind. Unfortunately, we have found that not only birds like this food. Chipmunks if giving the opportunity will devour it. We've had to add a baffle to our feeder as well as locate it away from any trees that these acrobatic rodents can spring from.

All said, I love the food but, wish it was bird only food.

Like some others posted, I have tried everything to deter squirrels - this is the only product that has worked. I mix it with my regular bird seed and the birds have taken to it and my feeder has NEVER had a squirrel since. Big fan here!

This is the best all around birdseed available. Baffles and other tricks will only keep squirrels stumped for so long but they do NOT eat this stuff. I’ve watched them run away after touching it!
It’s so nice to be able to put feeders in locations where YOU want the feeder and not where squirrels dictate it!!! I tried for years to put peppers on my own seed but it washes or wears off too quickly.
I still use other specialty seeds for certain types of birds but will ALWAYS use hot meats because it attracts the most birds and the squirrels don’t eat it.
Only downside to this product is the price but I promise from experience if your serious about attracting birds and keeping squirrels away, you’ll come out ahead buying this seed.

I was having a problem with squirrels and tried pouring chili powder on the seeds to no avail. I saw your "Hot Meals" and figured I give it a try. Works great, squirrels aren't interested but the morning dove love it. I had 14 visiting this morning, along with titmice, black capped chickadees, and Hairy, Downy and Red-belly woodpeckers.

We put it out in one feeder. It took a couple of days for gold finches to try it. They love it! It's the best, I have to keep filling it.

We've had this food out for several weeks and the birds aren't eating it. We finally put out another feeder with plain sunflower chips and the birds are back eating the plain seeds but not the Hot Meats. We gave it a try but the birds just avoid it (and we have two bags of it).

We're sorry to hear our product did not meet your expectations.What you describe is not that uncommon when introducing any new food or feeder to your feathered friends. Here's a great Link to explain the phenomena in a little more detail:https://youtu.be/JydeQYI1mssIn short, when you change from a beige-colored seed to an orange-tinted, that color change can temporarily confuse the birds. As a result, sometimes it can take a few days to a couple weeks for your backyard birds to recognize the new hot seed offerings as a viable food source. Most songbirds are very visual and any change to a feeder's look or contents can cause a temporary decrease in bird activity. Once they get past the change and try it out, you will see a significant increase in bird visits and maybe even a few species you've never seen before! Of course and as always, if you are not completely satisfied with any Cole's product, we will be happy to facilitate a refund for you with the store where you purchased our product.