Several queries

[EC30084]

Hope I'm in the right forum.
1) Has anybody set up the feeding area and water on their deck? Could the squirrels find it? Some nice ground feeders and water are now on the ground in back yard.
2) I have three nice 40 lbs bags of whole corn I ordered, thinking that would carry them through the cold months!! I've been putting out the corn, peanuts and black oil sunflower seeds. Now I know how very unhealthy the corn is. Does anybody have any idea how I might dispose of these, other than putting them out for trash pickup?
3) Since I can't feed corn and they can't live on black seeds, I'd like to put out fruits and vegetables (avocado, etc.), but down here in this Georgia heat, they would no doubt melt in a few minutes. As for nuts, I simply can't put out expensive nuts, so I'm in a quandary as to what to feed them.
Thanks for any ideas and comments.

[Squirreleesi]

I live on the second floor of a building and i have food and water areas up on our back porch and the squirrels had absolutely no problems finding it... it took a bit in the beginning but i have at least 5 regular "customers" now. I just use a bowl of water that i clean and refill daily, a bowl for nuts seeds ect, and another bowl for fresh foods and treats.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I would not dispose of the corn. I would give it to my wilds in limited amounts. Spread it out over time. I buy the dry corn on the cob so that I can put it on my 'little chair' feeders. I just love watching them sit in the chair while they eat. :grin2 About once a month I load up the 2 feeders.

You just don't want to give the corn in quantities so large that the wilds will start depending on your corn offerings and stop foraging for food because, Yes ... you are correct... it's not healthy food. If you would like to make the corn a bit more healthy you could buy some calcium carbonate powder. You can buy it online (NOW is one brand) or Henry's Pets sells it. It is fairly cheap. Put some of your corn in a ziplock bag and put a teaspoon of the calcium carbonate powder in the bag and shake it. It is tasteless so they won't even notice it. The tiny bit of calcium that attaches to the kernels will help counter the bad Calcium:Phosphorus ratio that corn has.

[Mommaluvy]

Ditto..

My squees have no trouble finding the food on my deck.. They will pee on your windows though if you let the feeder get empty.

[EC30084]

Thanks ever so much to all of you for the immensely helpful replies and suggestions! After reading your comments I had a good brainwave: there's a patch of land at the bottom of the deck stairs next to the house, about 8' x 4' that I'm going to set everything up…water, seeds and fresh foods. This will be so convenient; I won't have to walk all the way across the lawn to refill the feeders and turn on the far-away water faucet to refill with fresh. I can replace the water with a pot of fresh from the kitchen in less than a minute. And the advice about the corn and calcium is a great relief. I can't wait to watch them which I can do from the deck. So glad I found the Board! ellenc [I've just tried to upload a jpg of something I think you all will like – hope it works.]

[Bravo]

A beautiful picture... thanks for sharing. :great

[HRT4SQRLS]

That is a beautiful pic. Super HD. :grin2

Be careful storing the corn. I had the bag of corn cobs in my garage and it got buggy. It was a mess. I hate to say this but it needs to be stored inside the house with climate control or it will mold. I bought some containers that are used to store bird seed. Any type of sealed Tupperware/Rubbermaid type containers would work. It will keep the bugs out.