@wildpotato Good question. First, I do not put the food anywhere near the house. I place it out along the edge of our wooded area with my Infrared trail camera placed so it can photograph whoever comes by. I like the fox family because they help me with my rodent problem.
The squirrel problem was brought on over the years by area suburbanites who trap the squirrels in their Hav-a-hart traps and then illegally let them loose in the park across the street from me. They quickly multiplied and became a real nuisance: chewed vehicle wires, destroyed songbird nests, eaten bird food and destroyed feeders, nests in the house attic, nests in the tractor engine compartment, nest in the car intake air filter!
About 2 years ago I had had enough, as did another neighbor with similar problems. We began to legally shoot them as well as trapping any mice. Both of us got into the hundreds! Yes, it was that bad.
How to dispose of the squirrels? Each day, I would leave them in a particular spot near the tree line. By the next morning it would always be gone without a trace. I set up the camera to see what critter was taking it and learned a lot. A cat would tear it apart and leave a bit of a mess. The fox would take it away and bring it to its den. Surprisingly, skunks also take them away.
After a year of concerted effort, this season we had the best birds. Bluebirds, cardinals, slate colored Juncos, tufted titmice, nut hatches. orioles! It was wonderful. I attribute that to the reduction of robbed nests by marauding squirrels.
And the fox family helped!
I am a little worried that my camera has not seen any fox in over a week. I worry that the coyote pack might have gotten them. They would be no match for a pack of 50 pound beasts.
@Jonesn4burgers I figure it is ok to put out food waste for the critters. Rather than have the food rot in a landfill I figure it is better to give it ‘life’ by letting another animal consume it. (There is a touch of Zen in that statement.) I know a Buddhist (vegetarian) who would eat meat that was being wasted or thrown out since the animal had already sacrificed its life and he considered it a supreme insult to just throw it away.