Tag Archives: feeder

This Guy Built a 7-Variety Nut Bar for Neighborhood Squirrels

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For those of us growing a veggie garden or feeding birds in our yards, we typically think of squirrels as pests. But they’re living creatures too, and would simply prefer that we fed them nuts if we could. That’s why Michael Dutko of Duke Harmon Woodworking decided to build a special spot for squirrels to visit and dine at.

What you’re looking at here is the Nutty Bar, a neighborhood spot where squirrels can gather, chew the fat, and enjoy some delicious nuts on tap. The bar features seven different taps each of which dispenses a different variety of nut and seeds for our furry rodent pals to chomp on. The taps include signs like “Cashew Dunkel,” “Pistachio Pale Ale,” and “Walnut Stout,” so it’s just like being at a microbrewery, but for nuts. Actually, some of these really do sound like craft beers I’ve tasted.

Michael used an X-Carve CNC machine to engrave and cut the details on the squirrel bar and its signage, which of course includes a sign that says “Nuts” and “No Nuts” to point to the different squirrel restrooms.

[via CNN]

Automatic Feeder Mod Makes Cat Work for Food

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Benjamin Millam came up with a brilliant way to help his cat Monkey eat and have fun at the same time. Benjamin modded Monkey’s automatic feeder so that it will dispense food in exchange for a wiffle ball.

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Benjamin made an Arduino-controlled add-on to the feeder that has an RFID reader. He then placed RFID tags inside several wiffle balls, so that the feeder will dispense food when one of the balls rolls down the add-on.

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Benjamin hides the balls all over their house to make things more exciting.

One very important thing that’s not evident in the video is that Monkey didn’t just instinctively know how to get food from the modified feeder. Benjamin had to train Monkey to recognize the steps you saw above as good behavior, and then put them together as a single task. In other words, you have to hack your cat first before you mod its feeder.

[via Benjamin Millam via Digital Trends]

 

 

Wearable Feeder Mask Lets You Get Face to Beak With Hummingbirds

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Wearable Hummingbird Feeder Mask

Calling all lovers of birds! A contraption called the ‘Eye to Eye’ is now available so you can get up close and personal with hummingbirds while you feed them. It’s basically a wearable bird feeder that lets you literally come face to beak with the birds as they feed. A miniaturized feeding tube is embedded in the middle of the mask, which means the birds will be in your face while it feeds.

For $80, you’ll get two feeding tubes, two laminated inlays, and one face shield (of course you need one.) Is it worth it? Is it not? That depends on you and on the experience that you’re hoping to get out of it. You can get the ‘Eye to Eye’ mask here.

VIA [ Incredible Things ]’

Bistro Smart Feeder Uses Facial Recognition to Give Your Cats Proper Portions

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To state the obvious: what you feed your pets has a huge and direct impact on their well-being. Their eating habits also say a lot about their overall health. Unfortunately, most pet owners are unable to pay close attention to their pets, especially those who work full-time.

This is where the Bistro Smart Feeder comes in.

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Bistro is equipped with cat facial recognition technology so it is able to monitor your cats eating habits, quantify their meals, and keep your cats in shape by using smart portion control. It’s still useful for the same purposes even if you only have one feline in the house.

The feeder also connects with the Bistro mobile app so you can check your cat’s diet history, bring up her health report, or watch what she’s currently doing at home.

Bistro just completed its fundraising efforts on Indiegogo, and is going into production now.

[via Lost at E Minor]