Like you said squirrels will stay and eat until the feeder is empty. We finally solved the problem by putting vaseline on the pole going up and when they jumped up they slide down and look at their paws and look up at the feeder like what happened and then they rub their paws in the grass. I think we have new squirrels because they never bother even with the feed on the ground. So nice. They break everything. One even came thru the screen to our lanaii to get some bird food in the bag my DH forgot to put in the closet. Love the little guys but...Sue