We invested in a squirrel guard for our bird feeder. It looks like a funnel with the large side toward the ground. It worked beautifully for about a year and then along came a gray that could jump over the guard and land against the wooden pole and up he went. It's been all downhill since. Should have invested in a metal pole! Now every year, after the babies come out, we trap all the squirrels we can, one by one, and take them across the river and let them out. It is time to do it again.