I wish I had a success story to share, but no such luck. I'll be interested to hear what others have to say.

Please share your thoughts about the Brome product. I'm not familiar with it. The biggest problem I have with my squirrels is that they chew through the hanger on feeders and knock the feeder to the ground where they just have at it. I've used those spring-activated feeders that shut down the ports and they chewed through the hanger. I've replaced tube feeder hangers with heavy gauge multi-filament twisted wire with a clamp put on with a special tool at the hardware store. They couldn't bite through that, so they still knocked it down and then broke the feeder tube itself.

So please tell me more about the Brome. I'm all ears.

I haven't had a squirrel on my feeders in 2 years. The feeders are mounted on poles and the poles are baffled. The baffles I use are squirrel/raccoon baffles from Wild Birds Unltd. The feeders need to be at least 6 feet away from any shrubbery, tree branches, deck, etc. that the squirrel can jump from to the feeders.

This method is 100% effective at preventing squirrels, raccoon, chipmunks, rats, etc. from reaching the feeders. The only thing it wouldn't stop is a bear. And forget expensive "squirrel proof" feeders - you can use any type of feeder you want. I haven't spent a dime on my feeders they were all home-made or handed down. The baffles were the most expensive items I've had to purchase.

Here's my feeding station. The baffles are the long black tube-looking things, hanging on the 2 poles on the right -
{{!gwi}}

Thank you. I looked at the Wild Birds Unltd. site and I see the baffles you show, the black tube-looking things. Will they fit on any pole or are they made to only fit the WBU rig? I also see in your picture the dome-like baffles they sell. Are the domes equally effective or is the dome an extra layer of protection? Thanks for sharing this info.

Hi Jannd, I've got one of those WBU pole rigs they sell in the middle of the picture. They also fit on the hodge-podge pole which is on the right. That is a pole thingie that was left behind the previous owner, which I combined with a piece of copper pipe to make it longer.

The WBU stove-pipe style baffles hang loosely on a piece of hardware that you attach to the pole. It has screws you can adjust to differing size poles. It's important that the baffle hang loosely and wobble a bit, because that helps prevent critters from gripping the baffle and scaling it. You can make a home-made baffle using a piece of stove-pipe and some hardware pretty cheaply.

In my setup, the dome is not being used as baffle, but as a cover for the tray feeder. It protects the Black oil sunflower seed somewhat from weather, also from the birds that like to poop when they are sitting on the pole rig -don't want the poop falling into the seed. I don't think the domes work as well as a baffle, but not sure? The friend who gave that to me was using it as a baffle and he said the squirrels got around it somehow.

Hi,

This is what I have been using to keep squirrels away. It's hanging off a tree with a long chain. Long enough that the squirrel has to crawl down to the chain to get to the feeder. To prevent them from crawling down the chain, I installed plastic soda bottles so that they can't grip it. Most fall slip, fall down and strike their face on the baffle. It is not foolproof. Occasionally, they will fall just right and land on the baffle, but it's rare enough that I don't mind the occasional raids (usually one squirrel managed to get on it monthly).

Next is my suet feeder, where I also use a long chain. I installed two plastic cups. When the squirrel attempt to crawl down the chain, the cup buckles and they stop because it's too unstable. This works with the suet feeder because it's small so there's not much for the squirrels to grab on.

Wow! I love to see genius on display. The genius of your designs, and the implied genius of the squirrels that inspired your designs.
Me, I'm not so handy, and need the purchased feeder. There's just nowhere in my yard that a squirrel wouldn't manage to find a launching pad to feeder (small yard problem). I've had the brome feeder for 3 years, and the squirrels can't chew it (though they did leave teeth marks in the paint at the ports--poor frustrated critters). It's life guaranteed so I'm not too worried about an enterprising squirrel figuring out a new angle of assault. So I'm happy, bought a second for feeding peanuts only.

Google Brome Squirrel Buster Plus if you want a picture. I think gardenweb prohibits links to ads, and I'm not sure if that extends to other peoples ads, so I'll err with caution.

Thanks to all of you for your great tips and the pictures really help a lot. I've got a much better idea now of what I need to do. Many thanks.

I posted photo's about how and what to buy for the baffel type to make your own last year. Will have to see if I can locate the photo's and repost. jim

Found a couple pertaining to bird box protection which will give you the general idea but not the ones that I was looking for. just buy couple peaces of 6" stove pipe and a couple of end caps. Cut, punch, or what ever means it takes to get hole in center of cap and hose clamp or whatever necessary to fasten on pole, pose ect