Vera, I know, isn't it hilarious?!! I wish I had thought to have the camera up and ready when I told him he had to leave. He managed to flip around in there and come up head first. He peered over the edge at me before he skedaddled. It would have made a priceless picture. Lisa

I own a yankee flipper as well and it has lasted many years - probably going on 5 now against the elements which is pretty respectable. It is a bit pricey but when you average it out based on how long it lasts and that it's so well built it is worth it. Here is the link to it on amazon. http://amzn.to/1UdB714 Also, there is a variant that doesn't use batteries called the yankee whipper. Instead of a spinning ring it has spring loaded perches that collapse when squirrels get to them. Probably not quite as entertaining as the flipper but still a good brand and very well built. http://amzn.to/1rvQiIc 

I bought two different ones at HD last spring, one that's never been raided by anything furry, the other once that I've witnessed but it's neither have ever been emptied by anything but a bird. On the one, the perches are mounted to a cage that is attached to a spring. If anything heavier than your typical feathered friends get on it, the spring stretches, the cage drops and some decorative metal leaves block the holes. Once the intruder jumps off, the spring retracts and it returns to normal. On the other, there's a single perch bar with a counterweight attached. The food comes out in a tray in front of the perch. If anything heavy gets on that, the perch tilts down. If they manage to hang on, it also covers the tray. That was the one that an intrepid squirrel managed to get into after much effort. He didn't get much before he fell off. He stood there and looked at it and I could almost imagine him thinking "S O a B" Had a crow land on it one time and he swung upside down before plopping on the ground. He was not pleased either. You can adjust the counterweight on it as well if you want to keep larger birds off but I've never tried it. They're both only about 3 feet off the ground hanging from a 2x4 crossbar attached to a 5' 4x4 so it's not like they can't get to them. The first one was the "Perky-Pet Wildbird Squirrel-Be-Gone" and the other was the Squirrel Be Gone II. If I were to rate them I would give the first one 9 out of 10 and the other a 7 out of 10. The only issue with the first one was a flimsy hanger that I replaced with some heavy gauge wire and the other, well, a squirrel did get into it although they leave it alone 95% of the time. I've had one similar to the picture and while ours was squirrel proof, it was also as rhizo_1 mentioned, bird-proof. The one I bought had a suet feeder in it. The first suet cake I put in ended up about 5% eaten and the rest turned to rock. I made it into an improvised bike basket for our granddaughter.

haaahaha...i now don't feel so bad knowing that a family of squirrels has taken up residence in my garage. good thing my garage is not attached to the house. but they have torn a huge hole in the back of my garage, and it seems that they are not even scared of me anymore. when i go in the garage, the mother squirrel does not even move from her spot up in the rafters. i swear today that one of them was waiting for me on my back porch....wtf?? thankfully my husband has just bought a giant assault rifle type pellet gun and is excited to use it. the squirrels have done so much damage to our garage, i almost feel like we might as well tear it down and build a new one. they have ripped down ALL the insulation, and the holes are ridiculous. so...good luck to all you squirrel hunters out there...and just remember...they might be cute..BUT THEY ARE STILL RATS!!!!