I gave up on my fancy bird feeder after 3 weeks of squirrel battles

I bought this nice wooden hopper feeder from a local shop in Dayton, thinking it would be perfect for cardinals. Turns out squirrels figured out the weight-perch mechanism in like 2 days flat, and I spent way too many mornings watching them empty it. After 3 weeks of constant refilling and frustration, I finally caved and got a cheap metal tube feeder with no moving parts, and it's been smooth sailing ever since. Anyone else have a feeder that the squirrels beat way faster than you expected?

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schmidt.amy1mo ago

Wait, is it actually a weight perch mechanism? Most of those cheap wooden hoppers just have a little metal rod that's supposed to trip when something heavy lands on the feeding area, but I've seen some squirrels straight up hang upside down from the roof to get around it. I had one that just sat on the edge of the tray part and reached through the gap, totally ignoring the weight thing. The real kicker was when they chewed through the plastic adjustment piece on mine after I tried to set the sensitivity lower. It's crazy how fast they figure stuff out, but at least you found something that works for you now.