Woodlink NABAF18 Audubon Wrap Around Squirrel Baffle, 18-Inch - Black

After browsing through the many options I went for this device. My feeders are hanging from a 96" inch tall 5/8" diameter double shepherds hook which I probably had to relocate three times to ensure enough distance from objects that squirrels could leap from. I have cedar tray feeders which the birds love and squirrels can easily land on. I live deep in a rural maple and oak tree forest in and my record for a communal visit was 7 squirrels at the same time, but normally I had 5 at a time fighting over the trays and anything that they knocked to the ground. Some of these squirrels are the size of small cats. The squirrels were no deterrent to the birds getting their fill, and the squirrels would not eat everything in the feeders, but I was having to refill the trays every day. After the final move of the pole I was very irritated to see the squirrels just climb up the pole and scramble onto either feeder. On rainy days they would have a comical 2 steps forward, one step back climb and slide back down the pole but eventually made it to the top. Time to upgrade defensive strategy.Installing the wrap took less than a minute. The clamp for this device is nothing more than a base for the wrap to rest upon. I installed it in about 30 seconds. Just back both screws out most of the way to ensure you can get the clamp around the pole, remove one screw completely, wrap the clamp around the pole, reinsert the second screw and tighten both screws until the clamp is very secure. The wrap goes together easily above the clamp and is free to move. No issues. I mounted it a little over five feet off the ground and about 6 inches below the feeders.I am not in a position to see my feeder during every waking hour but on days I telecommute I can see it. At least thirty squirrels climbed the pole, got inside the wrap, backed up a little and grabbed the wrap to scale over it. At that point the wrap just tilts downward and the squirrel drops to the ground. Because the wrap is nice sturdy metal it rebalances itself on the clamp. Rinse and repeat. It is supposed to move. The back deck on my house is 20 feet tall and 12-15 feet away from the feeders. After being foiled by the wrap I had a steady parade of squirrels climbing the deck posts and trying to determine if jumping onto the feeders was possible. Eventually after much pacing and gnashing of teeth they descended by climbing back down onto my fence. It is one of the most humorous and gratifying things to see. After 3 days and up to now I only have juvenile squirrels still trying to climb the pole or foraging under the feeders. The cat sized squirrels don't even bother coming in my yard now looking for bird seed.This device is so simple that I could have made it myself from scrap sheet metal I have in my garage. And other than being made in India with transport costs and a middle man to consider, it seems a bit over priced. But compared to the time and likely small nicks I would have given myself cutting and bending the sheet metal, combined with the magnificent operational efficiency, entertainment value, and curtailment of wasting bird seed, I would buy it again. I give it 5 stars and highly recommend it for ease of install, durability and 100% effectiveness.

I wish I had seen this before buying a similarly styled plastic one at Home Depot. The squirrels and weather (but mostly the squirrels) eventually defeated that one by determined chewing and gnawing.This one attached easily to my shepherd's hook bird feeder stand, about 1.5 feet below the feeder.. So far there are no signs of serious chewing attempts by the squirrels, and I've yet to see a squirrel on the feeder since installing it, though I know they're still scheming and working out like Olympic gymnasts to get around it. It also looks a lot better than the plastic alternative, and there's the simple plus that it's not another chunk of plastic in world.

This unit is Fine. Nice, sturdy steel, and powder coated. I was a bit surprised at the heft and quality of the item. In my mind, I was thinking plastic, but nope. It's a truly solid object.I am, unfortunately, installing it on a Flimsy, 1/2" metal shepherd's hook that I picked up at your quintessential big box home improvement store. Furthermore, it was a Warehouse deal, so you have to expect some things won't be perfect.-- in this case, it was clearly used and the screws were stripped. NOT ANYONE'S FAULT. We work around these issues...right?So I knew that putting it on this hook's post was going to require a little effort. I took about 10" of gorilla tape-- the good stuff-- tore it into three long strips, and proceeded to create a "knob" on the post. This way it had something to compress a bit and grip because there's no way that it was staying there on just the flimsy pole.The baffle made it through the night. No problem.Next morning, a large gray rodent was inspecting it. It traveled up, under the baffle, then down. No harm to the seed. (S)he went into the trees to survey from afar. Then (s)he went away. SO FAR, SO GOOD for its intended use!!!Around 10:30AM:CLANG.The baffle had fallen to the ground, seemingly unaided by any fauna. Not only had the baffle fallen, but the bracket had also fallen. It had slipped down, under and past the tape which had clearly compressed (like I had intended it to, frankly) to cover the space in between the bracket and my flimsy post.Furthermore, the baffle was hot. Very hot. To be honest, I'm wondering if it'll bother the birds at all, when the sun beats off the baffle, and that heat rises up toward my feeder that sits only about 8" away. Anyway, that's probably a question for the Audubon.I reset the bracket and rehung the baffle. This time, I put it considerably OVER the knob of tape, so it would 1/2 hang on and 1/2 press into the tape.More surveying squirrels walked up and left bewildered or just foraged on the ground for seeds. More cardinals, house finches, and nuthatches enjoyed the seed at the feeder.2&1/2 hours later: CLANG.I inspected the post: It turns out that the tape got so hot under the baffle that it melted the adhesive. It had peeled away the adhesive of my top "knob" strip of tape, which slipped down over the second strip and to the ground. I mean, this thing is HOT.So, like a bewildered squirrel, I went to work. Eventually, I took a small piece of closed cell foam packing material-- like the stuff you'd put between the dishes when moving but about twice as thick-- folded it in half, and put it around the post. I then taped that to the post with the gorilla tape, and continued taping downward about 3-4 inches. I then clamped the bracket above the foam knob, not "onto" the foam knob-- i.e., not on the same plane.I'm hoping that the foam pad acts to cushion and absorb the Baffle's weight, while the foam itself is held on by plenty of tape. This way, the tape isn't DIRECTLY and solely responsible for holding up the bracket and baffle, and therefore, it'll be able to sustain itself in the heat. That's the hope at least.It's survived a day like this so far, and hopefully it'll keep going.4 stars. It serves its purpose, and the squirrels are defeated SO FAR.But I almost was defeated, too! The concept that this can fit and hang, unmodified, on thinner poles is a reach at best. Again, it's my own piece of junk shepherd's hook, and I'm the one that did the warehouse deal. HOWEVER, I bet the Seller would be a hero in lots of peoples' eyes if they included a nice, thick, flexible, split-down-one-side rubber gasket for compression & grip on smaller poles. Maybe a little industrial-grade, double-sided tape in the middle of that gasket would do the trick and beat the heat, too.(** If they normally do anything like this, then I didn't get it. Again... Warehouse Deal.)