Squirrel guard pole mounted cone

4.0744680851 out of 5

47

I don't understand some of the negative reviews here. If there were any issues with the product before then they have apparently been fixed now.

The cone is good quality. The sticky label peeled off easily and the cone was easy to fit to my bird feeder pole. There are no instructions but fitment is so obvious and simple it doesn't need them.

One thing you should do is measure the diameter of your pole - as the product spec makes clear, it should be 23mm to 25mm. Mine is 23mm and not sourced from RSPB. Absolutely fine.

More importantly, it works! I had the satisfaction of watching a squirrel twice shimmy halfway up the pole to just under the cone and then stop, look quizically above, and then slowly slide back down.

The product comes with no installation instructions. The diameter of the rubber grommet is wider than the exit diameter of the baffle and thus it cannot be securely attached. Previous reviewers have pointed this out - nothing has been done. The adhesive sticker is difficult to remove - it tears into tiny fragments and leaves adhesive on the baffle. Avoid this. Suggest the RSPB sticks to managing reserves and not selling sub standard products in 2020.

Had 2 of these for over 10 years and they are excellent. Strong in wind and rain. Squirrels cannot get past them. Easy to attach to RSPB poles. No probs.

No instructions for fitting were included, finally worked it out after an amount of trial and error to find that it didn’t actually work. The pole was an rspb pole, the rubber grommet needed to be released from the steel fitting intended for thinner poles, but when fitted, wasn’t tight enough to hold up the cone, which slipped down. To fix this I would have needed to drill through the rubber and pole and fit a screw, or get a jubilee clip to tighten the fit. Having spent £18.99 I didn’t feel like having to do work on it to make it usable, so returned it. This is apparently a common problem.

This does not fit on my feeding station. What holds it is a short piece of tubing, approximately 20mm diameter. This is slightly too narrow for my feeding station pole. So, I cannot use it. It has a thumb screw, so it might work on narrower poles. There really should be better information about this in the product description, or better still, a wider range of adjustments.

It is a shame that the baffle doesn't have a universal fitting and only fits RSPB poles. Still, with the use of a jubilee clip, it is up and running. Whether a squirrel can jump past it remains to be seen.

I bought a 2nd one!

This is a great product, a touch expensive but it lasts for years, stops squirels climbing the feeder pole. Not sure they have even tried (not lately anyway) they probably did when I first got it. The pole feeder needs to be positioned at least 6 feet away from anything a squirrel can jump from, and high enough up the pole so they can't jump above it from the ground. The sticker would not remove, but the rain and weather wore it off! DD40 also works! Had it a few years now and just given it a coat of black metal paint, so it looks like a witches hat ! When the pole occasionally blows over it does not break like a polycarbonate dome does, these also degrade and get brittle in the sunlight and break and are a waste of money. I have had the metal cone so long the pole rusted and the rubber bung perished (this is used to slide onto the pole to hold (balance the guard in place) the cone will move if you touch it, this is part of the design so the squirrel or presumably a rat falls off. I have repaired the pole, can I buy a replacement rubber bung ?

This is a very disappointing product. It consists of the metal bucket, as shown in the illustration, but there is no positive method to attach this to the pole other than a piece of rubber tubing which is pushed on to the pole beneath the bucket. I tried to make it more stable by cutting a narrow collar off the tube to give pressure from the top but this was unsuccessful and the bucket still waves about in the wind and as a result walks the rubber stopper down the pole. On the first day the bucket had moved down the pole by an inch. Furthermore, I have a very leafy garden and the colour of the bucket is an unnatural green and sticks out like a sore thumb. The only positive is that, so far, the squirrels have been unable to get past it. I shall however discard this item as soon as I can find a better-designed deterrent.

My heart sank when I saw the first squirrel approach, weigh up the presence of this strange object and then just jump onto the baffle and straight onto the pole above. Success at the first attempt. We scared him away and it retreated to the top of a low hedge about 10' away until we retreated. It was working out the best way to tackle this obstruction, came down from the hedge and straight up onto the top of the baffle and then the feeders. It is nothing more than a minor irritant to them.
The height of the feeder precludes the baffle from being placed any higher so I am about to order the pole extension and adjust the baffle upwards. This may or may not work. If it doesn't we will take in the food when we are not around and put it out when we are but we are not feeding the squirrels! They also trash the feeders and actually try to take the whole feeder away with them!

Plan A: First purchased this item a few months ago. After a few aborted attempts the squirrels learnt to jump directly above it on to the pole. Plan B: Move the baffle up to just under the feeders. Detered some but one manages to contort his body so he holds on with his back feet and then just twists himself around it and jumps to a feeder. Plan C: Oil the pole - works for a few days then the oil becomes less slippery. Plan D: ? May try buying a seond baffle and putting it immediately below the first. Has anyone else done this?

Squirrels climbed the pole, reached up over the cone, and climbed the rest of the way to the food. I've put it at different heights, and the little demons still defeat the cone every time. I'll donate it to metal recycling. Also, I concur that the label is impossible to remove neatly.

It did not take long for my squirrels to climb over the baffle so now I will have to get a MUCH WIDER ONE. More expense.

This really does what it says. Since fitting the cone we have had no problems with squirrels trying to get to the food..........well worth the money

We've never had a problem with squirrels before but have moved to a garden with lots of trees in the vicinity and discovered what pesky little things they are. I bought this based on the reviews but really didn't believe it would work. Thankfully I was wrong - it works a treat! No more squirrels nipping up the pole and tipping the feeder contents down their voracious gullets. Yes you can't get the label off but that doesn't really matter - I'm delighted the squirrels are well and truly baffled.

RSPB response: Thank you for your review, it is great to hear how effective this product is for you and that you are delighted with it! We have spoken to our supplier regarding the label and this should have been resolved, it may be that you received stock from before the change.

Our feeders were constantly being raided by squirrels until we bought this a few months ago. The squirrels still hang around on the ground underneath and look as if they are plotting something but so far have not been able to access the food. It's a shame about the label being so difficult to remove, and the baffle is pretty unsightly with the inevitable mess, but that's a small price to pay for the birds being able to eat in peace.

23/6/17 I have had the cone a few days now. The squirrel came and started to climb the pole and came down again in disgust. He then walked all around the ground looking up to find a way. After that he climbed to the top of an old tree stump about ten feet away and again could not see a way of getting to the seeds which sre in the RSPCA dome feeder above the cone. My wife says he will probably come back with a small ladder :-)) I now feel a bit sorry for the squirrel and will put some seeds in a container specially for him which the big birds cannot get access.

Bought this item because the reviews being very good. The one downside, and voiced by may customers is the difficulty of getting the label off, and agree its difficult. Surely this minor problem could be resolved easily. but having said that so far its working just fine. i hope the squirrels don't work out an alternative route to the bird food, pesky blighters.

RSPB response: Thank you for your review. I am glad to hear the cone is working well for you. I apologise for the sticker, we have contacted our supplier regarding this and are hoping to resolve this issue shortly.

Our bird feeder station is now a squirrel free zone. The antics of our furry pests trying to steal food caused great amusement for us in our sheltered housing garden. They were very persistent for several days but after umpteen attempts and sliding down the cone every time, they finally gave up! I moved the bird bath further away to prevent airborne attacks.
My only complaint is that I was unable to completely remove the label but all in all the product was worth every penny Highly recommended.

This came with a thick rubber tube a few centimetres long, and a metal butterfly clamp. The tube with the butterfly clamp was of a smaller diameter than the existing pole, so was of no use to me, but the rubber tube fitted over the pole and I used insulating tape to fix it to the pole, resting the cone on top of the rubber tubing. It was a couple of days before I witnessed one of our local squirrels looking up from the lawn and you could tell he was trying to work out how to get to the food. He climbed up to the cone, held the edge with his front claws but could not grip it, He even managed to get his front feet beyond the cone onto the outside surface but could not get a grip as it was too slippery. He then tried using his teeth to hold the edge of the cone but had no way of getting over the cone to the pole above. He went back to the lawn and tried a couple more times, but failed. The cone is over 4 feet off the ground so he has not tried jumping straight over it (yet).
So far so good, but I cannot help thinking that the squirrel will be plotting his next move!

RSPB response: Thank you for your review, we are pleased to hear your squirrel guard pole mounted cone has been effective in preventing your local squirrels from feeding on your bird food!

Very effective device. It's only been installed for a week, but in that time the nut and seed feeders have only dropped by about one-third, rather than having to be refilled twice. Plenty of curiosity from the squirrels, but no evidence of a successful raid. They're probably building a bridge somewhere ...

Only twice has a grey squirrel been able to raid the bird feeding station. On each occasion it was human error. When we set up our wooden gazebo it provided a wonderful climbing frame for the squirrel - until we hung the curtains.
The second time we left a tall plant pot too close to the feeders and the squirrel was able to launch himself from there. Moved the pot - no more squirrel problems.
Yes, the baffle gets messy, but it is a small price to pay and the rain usually washes it clean again..

Easy to fit and works a treat. I've watched half a dozen attempts by squirrels to climb up to the feeders and none have succeeded. I bought on the basis that this product had the best reviews and they were right.

SO bought this in May because I noticed a certain Grey took a liking to the suet balls I bought. It worked like a charm once I also figured out they were attaching from above Launching themselves from a tree close by. Only BUT is that the green color faded within weeks and the mess left on it from the birds is a pain. I also had trouble removing the label.

Fed up with daily squirrel raids, bought this and have had hours of fun watching the local greys attempts at snaffling the peanuts. One did manage to scale the baffle but moving the station away from any launch points has left them well....baffled!

I got the premium feeding station and squirrel baffle as a present. Have had hours of fun watching squirrels trying to get past the baffle, antics are hilarious. One even resorted to climbing my window frame in an attempt to leap onto the pole.
Not one of the ten squirrels visiting have made it up the pole. Baffle has already paid for itself as my feeders are no longer being chewed and the food is just for the birds,

Put this up and not had a problem with greys on my feeders since. Occasionally they come and nibble the mess the birds have made on the floor, I can live with that, they aren't eating the seed direct and chewing the feeders any more. Worth the investment!

Appears to be working well but it was a struggle to remove the label from the cone. I thought the RSPB would have moved away from stickers which tear off n little pieces & leave behind a tacky residue that can only be removed with a solvent. Please do better.

Having attached the baffle to our feeding pole, the squirrel (or squirrels) were NEVER seen again. My only disappointment was that we didn't even see the culprits trying to figure it out. Happy squirrel free days!

Totally delighted with this product, it is saving us a fortune in birdseed! After initially fitting it too low on the pole, we adjusted it twice to raise it higher up until they couldn't jump over it from the ground. After 7 days they are not bothering to visit our garden. Resident black Labrador very miffed and blaming me.. Am I missing the darned things - weeell -just a teeny bit!!

We were entertained two consecutive evenings following the new cone guard and pole system. The dreaded greys enthusiastically tried every approach without success. The cone was investigated at least a dozen times each evening. After the second evening of defeat it climbed upon the back of our garden seat adjacent to our window and coldly ""eyeballed"" us for several moments as we sat at the table.
Wonderful to find food intact for the birds after years of squirrel damage.

I can definitely endorse this product. Having tried a number of "home made" deterrents against the squirrels that were feeding off the nuts on our bird feeder, this product has stopped them completely. As the pole of our bird feeder was quite narrow I had to use a jubilee clip to secure the rubber cone mount - a longer screw in the fitting provided for this purpose would have been useful. A great product though - thanks for resolving our problem !

My (quite tame) squirrels have, in the last few weeks, discovered they can chew through the collar holding the guard, if they climb up inside. It has taken them nearly 18 months to discover this! Now the guard slides down the pole, and I shall be getting a jubilee clip soon. A more satisfactory way of securing the cone should be provided.

Having read the other reviews before I purchased this, I got a jubilee clip and found it really easy to fit. The only problem I had was discovering the best height to fit it but the squirrels were quick to show me as one or two of them managed to leap over the cone from the ground. Raising the cone stopped that and, so long as the pole is away from anything such as a tree branch that the squirrels can leap from, it works perfectly. The squirrels have now stopped even trying to climb the pole and just pick up what the birds drop. Since there are seven squirrels the birds hardly had a chance at getting at the feeders before and now they have them all to themselves and it's saved me a packet!

Despite many attempts, in 18 months of use our band of grey squirrels have not found a way round this. Once we had moved the stand far enough away from the plant tubs so they could not leap from them on to the feeder, our birds have fed in peace and the squirrels are left with the food we put on the ground or the birds drop. It has more than recouped its purchase price.

As has already been said I think the fixings are inadequate. It really needs to be slid on the pole and secured with a wingnut as are on some of the fittings supplied with the feeding station. However I think that I may be able to get around the problem without the extra expense of a couple of jubilee clips, as the item is quite expensive as it is, at least when compared with the feeding station. Also, the stuck on label was very difficult to remove. A loose sheet in the packaging would be better.

Having mounted the guard on our pole and finally managed to stop it from falling down the pole using cable ties, an ingenious squirrel then worked out that he could flatten the side of the cone to the pole by pushing with his front paw thus allowing him to climb over it! We have now fixed a cross of garden canes to the pole horizontally just inside the lower part of the cone to stabilize it and prevent the squirrel pushing it - time will tell wether this is s permanent solution or not! Overall though, only a few squirrels seem to be able to access the bird food so it is lasting much longer.
I have to say that watching them try and beat the guard is excellent entertainment!

I took the advice of a previous reviewer and bought in advance a jubilee clip to secure the rubber pole mount. It was needed. From the pictures I thought the guard was rigidly fixed to the pole, but it swings freely on the rubber pole mount. I have had a lot of laughs watching the squirrels climbing the pole and trying to get to grips with the swinging cone; but they have been unsuccessful over the last couple of weeks. The product is simple and made well enough. I am sure if necessary in the future I could repaint it or rig something up to replace the rubber mount if it perishes.

We have had this cone now for two weeks and so far it has managed to outwit the family of squirrels who have attempted to get past it. Following some very valiant and determined attempts to overcome the obstacle the squirrels now visit the feeding station much less than they used to and generally content themselves with the leftovers that are discarded on the ground. Sometimes they try to get past it again but they seem to tire of it now.

Our squirrel is baffled and confused. He has tried to get past the cone and failed. He has now settled with eating what the birds toss onto the grass. We have tried all sorts of alternatives and this is the only one that has worked. Thanks, law and pecking order have been restored to our garden!

Purchased this and spent a while trying to work out how to make it stay in place following the instructions on the baffle as the connector diameter was greater than the poles of the feeding station that i'd purchased from the RSPB as well! Read review and found customer who'd had similar problem and had soved it by buying a Jubilee clip. Warning that this product may need extra clip with some poles would be useful as would the option of buying or receiving a Jubilee clip with the guard.

After several of the plastic dome guard baffles breaking after high winds knocked our bird table, we bought this. Fantastic - so far (we've had it 6 months now), the squirrels haven't worked out a way round it and it's a real joy to watch them occasionally try ... frustrated squirrels.

It's more than saved the money it cost in food not being eaten by the squirrels. Highly recommended.

I have been plagued by squirrels for years but this is the answer. Squirrels have tried everything - taking a run at the pole only to find the baffle stops them, they used to end up on their backs wondering what has happened!
They soon learn and don't even try now but pick up any food on the ground that has fallen out of the bird feeders. Birds feed quite happily - even the robins are going for the fat balls this year.

I purchased a squirrel baffle cone for use with my feeding station, but did not receive the second adaptor for use with this smaller diameter pole. The rubber collar is too large and slips down. However, a jubilee clip tightened at the base of the rubber collar keeps it nice and snug and holds the cone in position. Hope this helps anyone with the same problem. I am now squirrel free; I've watched them try to clamber over and round it, with no success. After years battling with squirrels over the bird food, the birds and I are winning.

Bought this to go with feeding station due to high level of squirrel activity on my bird table. Sadly the rubber stopper is too big & cant find anything to help it stay in place. Did think it would be compatable with the RSPB station I purchaced at same time. Need some help because they have chewed through the perch sections on the plastic RSPB seed feeders!

The cone works well, but the squirrel has gnawed away the rubber collar supporting the cone on the pole. Is a replacement rubber collar available? As it works brilliantly apart from that. but would like to buy a pack of 10 of the rubber supports if possible.

I found this deterrent good for most squirrels but unfortunately I have two squirrels who qualify for University Challenge. Somehow, these two have mastered how to get around the guard and I often come home to find them swinging on the bird feeders, shouting at me. I am about to purchase another extension pole in order to increase the overall height of the feeder pole in the hopes that this solves the issue. Apart from those two, all other squirrels have been effectively deterred.