...on the back of the house turned on one night. I saw about a dozen mice/rats all over the pole, with several sitting in the feed tray. I immediately went on Amazon and bought the rat guards...lol

To combat the squirrels, I initially tried a clear plastic rat guard over the feeder, but the squirrels could hold onto the hook with a foot, then reach down to get the bird seed. I was amazed...lol

I tried spraying Pam, WD-40, even grease on the pole, but those only worked for a few days before it wore off.

The metal rat guards on the pole are the only thing that really works. None have been able to reach the bird seed since.