RE: keeping squirrels at bay – my sister in law had a great suggestion. We put our feeder on a 4x4 post away from the roof, tress, etc., so the squirrels can’t jump onto it, and we put a PVC porch column sleeve over the 4x4.
The sleeve seems to be too slippery for the squirrels to climb, so they have to be satisfied on the ground with the slop that the gluttonous mourning doves spill over the side. At least the birds get first crack at the seed…