All I know is that, generally, the instructions outlined in my post work. Squirrels aren't very intelligent because I've seen them get their asses kicked by the nails. And then they stopped smurfing with what the birds are allowed to have. If you find that it doesn't work for you, tweak it a bit.

And I mean, yeah, you could just get a better designed bird feeder, but I like to have fun with the yard.