All squirrel buster® feeders work in the same way when a squirrel lands on the feeder its weight automatically closes the feeding ports, denying access to the food inside and not harming the squirrel in any way. These high performance feeders are 100% effective when hung with at least 47cm clearance all around, forcing the squirrel to climb on to the feeder and trigger the closing mechanism. They have also been designed to dismantle easily for filling and cleaning. This 6 port seed feeder is also weight adjustable to help control unwanted larger, heavier birds as well as squirrels. Dishwasher safe. It can also be pole mounted on any 1 pole by purchasing an additional pole adapter. We recommend hanging the feeder atleast 3 feet away from other buster feeders.