okay, so take this review possibly with a grain of salt...the previous owner of my now house had this feeder in their (now my) backyard. I have no idea how long its been there but it looks like close to a decade. Feeder is still in great shape, works perfectly, and the pole is IN. I've noticed the holes are pretty large, so I only put cheaper seed into it because it can spill when there's a lot of traffic and I personally don't like the crowding at the bottom from the doves and squirrels. Absolutely recommend if you want just one universal basic feeder that will obviously last :)

Love the feeder. We have it on a pole and was great until the squirrel accessed it from the top. They provided us with entertainment one snow day when they were able to access top of feeder. Once there it did not take long for them to figure out if they hung upside down they could activate the bar and get seed. So with positive reinforcement of getting the seed when the bar was pushed down they had a feast. Guess it is all about location... Plan to move feeder next season when the ground thaws to a place where the squirrels will have limited access to top. The birds have enjoyed the feeding as well.

It didn't take long for our squirrels to figure out they could hang their back feet on the ends of the bail and munch away. Pole mounting would work if you can keep them from climbing the pole, but our feeder is 15 ft. off the ground, so that's a tough proposition. We just tried re-designing the bail so it doesn't hang over the side. We'll see if that works.

I got this bird feeder as a gift 17 years ago. It was knocked off our pole by a black bear and survived fairly unscathed. Now we have it hanging high in a tree where our birds continue to enjoy it. The finish still looks great and it has stumped every squirrel that has ever tried to get at it! Love that the landing bars can be adjusted to respond to different bird weights so we can feed our small song birds and lock out the larger birds that usually clean out other bird feeders.

Out of frustration with the grey squirrels I purchased the Absolute II in electric blue. Had it hanging on a shepherd's hook but the greys figured out how to reach the seeds with back feet on the hook's pole and reaching with the front - one on the perch and the other scooping out the seeds. Converted it to pole-mounted and much to their frustration they bite it (hope they break their teeth on the metal!); they're all over it and get really mad (see their tails flicking and twitching); and most times they slide off the roof or fall off trying to get down the sides to the perches to reach the food! :) I LOVE this so much I tore out the old Sky Cafe feeder (having to constantly replace cords, etc.) and purchased a second Absolute II forest green. My birds love these feeders! Even my Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers hang on the perches and obtain some of the nuts/seeds/fruit mixture that I use. Cardinals are on it all the time, and even the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks love it! It is a 'reach' for the little tiny birds - Rose-breasted Nuthatches, Chickadees, Goldfinches and Chipping Sparrows but they frequent these feeders a lot now that they're used to them. I have them set for large birds so they can 'eat' also. Instead of inserting the poles into the ground I purchased the large, round base. Works great and is not tippy. Plus am able to reposition the feeders as needed without the 'digging.'