Finally, a raccoon baffle that works!

Let me start this review by stating that I was very skeptical that this baffle would work. I've used several different baffles over the last couple years and, while they worked well defending against squirrels, none of them helped with the pesky raccoons. My frustration came to a head when I went through about $100 worth of premium bird seed in about a week. I could tell it was the raccoons because every time they would get at the feeders, there would be a pile of seed sitting on top of the baffle below (a tell tale sign). When I ordered these baffles, my first thought was " boy, these are a little pricey", but I figured if they work, they would save me money in the end due to savings on bird seed. The day they arrived, I immediately removed the useless existing baffles I had and installed these ones, topping off the feeders afterwards. Later that evening, shortly after sunset, I was able to observe these baffles in action - the raccoons were back! I watched from the window of my garage, with the lights off so not to spook them, and was amused at what I observed. The raccoon had been eating seed from the ground when he stopped to see if he could get to the source of this delicious meal. At first he stood up and looked at the baffle. He then walked over and started to climb the post. His first attempt was to put his head inside - "nope, I'm too fat to fit inside there". He then backed out and pushed the baffle aside with a paw - "dam, that's too tall to reach". In his frustration, he swatted the baffle and rang it like a gong, climbing down in defeat. Foiled!!!!!! To anyone on the fence wondering if these are worth the money, I would say "worth every penny". My next purchase might just have to be a trail cam that captures video so that I can watch and laugh!

I bought this baffle after trying a smaller baffle that was advertised as a squirrel baffle and finding that raccoons figured out how to defeat the squirrel baffle in about two weeks. I now have two of these raccoon baffles and the raccoons are not able to defeat them, so I am sold on these baffles. I have 1 inch galvanized pipe for poles and these baffles easily fit over the pipe. That said, the bracket that comes with this baffle is useless on 1 inch galvanized pipe and looks to me to be flimsy and iffy for smaller poles where at least it would fit. I had to make my own brackets to hold them on the pole and I would recommend that to anyone buying this baffle. If you use the bracket that come with the baffle, the baffle will probably slide down the pole frequently. Raccoons can jump higher than you would think they can, so 4 feet is not high enough. Make sure that the top of the baffle and the bottoms of all your feeders are at least 4-1/2 feet off the ground. Squirrels and raccoons can jump higher than you would think they can - 4 feet is not high enough.

We had 2 raccoons climbing up and destroying our feeders (with cone-shaped squirrel baffles on both poles). I decided to give these a try and I'm SO happy I did. The raccoons have tried and tried, but they just can't get up anymore so they've given up. Squirrels still try to get up as well, but are unable to do so .
My only negative on these are about the pieces for the clamp that you have to screw together to actually hold the baffle on. They are just metal and mine ended up sliding down the poles. Luckily I had my clamps from the squirrel baffles (They have a rubbery inside to them and they were strong enough to hold these up). Maybe they'll improve the clamps at some point.
Other than that, I'd highly recommend these baffles.

The media could not be loaded. I have tried multiple deterrents for the squirrels and racoons. This is the first device that worked. The video is just to show that you need to move the birdfeeder far enough away. They can jump very far. I would have given 5 stars but clamp they give you to hold up this barrel is not adequate. I bought it July of 2022 and by April of 2023 its on the ground. I have to buy a hose clamp to hold it up, a suggestion from another Amazon customer that bought this. Its a good product but know that you will have to invest in a better clamp