Bird feeder and a squirrel

This past Summer a squirrel was run over on the road nearby.  I hoped that was the squirrel who tried to eat my bird's food last year.  Today a squirrel showed up at the feeders.  Darn!

This afternoon I woke up from an unplanned nap to find a squirrel sitting and eating in the 'umbrella' feeder seen below.  None of the birds had eaten the black sunflower seeds since I put them out weeks ago so I am not too upset that the squirrel ate all the seeds.

But then - after another unplanned nap -I found the squirrel trying to eat from the suet feeder.  Last year I had trimmed the shrub shorter and also raised the suet cage slightly when I found that squirrel could leap from the shrub to jump on the suet cage.   This year I found the squirrel standing on a shrub twig of a branch and holding onto the suet cage and trying to eat the suet.

After I chased the squirrel off into and up the pine tree in the background I worked on the suet cage.  I attempted to raise the suet cage higher.  Standing precariously on ladder in the snow and up against the house wall I tried to raise the wire holding the cage.  Too much pressure and the thin wire broke.

I didn't fall.  I got a different thicker wire and hooked it up to the roof on the house roof overhang.

Then I trimmed the shrub down even shorter.  I'll see tomorrow if this is enough to keep the @#$% squirrel from the feeder.