Squirrels 1, Bird feeder 0

A couple weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to get a bird feeder. Despite John's protests that it would lead to bird carnage (three cats and all) and, later, that ours would be the most unpopular bird feeder in the neighborhood (large dog and all), we went ahead and bought one and hung it from the tree near our deck. Pretty soon, our bird feeder was attracting not only a bevy of birds, but also a swarm of squirrels. Although I proclaimed early on that I didn't care whether or not the squirrels ate the bird food, it quickly became apparent that the rodents would eat us out of house and home if allowed to. So we went back and forth, humans versus squirrels, with us trying to keep the squirrels away from the feeder and with the squirrels trying to access it. This afternoon, with a loud CRACK, they won and the feeder lay busted on the ground, bird seed everywhere. Squirrels 1, bird feeder 0.