The hot pepper keeps the squirrels at bay. I have at least 10 squirrels in my yard. The squirrels pretty much stay away from the bird feeders now that I use the hot pepper feed. They will come to any of the feeders that do not have the hot pepper but it takes them a while to find those when the others all have the pepper feed. The cylinders last much longer than the feeders with the loose seed. They seem more expensive, but I don’t think they are because they last so long. The birds like them too, especially all the different woodpeckers.