My attempts to thwart them, or at least some of them, have met with temporary success. But the coons eventually engineer a solution. They are clever, make no mistake.
I have a new plan. I think it may work, and prevent the masked bandits from climbing this feeder. I'm not yet saying what my plan is, for fear of jinxing myself. However, if long-term success is achieved I'll gladly share my battle plan.
No sleep is lost over this on my part. I consider battling marauding raccoons at a backyard bird feeder very much a first-world problem. Beside, I must admit to a certain fondness for the clever critters.
PHOTO NOTE: This is what ISO 32,000 looks like, as created by the Canon 5D IV. Even with noise reduction applied later, it isn't pretty. It was pitch-black when I made the shot, and it was through a window. Flash would have reflected back, so it wasn't used. If I go outside where I could use flash, I won't get this kind of shot, most likely. As soon as they see me, the coons usually go on alert and scramble down. I've yelled at them one too many times, I guess :-) As a testament to Canon's superb image stabilization, the shot was made at 1/15, handheld, at f/2.8 (with the Canon 400mm f/2.8L II).