Does hot bird seed really deter squirrels?

A friend just mentioned on Facebook that he uses Cole's Hot Bird Seed which apparently contains hot pepper and while it does not bother the birds, the squirrels do not like it and will stop eating. A quick Google search also came up with a couple of articles suggesting to just put my own hot pepper flakes mixed in with regular bird seed. Anyone have experience with this?

Cindi
who is tired of seeing fat fuzzy tails hanging out of her feeder instead of pretty birds

My recommendation will always be to avoid pepper at all costs. Sure the squirrels do not like it, but it can get into the eyes of those squirrels and also the birds. I have squinneys here that get into feed, but I just adjust where I put the feed rather than cause possible harm to any creature.

Some people have a lot of success with putting out corn for the squirrels, which they love. So much so, they avoid all the good stuff for the birds.

It's completely OK for birds - the whole reason of why heat evolved in peppers is to encourage birds (which are efficient seed dispersers), and at the same time discourage mammals which are poor seed dispersers for peppers.

Some squirrels adapt to it and (just like some people!!) become curry junkies which enjoy their fix of hot peppers. The risk to their eyes is fairly low. I'd not worry about using it to deter most squirrels.

Resin

I've seen a lot of warnings about pepper, so would tend to stay on the safe side. Maybe the flakes would be less of a risk than powder.

We are blessed to not have squirrels other than squinneys. The handful of times we have seen them in the feeding area, we put out a corn cob and it is like morning coffee to those things. They are obsessed over corn and avoid all else.