Purple Martin Forum

For several years I have read the postings here warning us about snake predators but I was in complete denial that it could happen to our happy little gourd colonies. Well last week I got a dose of reality! I noticed the PMs were really agitated and flying around one of the gourd racks. When I looke...

Thanks for the nice comments everyone! We worry about predators too. Last year, after finding piles of feathers in the yard and seeing a hawk perched ON the rack one morning, we wrapped the entire gourd rack with chicken wire. It looked terrible, but it worked. Which predator guards do you recommend...

We put up 2 identical K-Series racks with a mix of our old S&K gourds and new Troyer Horizontal gourds. I hope our little friends will like their new digs!! http://www.brazoriapaws.org/new-PM-houses.jpg http://www.brazoriapaws.org/new-PM-houses-2.jpg I hope the Sharp shinned hawk stays away this...

Thanks for the tips! Yes, we filled the base of the pole with concrete. I am so impressed with the quality of the K-Series pole. Last year we had 2 pole failures with S & K poles and I never want to go through that again.

Many thanks to all of you for your suggestions and advise. We decided to go with concrete. Below is a photo. Chris please report back about your experience with the crusher chips this year. I am very interested to hear about your results.

We are about to erect 2 new K-Series gourd racks with 3-inch square poles and are considering filling the holes with pea gravel instead of concrete. We live on the gulf coast with gumbo clay soil and during times of drought or dry conditions the ground cracks and recedes away from the concrete on th...

I knew I came to the right place! Thank you all for the suggestions. We will definitely look at the square poles with the pulley systems. This is such a wonderful resource. Many thanks to those of you who manage/maintain this forum. The pole that came tumbling down! https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...

We have a S & K 3-piece, triangular, telescoping aluminum pole with a double row of 6 gourds, for a total of 12. During very high wind gusts associated with nearby thunderstorms the pole failed at the lower part of the middle section, bending but not breaking, and causing the houses to pivot ups...