Purple Martin Forum

Kill the the cat!!!!! Or move it to a better location like a dog kennel.

The best deterrent I have found is the use of pm decoys. Put two or more decoys on your racks or houses and the hawks will attack them instead of your live martins. Your martins will all escape in time leaving the decoys behind. After several frustrating failures the hawk will move on to other prey....

Thank you Emil. I will check into the solar type since I may have to go under a sidewalk between the house and poles. Thanks for your reply--if it works for your giant size colony it should keep my 19 families safe.

LAST YEAR I LOST ONE GOURD WHEN A BLACK SNAKE GOT AROUND MY NETTING . I WAS VERY LUCKY THAT I DID A NEST CHECK SOON AFTER AND FOUND THE SNAKE BEFORE IT WENT ON TO OTHER GOURDS. I'M LOOKING INTO USING THE ELECTRIC SHOCK METHOD OF PROTECTING MY TWO POLES NEXT SEASON BUT I'M WONDERING IF THIS WILL HARM...