Owl entered caged area from under.

[snowbug]

I have been warned this may happen but I wanted to be certain as nest checks are a pain with the bottom closed. I have had 2 motion activated night vision cameras monitoring my colony (2 poles,57 apts) since nesting started in May. Fledging started a week ago. 146 chicks were banded 6/19 with 40-45 more scheduled to be banded this evening. The GHO owl had success last night but no more as I will cose the bottom of the cage after banding this eve. The attached picture was snapped @ 2:56 am. There was also an owl attack 2 hours earlier. Jim

[Aaron H]

Hello,..snowbug...Sorry for your loss, But at least by you
getting the picture of the attack and putting it on the forum
so others can see that a owl can get just about any where
they want to get, to catch the martins.
I am sure their will be a lot of landlords close up the bottoms
of their colonys now that they know attacks such as this can an
do happen.
their will be lots of martins saved now an later,
because of your caring about martins. Thanks for posting
the picture.

[Louise Chambers]

Jim, thanks for sharing your observations and photos, very helpful information for others to consider.

I think you did an excellent job with your owl cages, and closing the bottom will keep the martins 100% safe. Good work!

[Kent Justus]

Jim, on the bottom I would just put some 4"x4" cattle wire, or something similar. No need to put the 2"x3" or 2"x4" wire. Anything that will keep the owl out, but large enough that the martins can drop down and easily through it to get out would do the trick. I have been using this type of guard for many years with great success against both barred and great-horned owls. - Kent / Mt. Vernon, AR

[starling shooter]

THe doors on those type houses need to be on the side, so the owl, or coon, can't reach straght in.

IMHO, the T14 is obsolete with that entrance. You put the entrance on the side and it is very difficult to see, reach in.

[Dave Duit]

snowbug,
Thank you for the pics. I have a one season temporary owl cage made of air conditioning unit protective grate that wraps around my metal houses. This winter I will be rebuilding the whole metal housing units that significantly upgrade the owl protection. Your picture gives me new ideas to help in my design. Thanks.

[snowbug]

I closed the bottom of the cage and have not had any more owl problem. The 4"x4" size of fence that Kent suggests is definitely a good size for the bottom. It appears important that the martins have the benefit of dropping out the bottom easily. I have a gourd rack with 21 super gourds that also is caged but I did not close the bottom. These gourds also have the finger type owl guards on each unit. Also the diameter of the cage is much smaller than on the 3 house unit. The gourd rack is about 25' from the 3 house unit. I have not had a owl problem at the gourds without the bottom of the cage closed as it is much smaller inside the cage and less room for an GHO to move. The 2"x4" fence I used for the sides and top seems to work well. The martins learn quick about how to go thru the 2"x4" openings. Probably adjusted to the fence quicker than when I went to cresent openings over round. Jim

[daveh]

Jim, I presume the cage is attached to the houses and come down when you drop them. Is that right? Since you've closed up the bottom, do you do nest checks and how? What's the space between the houses and the wire?

I'm having barred owl problems now. I do have 2x4 wire around each house but not totally covering like yours. I'm thinking the owl is spooking the newly fledge birds out and catching them at the entrances.

I do nest checks every 5 days, sending the martinwatch nest data sheets to PMCA, and think the cage thing you have would really get in the way. I also live on a ridge and storms can really get bad, 50-60 mile an hour winds or more is rather common. I think wire cages around each house would get torn up pretty bad. Any comments?

We've banded around 255 babies this season. Could band a few more but probably done, a really good season. Have lost maybe 6-10 birds so far this season from coopers and owls. The season is about done.

dave

[snowbug]

daveh, the cage top and sides stays up top and does not lower. The closed bottom does lower with the houses which causes some problem doing nest checks as the fence bottom is somewhat in the way when opening the cavity doors. I can work with it but a bit of a pain to reach over the fence bottom. I do nest checks about once weekly. The bottom is an important part to beat my owl attacks. Distance between edge of houses and wire is about 6" at closest points. The diameter of my enclosure is 9.5' and about 40" high. I have this unit set up on a winch for lowering and rasing. I live in a windy area of northern Ohio. There is 5 mile of open water to the prevaling sw wind that we deal with but the sturdy 3" sch 40 steel pole handles the wind well. The wind does not seem to bother the wire at all but I have it fastened pretty good to solid framework.

I also have a 2" square alum. pole (from PMCA store) with 21 super goards that I also caged. The cage is about 4.5' in diameter and 5' high. This unit is a problem in excessive wind to the point I have to lower the rack at times. Problem is the wind sways the 2" square pole. This unit also allows the cage to remain up top when the goards are lowered. No problem with the wire itself in the wind as again it is fastened well. The wire is about 6" from the gourds.

175 banded here so far with 10 more to go in another week to finish the season.

Jim