Owls, Snakes, and White Noise

[Charles B]

After a rat snake killed my only pair back in 2011, I am revisiting predator protection.
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... c&&start=0

I went all last year with just a few temporary visitors, but this year I finally have a resident adult pair plus several others that are coming and going. There was some conversation on the forum in the past about using sound to mask the sounds the martins make at night. It would be easy to play white noise at night, but I have a few questions.

1. What is the current thought on the effectiveness of white noise or other sound?
2. Would white noise at night also interfere with the ability of snakes to locate the martins? My snake expert friend speculated that the snake that got my pair likely had found them by sound.
3. If I do use sound, about when (in respect to dawn and dusk) would be the best time to begin and end the audio?
4. Is it likely that either owls or snakes would spot the martins during the day, remember where they are, and then find the pole at night despite the white noise?

Thanks,
Charles

[Louise Chambers]

I think snakes find food by sensing heat through their tongues. They have been observed climbing poles in daylight. I thought white noise was for owls, never heard of anyone using it for snakes. Have you thought about guard hooked to charger?

[Charles B]

I think snakes find food by sensing heat through their tongues. They have been observed climbing poles in daylight. I thought white noise was for owls, never heard of anyone using it for snakes. Have you thought about guard hooked to charger?

Snakes do sense infrared heat, which is extremely effective at close range. I have not been able to find any information on whether they could use heat sensing at a great enough distance to locate a nest in a gourd 18 feet above the ground.

I do have a quick-release predator guard, and will be adding netting above the guard. I'm nervous about using my electric fence charger, because the pole is right next to the dock and gazebo where the grandkids play.

[msalcido]

This is a very interesting post. Just this weekend I was thinking how I could come up with something that would make sounds to deter the owls and hawks. I was wondering if there was a certain frequency that owls/hawks here and if that could be played to scare them off without scaring the PM's.
If you do use white noise, please keep us posted as to the outcome.

[Charles B]

If you do use white noise, please keep us posted as to the outcome.

For now I am setting it to start at dusk and end 30 minutes before dawn. Any results I post will just be anecdotal. It would be possible to setup a controlled experiment, but that would be a pretty complex study.

In the meantime I'm just enjoying watching and listening to them and spying on them with the cameras.

Charles