I was so disturbed by this video.
A person watching a rat snake go up a Martin house pole to eat Martins, only say "that's just nature"..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljZgXjxtDVw
This is should serve as reminder, about the importance if netting, to block these snakes.........
Why anyone who goes to work and expense to erect Martin houses then let a snake destroy? If they had cancer would they go to the doctor or do nothing? That's nature!
Actually, according to her notes, she doesn't have any martins "just Starlings" so...go ahead, lady, let everyone of those rat snakes get up that pole. And, hopefully, she's too lazy to fix that baffle and they will get next season's Starlings, too!
~Michelle
PMCA Member
Heritage Farm Quad Pod Systems
Martin Colony History: Start 2009 with one pair. Upgraded from S&K houses to two Trendsetter 12's with gourds beneath in 2013. I have experienced job, pet, and parental losses since '13. The Purple Martins lift my spirits and remind me how life continues forward by flying their little selves from Brazil back to my yard. As one forum person once told me, chin up DebA, look at the martins. Danger all around but yet they soar in the sky without a care in the world.
AvianStewardess wrote:Actually, according to her notes, she doesn't have any martins "just Starlings" so...go ahead, lady, let everyone of those rat snakes get up that pole. And, hopefully, she's too lazy to fix that baffle and they will get next season's Starlings, too!
I missed that Michelle.
I'm glad you saw that. That is definitely a relief knowing there weren't Martins in there.
Still, to her point about "that's nature", would she have made that comment if martins were in there? Sounds like it....but hard to tell. And she seems to think that it's just because the guard is tilted - not that it's way too low. Those gourds, the pole and the guard is not cheap!
On the other hand this is a good video to show:
1. How an improperly place guard can be circumvented by a snake; and
2. How a snake uses the cable to help push himself up the pole.
WOW - uggghhh - gives me the creepy crawlies!!! :(
"Sometimes", said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
2023 - 82 pair
2022 - 80 pair
2021 - 75 pair
2020 - 78 pair
2019 - 80 pair http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com
Odd - that's a very nice system, but she's letting starlings use it ('that's nature' —what a waste of a good martin system!).
How many of you noticed, the baffle is mounted much too low - top of baffle needs to be 4 ft above ground or it will not stop large raccoons, let alone snakes. I know large snakes can sometimes circumvent guards, but why not mount them correctly to begin with? In way too many of the photos I see, guards are not mounted correctly and will not give optimal results.
bird netting would have stopped those things!And if were me i would rip those snakes off the pole so fast with my bare hands... Im not scared of a little snake bite.
Martin Colony History: Start 2009 with one pair. Upgraded from S&K houses to two Trendsetter 12's with gourds beneath in 2013. I have experienced job, pet, and parental losses since '13. The Purple Martins lift my spirits and remind me how life continues forward by flying their little selves from Brazil back to my yard. As one forum person once told me, chin up DebA, look at the martins. Danger all around but yet they soar in the sky without a care in the world.
Well I don't know about my bare hands but I would get a rake, hoe, or even a broom. And when I was done knocking some sense in those folks I would remove the snakes.
Deb
DebA wrote:And when I was done knocking some sense in those folks I would remove the snakes.
I have come to expect in my little morning computer routine to:
1) jump up from desk to see what bird is making that interesting song
and
2) bust out laughing because someone on some social site has made a great joke that I wasn't expecting
Therefore, I never:
1) have my coffee cup too close to the area where I "push-off" my chair from said desk
or
2) drink my coffee while reading through said social sites
That was awesome, Deb, awesome!
~Michelle
PMCA Member
Heritage Farm Quad Pod Systems
"Sometimes", said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
2023 - 82 pair
2022 - 80 pair
2021 - 75 pair
2020 - 78 pair
2019 - 80 pair http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com
Martin Colony History: Start 2009 with one pair. Upgraded from S&K houses to two Trendsetter 12's with gourds beneath in 2013. I have experienced job, pet, and parental losses since '13. The Purple Martins lift my spirits and remind me how life continues forward by flying their little selves from Brazil back to my yard. As one forum person once told me, chin up DebA, look at the martins. Danger all around but yet they soar in the sky without a care in the world.
I used 4ft of pvc for about 15 or more years and never had a snake go up the pvc. In the video, the pvc seems to be about 2.5ft long, and our rat snakes never get over 4ft. Now if you have the long black snakes that are over 4ft long, then you need longer pvc to stop them.
The comment about "thats nature" had me wondering about our laws on predators. Why is it ok to kill some predators like snakes and racoons, but not others like a hawk that is raiding a colony every day? The snake is just as much a predator as the hawk, in fact, a snake can wipe out all the martins on a pole, and a hawk usually does not wipe out the entire pole. Is there a shortage of Coopers hawks, or are they endangered, then thats another thought? It does seem like some predators are considered good, but others are considered bad?????
—what a waste of a good martin system!). 
