Pets around the area

Phil Crutchfield · Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:56 pm

I have been wondering if the pets are any kind of deterrent to the martins coming in. My pets are in a fenced area a good 100 feet from my T14.

Chuck4 · Fri Mar 20, 2015 3:05 pm

I think at 100 feet you should be ok! My neighbor has a dog that walks up to a fence near my housing, but the martins don't seem too worried by it. The only time I ever saw them get upset was when a cat ran along the top of a fence nearby. But they settled back down.

John Miller · Fri Mar 20, 2015 3:12 pm

That distance should not bother them all at all. You'd have to have several dogs right under the housing running around and barking all day -- like my neighbor's dogs -- to potentially bother them -- and even then the martins are pretty tolerate except late in the season when the babies are fledging and the dogs might get dive bombed. but I'm sure you're good, and that you have good dogs - ha.

DebA · Fri Mar 20, 2015 4:00 pm

Right near my housing are two horses, three donkeys, and eight goats. Not all the time but the system poles are about ten feet from the pasture fence. The martins don't pay them any mind at all. I swear the horses stand and watch the PM's when they return.
Deb

Anthony Neira · Fri Mar 20, 2015 4:19 pm

Yup Phil, Chuck, John & Deb are right on target ! My Martins are so use to my 3 large dogs, that they don't give the " Danger " cry, which makes it easier for me to get low to the ground when I want to get into position to shoot the S&S, and they don't even bother with my Cats, who rather wait for us to feed them cat food, except for "Clyde" who cries for fresh shot S&S instead of hunting them. ! (?) Good Luck this Season !

birdbrat · Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:41 pm

Phil, I have never had any problems with dogs and martins. My martin colony is in my back yard which is fenced for my dogs. In fact my oldest dog used to be my snake guard. (I lost her a few weeks ago to cancer and will certainly miss her.) She would grab a snake in her teeth and with two shakes of her head she somehow managed to completely skin it. I'm not sure if the two others will be that helpful, but they have never been a threat to my colony, and they do alert me to coons and such.

juliataylor · Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:22 am

I have a question for you guys don't know this is the right place to ask or not as I don't find any relevant thread for my this question so I am posting it here so my question is My mother will be cleaning the windows with windowlene..Just wonder if it is safe to use if I dogs and cats in the house, sitting at the window?

tor · Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:21 am

I've got two Shiloh Shepherds in 5 acre fenced in. One of them, Samson, sometimes lays right underneath the poles. He must enjoy the martins, and they don't mind at all.

ToyinPA · Mon Jan 11, 2016 11:09 am

Phil Crutchfield wrote:I have been wondering if the pets are any kind of deterrent to the martins coming in. My pets are in a fenced area a good 100 feet from my T14.

I'd say heck no. I have a large parrot aviary about 8-10 feet away from my one house. My Blue & Gold Macaw walks up the sidewalk right past the martin house. Once she did get divebomed. A Hummingbird divebomed her once too, LOL. The parrots scream, yell, talk, etc. Martins have landed on top of the aviary. Martins adapt pretty quickly to their surroundings. I also had 8 Toy Poodles running around yappying away. Neighbors dogs, one has a pet pig! Cats, squirrel's, etc running around & I live in town. I sort of think the Martins like more around them to help keep the hawks & owls away.

Toy in PA