Pole guard and snakes…useless

[SSMartin]

Caught a 27” yellow rat snake hanging out of a gourd tonight. Had an A frame ladder and removed him. He cleaned out the whole group nothing left.

I have a troyer pole guard installed properly and it did nothing to prevent this. I even have it installed higher than the minimum height.

Really irritated and what a waste of money. I don’t have netting but in the past it only caught snakes coming down with larger bellies and never caught them going up in my experience.

Guess it’s electric next season.

Just had to vent.

[brent]

Oh boy. That is horrible. Sorry to hear about that. Look up some of the past posts on electric pole guards. Tommy aka Thomabear designed an electric pole guard that I’m now using. I’d be happy to share with you when you’re ready but if you look up some past posts you’ll probably get all the information you need. Brent

[Martintown33]

Very sorry to hear this.. you are correct though, the pmca guards wont stop a good size snake.. netting or electric ! Brent can refer you good info on the electric pole box ..
Rob

[John Miller]

How high is the bottom of your guard above the winch? I'm consulting with public site in Missouri where a friend chased a snake in the grass away a few days ago. They decline to try netting and risk the public finding a caught dead snake -- but they may raise guard higher. I'm suggesting to them that a guard with its bottom set high, two or three higher than the winch on which a snake may sit and reach up, would then force a snake to use the lower part of its body to be circled around the pole before getting to a guard and "maybe" not be able to get past it. If the bottom of your guard is already maybe two to three feet higher than the winch, my hopeful thinking is useless.

[Unk Bond]

Hello
Later Unk

http://chuckspurplemartinpage.com/snakgard.htm

[SSMartin]

How high is the bottom of your guard above the winch? I'm consulting with public site in Missouri where a friend chased a snake in the grass away a few days ago. They decline to try netting and risk the public finding a caught dead snake -- but they may raise guard higher. I'm suggesting to them that a guard with its bottom set high, two or three higher than the winch on which a snake may sit and reach up, would then force a snake to use the lower part of its body to be circled around the pole before getting to a guard and "maybe" not be able to get past it. If the bottom of your guard is already maybe two to three feet higher than the winch, my hopeful thinking is useless.

The manual calls for 48” install from ground I went to 56” and I do not use a winch. I have the pulleys and rope and have all that above the guard. I have to use a small step ladder to inspect the gourds with the stop being so high especially on the 18 gourd racks.

I think a baffle that most snakes can’t reach around is the most secure. For the cost of these 5 pole guards I could have had a nice solar electric setup.

[SSMartin]

Thanks everyone for the replies. What really got me was this snake isn’t even 3 feet long a rather small rat snake and he had no issues.

I think I’m going with electric next season.
Netting only works sometimes as the smaller snakes seem to bypass it and also sometimes catches fledglings.

[brent]

This is Thomabear’s set up that I duplicated. Brent

[John Miller]

So, if my math is correct, the bottom is 32 inches off the ground. I would have hoped that would have been high enough that it would force a snake to have to wrap its lower self around the pole to advance up and then might not be able to get past the guard. Maybe higher still would help; I don't know, but that what I was hoping.

[Jones4381]

This is Thomabear’s set up that I duplicated. Brent

Nice property!

[Unk Bond]

Hello

Gots a couple questions [ Smile

How far does that electric transfer up the pole

2nd where can you buy your electric unit

Last snake i've seen around here
Years ago a neighbor hauled in a junk car
That had young copper head snakes in it

Later Unk


Later Unk

[brent]

These are mine that I duplicated from Thomabear. The electric charge does not go up the pole at all. The pole guard is attached with fiberglass bolts that don’t send current to the pole at all so the only thing that will give the shock is the box around the pole. You have to make it. Thomabear gave me a list of materials and where to buy them. I assembled it during the off season. For someone like myself it was a challenge however it can be done. Tommy is the one who designed this and I think is a great idea. The charger is Gallagher S12 solar fence energizer. Brent

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[Unk Bond]

Hello Brent
And thanks for reply post with all the input
Like you I also think its a great idea

Laer Unk

[SSMartin]

These are mine that I duplicated from Thomabear. The electric charge does not go up the pole at all. The pole guard is attached with fiberglass bolts that don’t send current to the pole at all so the only thing that will give the shock is the box around the pole. You have to make it. Thomabear gave me a list of materials and where to buy them. I assembled it during the off season. For someone like myself it was a challenge however it can be done. Tommy is the one who designed this and I think is a great idea. The charger is Gallagher S12 solar fence energizer. BrentIMG_1265.jpegIMG_1263.jpeg

I would have been much happier purchasing these compared to the overpriced ones that were bypassed by such a small snake. I get a 6’ snake getting above it but less than 3’…..

These are really nice looking and well executed. I would just recommend turning the charger off during incoming thunderstorms especially here in FL