I have included a photo of Bob?s multi-purpose pole set-up using a winch system rather than a rope and pulley. He ordered the pole without the rope and pulley. Bob is very creative in designing and building martin houses and associated accessories. He much prefers the winch system for raising and lowering martin housing.
His multi-purpose pole set-up includes two modified Trio Wade houses and four Super Gourds. One of those Wade houses was originally used by Bob back in the early 80s I believe so that shows how durable these Trio aluminum houses are. He is a big fan of Trio houses and has used them extensively in his personal and satellite colonies. Please note the extra perches attached to the Trios. These perches are garden stakes that you can buy at Lowes. Martins love to sit on them.
You will also see a net trap of bird netting placed near the pole bottom just above the winch. We use these traps to thwart rat snakes which are plentiful in our area.
His multi-purpose pole set-up is rapidly filling up with martins and it is often covered with them at roosting time.
We still use the rope and pulley set-up for our multi-purpose poles at our various satellite martin colonies but may eventually convert them to a winch system. It is just so much easier to raise and lower housing with winches than pulling on ropes.
We expect the first SY males to begin arriving any day now. However, there are still a good number of ASY males that are trying to fight their way into our colonies.
Steve
