Cane Pole for perches

[Guest]

Hello everybody Great day for the martins and everybody else weather wise so far. Thunder storms this eve though.
I took some good advice after reading a post on cane poles for purches. I installed seven of them on three different setups that I have and the martins spend much more time on them than the rod that came with the gourd racks. I put them on the universal rack, and also the supergourd rack. I have natural gourds on the super gourd rack. I attached them on with copper coated wire and it worked just fine.
You can purchase the five foot cane poles at Lowes. They are about two dollars apice. You might want to try it at your set up. Jon

[Dale Hrncirik]

Jon,

Thanks for the cane pole perch reminder! That seems to be a really good price for a 5' perching rod. Are they in the garden section at Lowes or the fishing area?

I believe that martins really like to have lots of perching options so I may add a cane pole.

thanks,
Dale

[John Atteberry]

Hello Jon and Dale,
John Barrrow and Me bought the cane pole perches and put them on the gourd racks and other housing! The martins love them very much! I'm glad you Jon, tried them and was happy it worked out for you! Dale you can get them in the garden center at Lowe's or Home Depot! I hope everybody tries them! The martins will love it and thank you for it! Thanks John!

[Guest]

We've got a big clump of bamboo in the back yard.

If I were to cut a few stalks down (they're about six to eight feet high) and stripped them of their leaves, I wonder how the PMs would take to them?

I'll give this a try. Great idea, BTW!

[Eddie McKnight]

You can get about 20 short bamboo perches for a couple of dollars in the garden section of most stores (they are used for tomato stakes) and come in varying lengths. They range from 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter, extremely economical, and easy for the birds to perch on.

[John Barrow]

Hi Friends,

I was one of the earlier people to suggest using the cane poles as I have used them for several years with great success. I cut river cane along the roadways (free) and use poles up to 6 or 7 feet long. I attach mine to gourd racks with electrical ties.

Yes, bamboo will work fine and it is really not necessary to strip them. The leaves add traction and the wind will gradually strip them for you. Several years ago a person did a study on preferred perch size and concluded a diameter of 9/16 was preferred. However martins will perch on much smaller (and larger) poles.

There are some photos of my systems and the poles in Update 14.2 accompanying the gourd to birdhouse article that I wrote. It is available for reading on the main PMCA page under the Update tab, along with a ton of other valuable information.

Good luck to all. john