After a raccoon
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Guest
Hi, I've just joined the forum and I want to know how you get the martins back after a raccoon has gotten into their nest. We now have a raccoon guard up (kind of after the fact), but the martins abandoned their three little martins in the nest. What have others done to clean the house up and get it ready to attract the martins again. We've waited for three years to get martins and I was so happy when a pair settled in this spring. Help!! I miss their song in the mornings and evenings - how have others handled this. We live in Missouri by the Lake of the Ozarks, have the houses at 14 feet and they have good access to the houses, but we have raccoons etc. I'm hoping someone else has had the same experience and can give me some good ideas. I have both the morning song and daytime song CD's which I played in the spring.
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John Miller
- Posts: 4863
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
Sorry a "coon" got up the pole.
When this type of predation occurs, martins in residence often abandon the site and you will have to start from scratch next season to attract new birds.
Make sure your guard is set up correctly. The top needs to be at least four feet over the ground, and if you are using the stovepipe type it should wobble to help block raccoons. Some folks are adding netting above it as a backup to black rat snakes. Here's a recent thread: http://purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=444
John Miller
When this type of predation occurs, martins in residence often abandon the site and you will have to start from scratch next season to attract new birds.
Make sure your guard is set up correctly. The top needs to be at least four feet over the ground, and if you are using the stovepipe type it should wobble to help block raccoons. Some folks are adding netting above it as a backup to black rat snakes. Here's a recent thread: http://purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=444
John Miller
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Guest
It seems that coons are becoming more and more of a problem. To make matters worse, once they have successfully raided bird housing they are now more motivated than ever to strike again. Be sure you make your housing as 'coon proof' as possible and good luck getting your martins back next year.
BTW - What became of the three baby martins - are they still alive? It is possible to raise them if you get them to someone that knows how to care for them in time.
Jeff
BTW - What became of the three baby martins - are they still alive? It is possible to raise them if you get them to someone that knows how to care for them in time.
Jeff
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Guest
Zelma,
Coons can AND DO climb aluminum poles. Never underestimate coons. I had old style gourds on a telescoping aluminum pole for tree swallows. A 'smart' coon (one that has learned that there are treats waiting in the houses) climbed the triangular shaped aluminum pole (12' high) and ravaged the tree swallow nests.
When I speak of 'smart' coons I am referring to coons that have successfully robbed a martin, bluebird, wood duck, or any other type of bird housing. Once they have a taste for the housing contents they will become almost unstoppable.
I have a 'smart' coon that has been terrorizing our bluebird trail for the past year. I won't attempt to describe the things I have tried to stop this robber but he manages to defeat just about everything. The coons are incredibly smart, good climbers, and extremely agile. Do not make the mistake of underestimating them.
I think the best prevention for martin poles is a large diameter stove pipe or similar tube made of steel, aluminum, or hard plastic. It should extend at least four feet up the pole and nothing such as a rope or chain should be allowed to hang down along it as they will climb that.
My wife and I have 40 acres with woods as well as meadowland. The raccoon population around us has boomed and I have become very aggressive in reducing their numbers. My biggest concern is that our smart coon is female and potentially could pass her newly acquired knowledge along to her young. Defending against one smart coon is bad enough. Having our entire coon population becoming smart would be disaster.
Good luck with your site.
Jeff
Coons can AND DO climb aluminum poles. Never underestimate coons. I had old style gourds on a telescoping aluminum pole for tree swallows. A 'smart' coon (one that has learned that there are treats waiting in the houses) climbed the triangular shaped aluminum pole (12' high) and ravaged the tree swallow nests.
When I speak of 'smart' coons I am referring to coons that have successfully robbed a martin, bluebird, wood duck, or any other type of bird housing. Once they have a taste for the housing contents they will become almost unstoppable.
I have a 'smart' coon that has been terrorizing our bluebird trail for the past year. I won't attempt to describe the things I have tried to stop this robber but he manages to defeat just about everything. The coons are incredibly smart, good climbers, and extremely agile. Do not make the mistake of underestimating them.
I think the best prevention for martin poles is a large diameter stove pipe or similar tube made of steel, aluminum, or hard plastic. It should extend at least four feet up the pole and nothing such as a rope or chain should be allowed to hang down along it as they will climb that.
My wife and I have 40 acres with woods as well as meadowland. The raccoon population around us has boomed and I have become very aggressive in reducing their numbers. My biggest concern is that our smart coon is female and potentially could pass her newly acquired knowledge along to her young. Defending against one smart coon is bad enough. Having our entire coon population becoming smart would be disaster.
Good luck with your site.
Jeff
Just to add to what Jeff is talking about, there was even a report of a landlord using the popular PVC predator guard (in this case it was a 4 foot section of 8 inch PVC), and still had a raccoon breach the guard, and get to his gourds.
They're almost like monkeys, with their climbing ability!
They're almost like monkeys, with their climbing ability!
