I can here the owl outside my window at night letting me know I will have to deal with him before March this year when the adult Marlins are due to arrive.
I deal with Sparrows, Starlings, and Pigeons as part of the career I have chosen, Exterminator.
I haven't dealt with Owls before so I will need to study that subject.
What I want to know is do you folks with gourds have trouble with pest birds "as we say in my field" getting into gourds and how do you prevent that?
The Owls are HERE!
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
Some pest are very difficult
1) starlings - trap or shoot them, use starling resistent entry holes (SREH)
2) sparrows - trap or shoot them. Do not feed them or do not let them nest near your housing
3) owls - try owl guards and they may work. I am trying tunneled entrances on my gourds, but a persistent owl will fly against a gourd and flush them out and then catch them. It also helps if there are not any nearby trees, as the owls can sit on the trees and catch some martins at dusk & dawn
4) hawks - Not a perfect solution, but it helps to have a wide open area with no trees nearby.
I think that everybody will eventually lose some martins to these predators, but the above will probably keep that number low. So good luck with any of these
4)
1) starlings - trap or shoot them, use starling resistent entry holes (SREH)
2) sparrows - trap or shoot them. Do not feed them or do not let them nest near your housing
3) owls - try owl guards and they may work. I am trying tunneled entrances on my gourds, but a persistent owl will fly against a gourd and flush them out and then catch them. It also helps if there are not any nearby trees, as the owls can sit on the trees and catch some martins at dusk & dawn
4) hawks - Not a perfect solution, but it helps to have a wide open area with no trees nearby.
I think that everybody will eventually lose some martins to these predators, but the above will probably keep that number low. So good luck with any of these
4)
PMCA Member, 250 gourds, 6 poles, 2traps
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Guest
Encourage your neighbors, to feed the birdies. You stop feeding all together, in the martin season. Calcium is not a food.
The birds will go, to your neighbors. Since they are the bottom, of the food chain, so will the owls and hawks follow them at least part of the time. They will also do their nesting where they have available food. Come gift giving time give them housing for the birds you dislike. The same thing applies, to a beetle trap.
All of the problem animals and birds will move with the food chain including black bears. It is best to not have feeders, in bear country.
The birds will go, to your neighbors. Since they are the bottom, of the food chain, so will the owls and hawks follow them at least part of the time. They will also do their nesting where they have available food. Come gift giving time give them housing for the birds you dislike. The same thing applies, to a beetle trap.
All of the problem animals and birds will move with the food chain including black bears. It is best to not have feeders, in bear country.
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
docgipe, I wish it was as simple as you think it is! The predators come to my place before they find neighbors bird feeders..
PMCA Member, 250 gourds, 6 poles, 2traps