Cone baffle to keep snakes out...

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KaraInTexas
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2016 7:29 am
Location: North Texas
Martin Colony History: 2020 - 10 nest sites.

2019 - 8 nest sites and 28 fledged.

2018 - Three mating pair. 12 babies, all fledged. Found one adult female dead in house. Cause of death - unable to ascertain. Very sad day.

2017 - First mating pair in Heath house. May 3-5: 5 eggs laid. June 1-3: all hatched. July 3: all 5 fledged.
Approximately 20 adult martins here for the fledge party.

July 1: Installed 4 gourds as well as the 3 houses. The Martins love them!

2016 - Many martins, no nests or eggs. Too many HOSP.
I have a 12 compartment Heath house I converted to a 4 compartment house to allow the Martins more room and hopefully evade owls. I have put in a second house, the S&K 12 compartment one which I converted to 6 compartments. My neighbor also has the same S&K house I converted to a 6 compartment house.
I have eight or more Martins that visit daily.

I put up a cone baffle to keep the snakes out. About 4' up the pole. Is that sufficient?

The house containing the eggs is too deep for a raccoon or squirrel to reach in and grab anything. Yay!

The only other concern is the HOSP all over my hood. I really and truly despise them. I have a BB gun but haven't hit anything yet. I have Uncle Blaine swing trap but haven't caught anything. They are very smart. When I enter my back yard they disperse. Unfortunately, I can't stay in my back yard 24/7. I got some sticky paper to put in the houses but that will have to wait until the Martins leave as they visit multiple times a day and stay for quite a while. I do not put the Martins in harms way. When they are in my yard, the bb gun goes away.

Cheers
May the Martins be with you. :grin:
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Luv Ya Purple
Posts: 77
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:44 pm
Location: SE Texas
Martin Colony History: 2012 - 2014 - 0 pair
2015 - 1 pair
2016 - 5 pairs

There are six foot rat snakes in texas and they can get by the cone and smaller cylinder type guards. I put plastic bird netting (they sell is at hardware or garden type stores) above the guard wrapped around the pole in a puffy ball so that the snake has to go through the netting and get caught.

The sticky paper isn't really a good thing to use. Anything can get caught in them like native birds.
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Sharon - Central TX
Posts: 696
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 9:20 pm
Location: Central TX
Martin Colony History: All Troyer Horizontal Gourds with Conley Entrances
PMCA Member since 2004

I can attest to baffles not preventing snakes from going up the pole. Our first year that we had one pair with six 12 day old young a rat snake was able to get around the baffle and ate them plus the mother. I almost gave it up because I was so upset. But many kind people on this forum encouraged me to continue. That was twelve years ago and now we average between 130-140 that fledge each year.
After that experience we began using netting fashioned like a skirt with layers in addition to the baffle and caught several rat snakes, and yes many that were six feet. My husband eventually got tired of untangling them and disposing of them. He electrified our poles which has completely eliminated the problem. I saw a squirrel headed for one of the poles one day and watched with interest to see what would happen. The second he touched it he jumped in the air about two feet, twisted around in the opposite direction and made a mad dash back to wherever he came from. If I had any doubts it worked (my husband kept assuring me there was enough juice it would) that convinced me he was right :grin:
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