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+-- Thread: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith (/showthread.php?tid=7377856)
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How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - Dumb_Polack - 02-07-2025
Hi,
I built the Martin House a few years ago. Well....I should call it the sparrows, wrens and chickadees house. Nary a martin in site. Oh well.
But I also looked out this AM and saw a squirrel....bastages!!....go in 1 of the holes. How would you prevent this?
I was thinking about looking around for SS washers that have an ID that'll fit the birds, but not the rats that can get through. McMasterCarr maybe?? (of course I'll check the Cornell School of Ornithology to get the correct ID beforehand). Since the individual doors are curved somewhat, do they make large size washers that are slightly curved?
Anyone else built it? If so, how are you keeping the bastages out??
(It does look much better in real life...the snap of a .jpg file seems to wash out some of the colors)
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - Dumb_Polack - 02-07-2025
Good Lord!!
McMaster Carr has these SS washers....$8.41/washers??????
Got a more economical (read, cheaper) solution???
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - Randy C - 02-07-2025
(02-07-2025, 08:41 AM)Dumb_Polack Wrote: Good Lord!!
McMaster Carr has these SS washers....$8.41/washers??????
Got a more economical (read, cheaper) solution???
Why don’t you just put some type of predator guard on the pole so the bastages can’t climb the pole???
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - Dumb_Polack - 02-07-2025
(02-07-2025, 08:56 AM)Randy C Wrote: Why don’t you just put some type of predator guard on the pole so the bastages can’t climb the pole???
Well I thought about that, but my wife has a plant that climbs up the pole and flowers (I forget the name of the vine now). I would think once the plant grows up to any shield I put on the pole, it'll just grow outwards and eventually up and over the shield, giving a path for the squirrels.
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - fredhargis - 02-07-2025
Not knowing if you're in town or not....I guess you can't shoot it? Otherwise they only thing I've ever tried that worked was a baffle on the pole, which you can't do I guess. What about putting the baffle right under the bird house?
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - MGoBlue1984 - 02-07-2025
https://a.co/d/b8zUK5l
Get the correct size for martins
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - Randy C - 02-08-2025
(02-07-2025, 09:00 AM)Dumb_Polack Wrote: Well I thought about that, but my wife has a plant that climbs up the pole and flowers (I forget the name of the vine now). I would think once the plant grows up to any shield I put on the pole, it'll just grow outwards and eventually up and over the shield, giving a path for the squirrels.
Squirrels aren’t the only thing you have to worry about either. Snakes can climb the pole easily and the washer will not prevent them from getting into the bird houses. I would put the predator guard up higher on the pole so that your wife’s climbing flowers don’t go that high up.
By the way, your house looks very nice! I put up a purple Martin pole with plastic gourds in December and am hoping to attract some birds this year although I understand you might not get any birds the first year.
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - barryvabeach - 02-08-2025
If you think you might outsmart squirrels, check this guy out https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - Petertaylor - 02-08-2025
Thanks for linking the squirrel video. But about the Martin house—do you even have martins in your neighborhood? Don’t they only live near swampy areas?
RE: How to guard the holes in the Martin House from issue 231 Woodsmith - Dumb_Polack - 02-09-2025
(02-08-2025, 11:09 PM)Petertaylor Wrote: Thanks for linking the squirrel video. But about the Martin house—do you even have martins in your neighborhood? Don’t they only live near swampy areas?
Yes, we're in Mass and I haven't seen any but I do see quite a few martin houses, so we must have them no?