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Problems and Solutions with Cats, Raccoons (& other four legged creatures) and Nestboxes (Part 3)In addition to Messages that have appeared in the Bluebird Mailing Lists on this topic, the following are on the Audubon Society of Omaha website: Predators and Problems On The Bluebird Trail Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 10:58:02 -0400 Hi All, I happened upon a gentleman who had a bluebird box in his yard which backs up to a golf course. I noticed he had a mousetrap attached to the post. I asked about it and he said he had seen a raccoon around and worried about him getting the bluebirds or their eggs so he put the mousetrap on the post and set it. The first night it was tirggered, but no predation occurred. He has set it again every night for over two weeks and no problems. I thought it was an interesting way to handle it! So simple and seemingly effective in this case. Just thought some of you may feel like experimenting and want to give it a try. Joyce, central Virginia Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 22:58:40 -0400 Information from Donald and Lillians book : The Bluebird Book Protection From Predators Predation is part of nature, and we must learn to accept it. There are, however, many things you can do to lesson predation on your bluebird trail. House Sparrows: They can be vicious predators of bluebirds. They can enter a nest box and kill adults or young by pecking open their skulls or pecking open their eyes, and they can destroy eggs by pecking or removing them. Cats: Cats can climb posts, reach into nest boxes, and harm the young,or they can sit on the top of the box and harass or kill the adults. They can also sit on the ground in front of the box and jump to catch the adults, but they can be deterred from this by your mounting the boxes 8 ft. high on poles. When possible, cats should be confined during nesting season and should be prevented from climbing nest box poles through the use of predator guards. Raccoons: Raccoons are major predators of bluebirds. They climb to boxes at night and kill any adults, young, or eggs that are in the box. A nest that has been disturbed by a raccoon will be missing birds and the nesting material will be pulled part way through the entrance hole. Frequently, claw marks are found on the box, and feathers and bits of eggs are scattered on the ground below. Occasionally,raccoons leave few signs of their predation. Deter raccoons with predator guards on the poles or entrance hole extensions. Boxes mounted on trees or fence posts are not easily protected from raccoons. Snakes: Snakes, especially those of Elaphe, such as rat snakes, and those of the genus Pituophis, such as bull snakes and pine-gopher snakes, are predators of bluebirds in many parts of the country. One study showed that snake predation occurred more within 300 feet of woods. Snakes climb up poles, even poles that are greased or spread with Tangle foot ( a sticky substance available at garden supply stores) , and eat young and eggs. There is often no sign of disturbance to the nest. Snakes can be deterred by 4" PVC pipe or specific snake traps. Wrens: Wrens, especially house wrens, can be prey on bluebirds by puncturing and / or removing eggs. The eggs may have tiny puncture holes and sometimes are thrown on the ground or taken elsewhere. In some cases wrens have killed adults or killed nestlings and thrown them on the ground. The best protection from wrens is to keep the bluebird trail away from wren habitat. House wrens prefer woody, brushy areas,so place bluebird nest boxes at least 100 feet from such habitats) Hawks: Hawks can kill adult and fledgling bluebirds as they fly about the nest box. Kestrals have been reported to cling to an entrance hole of 1 3/4" inches, reach in, and remove a 6 day old nestling. Sharp shinned hawks, Coopers hawks, and merlins eat mainly birds and can eat bluebirds. Sharp shinned hawks have been reported to catch adult bluebirds as they left the nest box. For protection from hawks, place boxes away from known nesting hawks and way from power lines and other perches above the box from which hawks can dive down and surprise the adults. White footed mice, deer mice,chipmunks, squirrels, are also capable of climbing to nests and eating eggs or young. The best way to stop all of these climbing predators is to use predator guards on the poles. You can reinforce entrance holes with a metal plate so squirrels cannot chew through. Other Birds: Crows, blue jays, and grackles prey on eggs and nestlings of birds that build one cup nests, but they rarely prey on birds in nest boxes with 1 1/2" inch entrance holes. However, magpies in certain area of the West, have become problems at bluebird boxes. Submitted by: Kathy Bennett Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 00:18:20 -0500 Hi All, I am just at my wits end with bird watching! I never knew until now what you have to go through! I have learned so much but...not sure I wanted to learn this much. I have been since early spring protecting the pair of Blues that have fledged two nestlings of three. The last three fledged last Sat. and was the most awesome thing to watch (I missed the first three)! Once you experience that, there is no turning back. On the other hand it makes you so much more aware of the problems in your neighborhood and question if you should subject the Blues to this any longer. My neighbors on each side feed hundreds of sparrows a day! I was able to SOMEHOW keep them from the Blues. It took an average of 8 hours of day, but I did win. The first fledglings and parents stayed in my yard, garden, and trees just behind the garden until she started laying the second set of eggs and then they moved the first three and I haven't seen them since. The babies that fledged this last Sat. were kept in the big Oak in our back yard for only three days and now they are gone. Today I decided to devote the entire day to try to find the reason for this. Could the reason be stray cats? The same neighbors on the one side (that feed the most sparrows) are now feeding a stray cat and 4 kittens that are just starting to poke their head out from under their shop. I saw the mama cat kill 6 birds today! 2 Cardinals, 3 House Finch and 1 Sparrow. And these were only the ones I witnessed. The hardest part for me is that I know she and kittens are being fed by these people so why the killing of birds? I have no idea why they are feeding because they are wild and no one can get near any of them. I almost know what the answer will be to this post before I ever receive it. Soooo depressing! Charlene Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 07:54:46 -0400 (EDT) Hi Charlene, Bluebirds do take the young some distance away from the nesting area, so perhaps they are mow far away from trouble. Bluebirds this young seldom go to the ground where a cat can catch them. My guess is that they are far away from your yard still in trees. If they were killed the parents would be more visible right now with no chicks to feed. Do you see the parent birds? Cats are natural hunters hungry or not,they kill. The young Bluebirds will be in trouble if they do return to your area while learning to capture insects off the ground. Cats should be kept inside and many owners do keep them inside. Joe Huber Venice, Fl. Charter member NABS, Charter member OBS, Life member OBS Joe Huber Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 07:38:22 -0500 I'm a cat lover myself but my cats don't do outside. When we were planning our new house down here in the sticks, I asked my husband to put up (what I call) a cat walk. We haven't got it up yet but hope to soon. I bought two chain link 6' X 6' X 6' cages that he is going to put together. We will also have some kind of a top on it--probably heavy wire plus vinyl lattice. Then we will hook it up to a cat door; with a short wire tunnel kind of thing. I plan to put vinyl lattice around it and also plant some kind of vine, probably honeysuckle. (This was my idea but my husband gets to work out the details.) Then my kitties can come and go as they please without anything getting to them or vice versa. I will also be able to close it off when I don't want them to go outside. I plan to have some things inside the cage for them to climb on, sit on, go inside, etc. I've also seen cat hammocks in the pet store that would be easy to make. The store wants $20 ea. The cats in the store seem to love them. Anyway, I thought you may want to know how I plan to solve the situation. Dottie, Brown County, Indiana Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 11:38:29 EDT Hello All, I, too, am a very depressed bird watcher today. This morning my daughter and I were watching and trying to photograph a turkey hen and her 4 goslings at our feeding station. Of course, as you might expect by the subject line, my neighbor's cat was hiding nearby and ruined the whole beautiful moment! The young ones flew to the trees and the hen stood her ground as I chased off the cat. This cat has killed many birds in my yard and I'm frantic sometimes for the safety of the nesting bluebirds as well. I've talked to the neighbors many times about the cat, tried very hard to get them to understand and appreciate the beauty of natural surroundings and the native wildlife that is so interesting to observe and deserves to be safe, to no avail. :-( I really am at my wits end!! Do I have to give up my love of the natural and native wildlife to keep the slaughter from happening? It's like I have to stop attracting the birds and others to my yard (6 acres in the country!) because people with cats can't or won't control them and there are no local rules, laws, ordinances in my town and most others in this country!!! I'm sorry to vent like this, but I am so frustrated and sad about this. Laura, Marlborough, CT Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 15:48:58 -0400 To: The Constituency, Many birders express concern about free-roaming cats, and the havoc they create in our wild bird population. I think it's good news that the Fisher, (Martes pennanti) is on the increase in many parts of the country, including, I'm pleased to say, New Hampshire. Fishers turn out to be potent allies in our efforts to control cats which are allowed to run free. Apparently they are killing and eating cats in considerable numbers, and the word is getting around, - at least it is in Sunapee - that it's unwise to let your cat out of the house, ever. These Fishers were introduced - reintroduced actually - into several eastern states to control the burgeoning porcupine population, and it must be working. I haven't seen a porcupine in years. Bruce Burdett, NH Bluebird Conspiracy, Sunapee NH Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 17:48:24 -0400 Bruce, Ok... you had me stumped so I had to look this one up (brought back memories of local rural humor and snipe hunting) so here's what I found... Martes pennanti. So my question... can you send me a couple to help me with my raccoon problem? They might like it here in WNY. Just kidding 8-).... seriously though thanks for sharing the information. We've been seeing an unusually large number of oppossum, raccoons and skunks in the area over the last month - indication that there is a decline in local predators? kimmarie :) ... Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 17:09:06 -0500 "efforts you put forth to have your cats and wildlife live safely!" Dottie, Brown County, Indiana Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 18:11:35 -0400 KimMarie, I doubt that I will be able to send you any Fishers. I've only seen two in my whole life, though one of them killed a porcupine one night right outside our bedroom window a few years back. One godawful racket, now I'll tell ya. Thank you for posting the official information. "Fisher-cat," though popular, is a complete misnomer, as your description made clear. Bruce Burdett, SW NH blueburd"at"srnet.com Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 05:53:59 -0400 Laura et al, This, I know, will not be a popular solution to the cat problem (at least to the cat lovers out there) but this worked for my Dad in controlling the LOose CAt (LOCA). LOCA's were previlant in our neighborhood and killed many birds. My father, a gentle man, did not believe in the killing of any animal unless it was for food. The many snakes, spiders and other creepy crawlies can thank him for that as we were not permitted to smash, stomp or otherwise harm these icky critters of nature. Dad sat outside in a swing every morning before going to work and watched his Purple Martins. Beside him sat a small child's BB gun. If a LOCA dared to enter the yard he was greeted with a fur flying shot of copper BB. (NO cats were killed or seriously injured, just scared). Dad would even take shots of the LOCA's out the windows of our house. This method worked, at least in our yard as the LOCA's were scared to set foot near it. I am sure that they continued to kill birds in the neighborhood but at least we didn't have to see them. Not as effective as cat owners keeping them indoors but at least our feathered friends could find safety in our acre of property. Tami in Ohio Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 08:27:13 -0400 Three loud cheers for Tami's dad. He sounds like a man after my own heart. His method of passive cat control is, in fact, identical to what I've been doing myself for more than a half-century, and it works for other pests as well. Some years ago I proposed a measure at Town Meeting requiring that all new houses in the village have built-in weather-proof rifle ports on four sides, but it was soundly defeated, and I became a pariah in some quarters. (Haven't you ever wished you had a way to poke your rifle out quietly without opening a window?) Now I suppose I'll become a pariah on BLUEBIRD-L for a few days, but so be it. It's only a suggestion. Bruce Burdett, NH Bluebird Conspiracy, Sunapee NH Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 22:05:40 -0400 Hi I have a yard full of critters and birds and wild animals, we even put our
meat scraps in a seperate compost for the animal, no pesticides on my garden,
which usually gets eaten up by whatever ventures into my yard, but hey share and
share alike, and I do have a cat, she lays on my lap when I'm weeding my garden
and yes I'm sure she does take a bird or two, but I have never seen her do it on
our property. I have spanked her with a rolled up newspaper when she gets that
stalking mode, mostly she kills moles and mice. I love my Bluebirds and bats and
butterflies and bees and my cat. Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001 17:40:41 EDT I have spanked her with a rolled up newspaper when she gets that stalking mode, mostly she kills moles and mice. There's a story about my grandmother finding the cat with a bird, taking said cat, and washing her mouth out with soap (rubbing the bar on her teeth, in reality, I believe). She later told someone that she had cured the cat of hunting birds, only to be told, "Well, anyway, you cured her of ever *bringing* you another bird!" Still, seems to me that was quite a feat... Rhonda Watts Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 00:37:46 -0700 (PDT) --- Bruce Burdett blueburd"at"srnet.com wrote: Surely I don't have the only dogs that kill birds, I would venture to say that it happens more than we think. ===== Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 06:53:41 -0500 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Dogs get bored being penned up and they do have hunting instincts. A larger than normal Starling hatch this spring had very large numbers of young starlings begging for food. The adult starlings discovered my neighbors overfilled (dry crumbles) dog dish and it attracted so many that a gallon of food was disappearing in a single morning. A virtual black waterfall was dropping out of the trees to feed the young starlings. One of the German Shepard's stalked them like a cat and got pretty good at catching the young starlings. Six in one afternoon alone. She did not eat all of them but piled them up during the day. This went on for a couple weeks. I am not sure but I think when the young birds became good enough at finding insects they just quit feeding at the dog dish. Years ago I read about a birder down in Florida who lived in a large city and tried controlling house sparrows. Neighbors complained about his traps and pellet rifle cracking from time to time. He bought a pair of giant African toads that reach about 14" long and built them a den and placed feed near the den entrance. He claimed he got rid of about 2 sparrows a day during the warm months. He said the only birds he ever had in his yard were house sparrows. KK Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 08:54:34 EDT I have to smile reading all your stories. When my sweet Golden Retriever, Webster, was only nine weeks old, I left my caged parakeet as company for him during the day. Well....the ending of the story is obvious given the topic. I came home and wondered why the parakeet had suddenly begun molting so much. Then I realized the seed cup had fallen off the side of the cage. Talk about denial! All that remained were these feathers and a spot of blood on the newspapers I had on the floor. It still took me hours to stop looking for the bird...(actually weeks!) I have, however, never seen Webster catch another living thing since then. But I'll never say never! Nancy Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 08:58:55 -0400 Dan, et al, I thought I was pretty safe in suggesting that dogs pose no threat to birds. Once again several Listers have proven me wrong. Apparently there are dogs out there who not only kill birds, but eat them as well. That's news to me. Would it be safe to say that MOST dogs pose no threat to birds? Moral: Avoid making blanket statements. Blankets sometimes have holes. Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 08:54:57 -0500 One of my nestboxes is in my backyard and one in the front yard and my Golden Retreiver walks by them all the time and the birds never act distracted. There is a rain guage near one box and they just keep sitting on it and the nestbox regardless of the dogs. Delilah makes every step I make on the trail and she goes ahead of me sometimes and sits and looks up at the boxes. She had a bird (not bluebird) in her possession once and she just played with it. Mine is one of the dogs that do not eat birds. Evelyn Cooper Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 09:50:47 EDT One of my nestboxes is in my backyard and one in the front yard and my I have to agree. After his one transgression, Webster has become very respectful of the bluebirds. When I go out to feed them, he sits on the steps of my front door and watches. He has learned never ever to bark at them... although he will occasionally chase away a wild turkey or visiting guinea hen... Nancy Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 09:00:52 -0500 Bruce, I never heard of a dog eating a bird either. Of Course, Birddogs fetch birds but don't eat them--as far as I know. So this was news to me, too. DOTTIE Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 09:11:06 -0500 I am amazed. I never knew dogs to have that kind of behavior. I'm so glad my dogs haven't wanted to eat birds or I would be in real trouble. Off topic--The only real strange thing I had heard about a dog before was my Choir Director's dog who, while we were all at church for Christmas Eve services, ate a whole box of Christmas chocolates and was dead when they got home from services. That was the first time I had heard that chocolate could be fatal to dogs. DOTTIE Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 22:25:49 -0400 Bird dogs fetch and don't eat birds because you teach them very early that they are NOT to mouth the birds. Otherwise they would eat them. I had a bird dog who killed a whole coop of racing pigeons. "just for fun". I think most of the sporting breeds would kill a bird given the chance. -Theresa"at"BowEcho.com Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 21:40:14 -0400 Here is some thing new. Maynard Sumner From: Martin Farnham mfarnham"at"umich.edu For birding cat-owners and techies: Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 08:47:00 EDT Hi, Denise, The coons are another matter. Once they have learned that those little boxes have tasty fillings, they'll be back-- and like the homing birds, they travel, too. You'll have to work out some major predator guards to prevent them climbing up--the cone or "coolie-hat" style, wobbling stovepipe, or whatever. Check the assorted books or the resources posted every week or so to find out how to make these. Some people also add something around the hole to keep the coon (or whatever) from reaching in. These, also, will be in the books--some apparently work better than others, and some the birds aren't keen on. I have a box which has had 2 of the leftover scraps of wood fastened vertically on each side of the hole, about an inch to each side, going right up to the roof--the bluebirds have used this box at least once each year for the past 5-6 years, so it seems they don't mind this! Hope you'll be able to stay with us this time--good luck! Rhonda Watts It has been a failure trying to raise bluebirds in Western Kentucky. After several eggs, or fledglings were killed I was able to live trap 4 raccoons and take them far far away from here. Then last week I finally have a successful hatch and all is well. Until I discovered the neighbors cat had killed the mother. I have been watching closely and the father has taken over the feeding until today. I have not seen him all day and I am in a panic. The babies are crying constantly. I have tried so hard to give these little guys a life, and am constantly beat down. I subscribed to this list last year and was beat up so horribly that I had to unsubscribe. If there are any kind and compassionate people who can explain some about the bluebirds and how I may be able to help, I do hope to hear from you. Sincerely, Denise *** From: "Joyce Sobey" jsobey"at"caasports.com Joyce, central Virginia I am seeing a group of bluebirds in my yard now and there is interest in the nest boxes, although I am not seeing territorial displays going on - everyone seems welcome. I have been small-scale bluebirding for about 4 years and this seems to happening about a month earlier this year than usual. I have three nest boxes - two within site of each other and about 50 yards apart, and one over 100 yards away and out of site of the other two. I have yet to have two pair at once. Instead, we have one pair (I assume - how do you guys tell these little fellows from one another????) that will have three broods each year, one in each box. I have a new issue to deal with this year. My neighbors 'adopted' or rather were 'adopted by' a stray cat this year. I have seen this cat in my yard frequently and while he has been seen hunting the voles that have built a small city under my feeders and I appreciate his talents in that direction, I am very concerned for my baby birds (all of my birds actually...). I know my neighbors don't want to turn this into a housecat so what can I do? Any suggestions? Thanks, From: Haleya Priest Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 14:42 Subject: Re: Has spring arrived - early? Haleya Priest Amherst MA However, even with a change in hormones, it does seem early for singles to be pairing - especially 1st year kids. Hopefully the older established pair will kick out the newly paired. But it should be too early for a high enough hormonal level for the parents to kick the kid(s) out of the territory just yet. That should normally start happening - in our more northern areas in another month or so. Even then it is gradual. For example, you can watch them start to become irritated at the "kids" until eventually they literally get booted out and attacked if they come to near to the food source. The danger is that IF the new pair bond is strong and has a lot of strong territorial genes and the established pair are less aggressive, the new pair COULD essentially aggravate the established pair enough to leave. While I don't think this will happen, it certainly has you worried. If I were you, and others will have other ideas, I would make sure to have other boxes in your yard - perhaps the new pair bond would be attracted to another box and end all problems. Boxes are good that are HIDDEN from others, that way the males aren't competing for the territory. Here in my yard, my established pair is so tough that won't like anything near their box. They've just begun to defend it again, as a HOSP has recently showed up. They didn't care a month or so ago. I wouldn't get too upset if I were you. This could be just a short fling between the new pair bond. The good thing is you'll most likely have one pair stay so other than having the other boxes up, you'll have to sit back and observe their behaviors and write an article about it for your state's newsletter! ONce the nesting season does take hold, keep and eye on the boxes and take down extra boxes - else wise you could attract more pairs of blues and they'll most often (not always as Joe Huber has the experience) fight each other and you'll wind up with a bunch of frustrated blues. I think if you put up another box in front within a 100 yards you'll most likely find they'll still be fighting, but every once in a while that would be ok - again as Joe H has had Blues nesting closer than 300 yrds. But generally they need 300 yrds or the boxes closer but HIDDEN from teh other. So if you wanted to try, see if you can get the box behind some big shrub or something. Hope this helps. Keep us posted - as this is a really good question and needs experimenting. H :-) From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com Jacque, et al, Of course, I have no way of knowing how fat and unathletic your cats have become. Around here, Fishers are far more likely to eat outdoor cats than Coyotes
are. Fishers can climb trees better than cats, and they're about 10 times as
fast. Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 16:05:29 -0800 (PST) Hello Darcy, From: "Darcy & Jacque Turner" turner"at"texasisp.com Any of you that have ever had problems with raccoons.......will a raccoon climb a pole - 1" galvanized type - where the house sits at the 8-9' level? Would I be better off to just start off with a baffle under each house? We certainly do have raccoons because I've seen the tracks. Jacque Turner From: "Mary Beth Roen" mbroen"at"hotmail.com Jacque, The protection lasted only a short time, and they were back to climbing it again. Actually four half-grown raccoons climbed it all at the same time! I would definitely put a baffle under the house. I use the stovepipe baffles on all of my poles and have had no raccoons raid my boxes. Mary Roen, River Falls, WI 600 ... From: "Phil Berry" mrtony8"at"home.com 'coons will climb darn near anything to snack on a Momma blue in the = middle of the night. Been there, done that. The stove pipe baffle is the = only assurance I have. Phil Berry Gulf Breeze, Florida From: DottyRogers"at"netscape.net Hi Darcy: We had a seven-cat site and came up with some "cat-proof" (note quotations marks) boxes; would be very happy to share them with you. --Some are really obvious (larger roofs so cat has harder time reaching entry hole) -- but some should be pretty affective, and they're easy to do. Good luck, Dot; eastern MA Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 07:01:30 -0800 (PST) Hello Darcy & Jacque and friends, It has been an interesting challenge for me thus far and I intend on continuing the study. I will certainly update anyone interested as I draw any conclusions and I would appreciate any suggestions or ideas from the experts on this list. Bob Sitarski Jackson County Indiana & Clay County Illinois Darcy & Jacque Turner turner"at"texasisp.com wrote: Any of you that have ever had problems with ... From: "D. H. Snook" dhsnook"at"sssnet.com Hi list, Depending on what kind of pole or pipe used, drill the appropriate size hole in a PVC cap. Glue the cap to the PVC pipe. Put 2 coats of Carnuba wax (Kit Wax) on the pipe and cap. Suspend the guard on the post so the bottom wobbles. Every spring, wash the dirt off the guard and re-wax. The cost of one guard is about 3.00. The advantage over a stove pipe is that there is no seam. Someone wrote last year that he saw a snake ascending his stove pipe at the seam. This guard also keeps squirrels off a bird feeder. Obviously the box must be away from trees and buildings so critters can't jump on the box. In my 5 years of managing a 50 box trail, I have never lost an egg or nestling to a ground predator. This guard works great, at least in my area. D. H. Snook/Sondra R. Snook From: "Fawzi P. Emad femad <at> fpemad <dot> com Grease is good for a short time, it will soon stiffen and will actually aid coons and other ground predators climb up the post. Besides, grease is very messy to work with and will soil hands and clothing for a long time. Large roof overhangs are really good, mostly for shading the box. The safest way to protect against ground predators is the stove pipe guard designed by Ron Kingston (make sure to use 8" diameter by 2' long stove pipe.) This design is detailed in many of the good Bluebird reference books, and most recently in the excellent book "The Bluebird Monitor's Guide" by Berger, Kridler and Griggs --pages 114-116. Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland From: "Fawzi P. Emad femad <at> fpemad <dot> com In fact in the same book mentioned in my last E-mail (by Berger Kridler and Griggs,) you can see Haleya with a predator guard like the one DH describes below, on page 63. The cost of the guard below is similar to the stove pipe guard. Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland From: "Fawzi P. Emad femad <at> fpemad <dot> com So many pictures in the book by Berger, Kridler and Griggs! I just found a picture on page 99 of both predator guards, side by side, the stove pipe and PVC guards... Every time I look in this book I find more interesting things... Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland From: "Phil Berry" mrtony8"at"home.com
I guess my PVC is not as slick as yours, as when I tried this my 'coon climbed it the second night it was up. I lost a Momma, the second one that season from the same box. Never again, for me. Phil Berry From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas This is a rare but learned talent for these feeding "units" of raccoon families and only works as long as they are together in the summer. IF you check your boxes regularly and use grease on the poles as an indicator of predators attempting to reach the nestboxes you should be able to add guards as necessary. Just because you see lots of raccoons does not mean in any given area that they are a serious raider of nestboxes. If you use deep, well made nestboxes and have the extra overhanging roofs your boxes will possibly only be raided IF there is a food shortage or population explosion of raccoons in your area. IF you see any signs of coons or cats reaching any of your nestboxes in a 1 square mile area then you need to be sure to get the boxes totally protected. I do believe coon predation is more of problem in the corn producing states/areas and in areas where they have learned that ANY type box or feeder mounted on a metal pole is a constant supply of food! Is there anyway to search the Cornell data bases and see what regions of the country have the highest rates of predation and types of nestboxes/mounting methods most susceptible to being hit? KK From: Gary Springer [springer"at"alltel.net] I also wrote: "Most importantly, knowing how smart, acrobatic, and how gifted these
predators are at climbing, I especially would never use a nest box mounting
technique and predator prevention system that will NOT provide positive
indication when the system has failed to prevent predation"(by climbing Since you believe preventing predation of bluebirds is more important in your area than in mine, where predators abound but have not yet climbed a plain, smooth, greased, galvanized pole, I assume you also apply grease to the pole with the Kingston guard to prevent destruction of the nestlings by fire ants as well as to let you know if a predator or group of predators has learned to circumnavigate the guard in the fashion Keith Kridler described in an earlier post. We may "live in different worlds" but fire ants, raccoons, snakes, other predators, and our love for these birds are very similar in Texas, Georgia and many other states. Gary Springer From: Pauline, Mountain City TX [bluebirds"at"austin.rr.com] Gary - Oh, glory! Don't think I was talking about TEXAS as being sparcely populated with breeding bluebirds. Huge, enormous Texas???!!! Heavens, no. Many areas of East Texas & Northeast Texas are heavily populated by bluebirds. (Bless Keith Kridler's heart ... he had severe bluebird withdrawals when he visited for 3 days and saw no bluebirds in all the miles we covered.) The spot where I live (around Austin) and the spot where Jacque lives (100 miles or so west of Ft Worth) might only have one pair of bluebirds (or none) on a bluebird trail in a season when someone starts out. Pauline Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 11:54:53 -0800 Does anyone have any good advice for keeping cats out of your yard...we have a feeder (hanging) and bird bath (pot bottom sitting on railing) on our back deck and yesterday I found a cat sitting on my deck!!! I think my mother used to use red pepper or something like that to keep the cats out of her flower garden??? Sherry in Northern Delaware. From: "Bobby Wilson" bluebirdbob1"at"bresnan.net Bob Wilson I trap them and then take them to their owner requesting that they keep them indoors. Who know what happen the second time the same cat is caught. Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 11:04:25 -0800 Subject: cat control From: youdont r knowme ashes-by-now"at"juno.com for cat control use 12ga :-) Does anyone have any good advice for keeping cats out of your yard ... From: Afinechef"at"aol.com Hi Sherry, This may sound sort of weird, but...here goes. I have all sorts of neighbor's critters in my yard much too often for the comfort of my birds. Explaining about our bird population and asking the neighbors to control their pets apparently fell on deaf ears. So, we invested about $150 (all told) in a paint ball gun. This type of gun is used in human sports and involves a round plastic pellet filled with biodegradeable paint being shot out of a gun --CO2 propelled. Now, whenever a cat, dog, or other unwanted varmint comes into my yard, I pop open a window and fire off a few paint balls. The paint balls are made to splat open on contact, and do not hurt the animal (be careful not to fire at point blank range!) Mostly, I miss, but the critters still hear the report, get the Message loud and clear, and skedaddle for home. If I do manage to land a paint ball, the critter goes home with a small splatter of bright paint (and I hope their owners figure out that they were trespassing where they weren't welcome!) : o ) Donna in Marlborough, CT. From: "Larry Zapotocky" larryz22"at"hotmail.com There are alot of responsible cat owners who love and take very good care of their cats, as they should. For those people who are irresponsible and let their cats wander all over the neighborhood, leaving their business on other people's property, please give your cat away to someone who will properly care for it. If you want a cat, great! But please take care of it and have some respect for other people's property. Every morning this cat wanders into my yard back by the log pill and is searching for rabbits, mice, birds or whatever else it wants for breakfast. I've chased it many times. I am not totally sure who its owner is, but I would love to find out! I do not have a cat myself, but I respect people's right to own them and believe that if you have one you should take care of it. I guess I'm just "venting" and maybe nobody on this forum is like that (which would be a good thing). Anyway, to everyone who has a cat, or for that matter any pet, and takes care of it, just disregard this Message. For those of you to whom this Message may regard, then please respect other people's property and keep your cat or any other pet from wandering into the neighborhood. Thanks for listening, From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com) Larry, et al, re stray cats. I echo Larry Z's feelings about stray cats, in fact I'd go a few steps beyond Larry. Any cat owner who lets his cat run free is not being a responsible person. Further, any cat that DOES run free is, by definition, a stray cat, and runs all the risks that stray cats have been running for centuries, plus a few new ones. They may be hit by vehicles, shot by irate landowners, poisoned, stolen for sale to laboratories, killed by dogs, or eaten by Fishers, which are becoming quite common lately here in NH. Sunapee's stray cats are vanishing at an ever-increasing rate, and the Fishers are looking quite sleek. Most cats are born, instinctive killers, and should be kept in the house. It makes no sense to care for the birds, on the one hand, and then let your cat run free. Bruce Burdett, SW NH Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 19:01:36 -0800 (PST) Larry - you may be able to rent or borrow a hav-a-heart live trap from your
local animal control agency to trap the cat you mentioned. Once you catch it,
they will come and pick it up. I'm ready to do this at my own house now, but my
secret weapons (my furry, 4-legged, 150 lb. "nephew") may still come in handy. From: DBLeep"at"aol.com I have been out of town this week, but I see some postings on cats, a huge problem for me. I have a terrible problem with neighborhood cats, since there are no fences on our suburban property here. I have several nestboxes up for chickadees and carolina wrens, and I have even had the cats trying to paw at the birds in the boxes! On top of that, they dig in my yard and use it as a litter box. Cat owners think it's cute that their cats have the run of the neighborhood, and I am very frustrated. Any suggestions? Katrina Date: Wed, 03 Apr 2002 08:32:16 -0600 ) At 08:29 AM 4/3/02 -0500, DBLeep"at"aol.com wrote: ... If you have cats roaming the area, and they can reach into the nestboxes, your nestboxes are mounted too low! You might consider a telescoping system so you can raise the nestbox up to a 7-foot height or so, but gently lower it down to your height to check inside. Kate Oschwald From: DBLeep"at"aol.com I have had some great suggestions from people about problem cats. Thanks everybody. The only problem is I would like to remain on good terms with my neighbors, despite the fact that their cats drive me crazy, and some of these suggestions, like paint ball guns, might not go down too well with my neighbor pet owners!! Katrina From: "Karen Louise Lippy" brdbrain"at"superpa.net Kate, Karen from South Central PA... Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 17:00:38 -0800 (PST) Try contacting your local animal control authority about borrowing a live
trap to catch the offending felines. Once neighbors have to start schlepping
their cats out of the pound, they may get the point that not everybody wants
them prowling around. From: "Stan, Apple Valley/St. Paul, MN [44.44N, -93.10W]"
stan1bb"at"frontiernet.net Hello Katrina and EveryBIRDie! Three "brainstorms" come to mind on dealing with neighbors with outdoor cats: (1) a dialogue that you can "adapt" depending upon present rapport with neighbor, including benefits of keeping cat(s) indoors--(a) longer life of indoor cats than outdoor cats, not being exposed to various other "roaming" outdoor life, and (b) share this joke with them... your cat(s) remind me of the little girl and her goldfish. Sweet little Nancy was in the garden filling in a hole in the dirt, when her neighbor peered over the fence. Interested in what the cherub-faced youngster was up to, he politely asked, "What are you doing, there, Nancy?" "My goldfish died," replied Nancy tearfully without looking up, "and I've just buried him." The neighbor was very concerned. "That's an awfully big hole for a goldfish, isn't it?" Nancy patted down the last heap of dirt then replied, "That's because he's inside your cat." Then "ad lib" that hopefully, your cat won't have a bluebird inside him/her; that I'll have to do anything drastic. You can "adapt" it to the circumstances and friendliness (?) of rapport with neighbors. (2) Have a garden hose readily accessible with a nozzle set for spraying distance; and "hose down" the cat(s) whenever in your yard. Hopefully, cat will get the Message real quick. (3) Set mouse traps [upside down] in area that cats usually locate. Whenever the cat(s) would step or "mess" with the trap, it would spring it, flipping it into the air, scaring the cat (since each trap is upside down, it would not obviously catch the cat's paw or anything to harm it). Happy bluebirding! Stan From: "Michael Wheatley" sialia"at"cyberdude.com My trail is on someone else's property. The property owner hates cats. Cats love this property. One day he looked out at the nest box in his back yard and saw his resident stray on top of the bluebird box waiting for an opportunity. Steve went to his shop, cut a board the size of the top of the nest box, then proceeded to fill it with fine, sharp nails on 1/2 inch centers. He secured the board on top of the box with the pointed end of the nails sticking through and facing up. Steve then carried the cat over to the box, held it above the top, and let go. He said, "You know, I haven't seen the cat up there since". This lasted a few years and then last year, Steve spotted the cat on top of the box. Yes, on top of the nails. It's hard to fool Mother Nature. Live trapping the cats and turning them in to the shelter is a good plan, however, expect this to be a program and not a project. Critters are like water and will continue to flow in to fill the voids. Mike in NW OH Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 09:04:13 -0600 At 05:00 PM 4/3/02 -0800, you wrote: ... If local ordinances do not forbid roaming cats, you may get into trouble by doing this. Also some pounds kill "stray" cats immediately due to lack of space. If you caused this to happen to your neighbor's cat, it would cause hard feelings, or worse, In many rural areas cats are legally allowed to roam. While some are feral, there are farmers who keep outside cats as a deterrent to rodents, rather than use poison. Kate Oschwald Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2002 08:23:02 -0800 (PST) Very true - thanks for pointing that out, Kate. I live in an urban area where free roaming cats are 'prohibited by law.' Many cat owners, however, seem to feel that applies to the OTHER cat owners. In the area around the Nature Center where I work, our roaming cat problems are solved by a large family of coyotes and 2 very large great horned owls. We've only captured 1 cat in a live trap and turned it over to Animal Control (which nearly took an act of God to get done). But that was also the only cat that seemed to avoid the attentions of the coyotes and owls. Rob in NM From: "Bill Darnell" bdarnel3"at"bellsouth.net In my part of Tennessee since the advent of the Coyote, I have also noticed a drastic decrease in the number of stray cats. I also believe there is not as many stray dogs. Most mongrels are deathly afraid of Coyotes. Bill Very true - thanks for pointing that out, Kate. I ... Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 14:04:38 -0700 (PDT) Hi Everyone, My Female Bluebird, who has been incubating for 11 days now, was just brought into the house by my cat:(Once I released her from the jaws of the pedator, She appeared uninjured and flew out my living room window into the garden. My concern now is how soon (and if) she will go back to her box. The male has been hanging around and checking on the box but I'm not sure where the female got to. Any thoughts on the matter are welcome. On a lighter note, I just saw a Northern Oriole and an Indigo Bunting in the yard. Christine in Long Valley, NJ Date: Thu, 09 May 2002 17:57:29 -0400 Haleya Priest Amherst MA I hope other rehabbers prove me wrong on this. Forgive me if so. This list is great because this is where we can confirm or deny what we learn from others. I'd keep a close eye out for her and perhaps get your rehabber lined up just in case! In fact, if you don't hear from a Bluebird-L rehabber real soon, I'd give your rehabber a call just to talk to him/her what they thought you should do. I'll send the link in the next email. :-) H From: "Randy Jones" randyj"at"enter.net I think you need to consider which is the higher priority in your life: an outdoor cat, or bluebirds. If it's an outdoor cat, perhaps the bluebirds would be better off somewhere else than your yard. Randy Jones From: "Susan Anthony Brownell" brownell"at"klink.net Susan Brownell http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/catsindoors.htm Problems and Solutions with Cats, Raccoons (& other four legged creatures) and Nestboxes (Part 4) |
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