Snakes Snakes Snakes

[William A]

Hello everyone and wish all of you the best of luck for the remainder for the season. Just wanted to say that I have caught three big chicken snakes attempting to go up my poles in one week I have bird I netting bunched up at the base and another bunch about 5 feet up. The first two got caught in the ground level netting and the third today defeated the ground level, climber up a five foot 4 in pvc pipe, then 6 inches up the house pole and got caught in the second layer of defense. All eggs are hatched and the birds are averaging around 15 to 16days old. Those snakes would have wiped me out.

If you live in the south and do not have good protection they are really roaming now and have no problem finding easy food sources like baby martins to eat. The bad thing about snakes is that you will never know you have had a visit unless you are lucky enough to see him when he comes down all fat with martins. Just wanted to remind everybody

[cary-nw-fla]

You are so right about reminding people about the snakes. I think lot of people think they have no snakes - but they do without knowing it. Snakes have been my biggest problem @ my colony. Unfortunately two got thru my guards this year and I lost 3 nest before I caught them - a 7 egg nest to one, and 7 young & an asy male in two nest to the other. Like you say, you could have a "visit" and never know it. Landlords "BEWARE" !!! Guards Up!!!

[JudyAV]

I did my nest check this morning...15 pair...58 babies (1 dead), 3 dead eggs, 4 NEW eggs. I have persistent sparrow that keeps rebuilding a nest and I keep removing that nest. This morning the nest contained a surprise...a rat snake! I've never had any trouble with snakes until today, but once is enough!..I will be headed to Lowes in a few minutes for bird netting. I was lucky this time and the snake decided to make a meal out of sparrow eggs and not my babies.

[cary-nw-fla]

Yes, there's nothing quite like taking off that access lid and having snake a foot or so from your face !!! (and hopefully you're not on a ladder)

[DebA]

My nightmare for sure! Not really sure what I'd do if home alone. I have a plan if Mark is here. Run screaming like a girl and find him. I know I would do something. I'd just have to. Yuck.
Deb

[Matt@atx]

Those are some great stops you made there on those snakes. 3 for 3 and I bet any one of those snakes would have devastated your colony. Thats a good job and effective snake protections.
I have seen several photos from martin keepers here in the past showing HUGE rat snakes and the like that grow big in Alabama. This one man had his son holding two dead rat snakes by the their tales for photos and these things were as long as the boy who was probably from 7 to 9 years old. Two of the biggest rat snakes I have ever seen.
They could swallow a dozen adult birds each.
I wondering if any of you that live in Florida have experienced any troubles with the deadly Burmese Python that now permanently lives there in the US.?

[Carlton]

I am finding this thread very interesting. Glad you captured your snakes before they got your martins.

I lost a box of baby wrens which were about ready to fledge. The small snake apparently was able to stretch out from a nearby magnolia tree branch. I was just sick. Be sure that your poles are not accessed from a nearby shrub or tree.

I have netting at the base of my purple martin poles as well as a scattering of mothballs below the netting. Above the netting is a typical inverted cylinder predator guard. I try to oil the pole as well. I do not know if the mothballs help but I figure they can not hurt.

I agree that snakes are everywhere. You will most likely never see them until it is too late.

[lynnh]

What is a chicken snake?

[William A]

What is a chicken snake?

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-chicken-snake.htm

[lynnh]

Thanks William.

[William A]

I am finding this thread very interesting. Glad you captured your snakes before they got your martins.

I lost a box of baby wrens which were about ready to fledge. The small snake apparently was able to stretch out from a nearby magnolia tree branch. I was just sick. Be sure that your poles are not accessed from a nearby shrub or tree.

I have netting at the base of my purple martin poles as well as a scattering of mothballs below the netting. Above the netting is a typical inverted cylinder predator guard. I try to oil the pole as well. I do not know if the mothballs help but I figure they can not hurt.

I agree that snakes are everywhere. You will most likely never see them until it is too late.

Glad you are taking the necessary precautions against snakes as I feel they are our worst enemy. I would not only put the netting at the base but come up above your baffle or cone and place another layer and bunch it out real good. The last chicken snake I caught last week defeated the base layer, climbed up a pvc pipe and got caught in the last layer of birdnetting above the pvc pipe.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Farmers lose chicken eggs to snakes, so they are starting to use bird netting around their chicken pens. They are catching the snakes before they consume the eggs. It may be interesting to put bird netting around several poles, like a fence, you may be able to catch them before they get to the poles (I have not tried this)

[Chris B]

I mentioned to the guy who started me on Martins about seeing a snake in my tractor shed basking in the sun. He said I could dump the ashes from charcoal around the place and a snake will not crawl over the ashes cause it doesn't like the stuff getting into its skin.

Can anybody verify if that is true and if so, why not scatter the ashes around the poles?

[Don Strickland]

I caught a 6 footer today. Rat Snake or King Snake. Trying to climb up to the Blue Bird Box. First time I've ever seen one attempting to climb a pole. They have 6 or 7 acres of tall grass and a wooded area where they could hunt. Maybe that's why I haven't seen any before....Anyway he didn't get a bird lunch.
Don

[William A]

I caught a 6 footer today. Rat Snake or King Snake. Trying to climb up to the Blue Bird Box. First time I've ever seen one attempting to climb a pole. They have 6 or 7 acres of tall grass and a wooded area where they could hunt. Maybe that's why I haven't seen any before....Anyway he didn't get a bird lunch.
Don

I like hearing success stories with snakes because they will wipe you out. I found one in a bluebird box one time and got him out, He had two birds in him as I could see the lumps. Another was featherless and bleeding and he had smashed one flat while coiled up in the box. The birds were three days from fledging. That snake had removed all the feathers off the one bird still alive but he eventually did not make it. Sorry to be so graphic but everyone should understand these snakes are one of our biggest problems especially in the south. Don, did you catch him using netting??

[Don Strickland]

No William. I don't have netting. I got him with a Benjamin Marauder 22.
Never seen any around here, so I couldn't see the need for netting. This may change my mind...
Don

[William A]

No William. I don't have netting. I got him with a Benjamin Marauder 22.
Never seen any around here, so I couldn't see the need for netting. This may change my mind...
Don

Hey Don, good shot with the benjamin. I hardly ever see them either unless they get caught in my netting on my bluebird boxes or martin poles. They stay pretty much hidden most of the time, living in sheds, under your house, etc. Most of the time a person will never know they have been visited by one. Just one day, the nest will be empty of either birds or eggs. I have heard so many people state that their bluebirds fledged a week or two early because their will be no evidence except that the nest will really be smashed flat due to the weight of the snake coiled up in the nest.