Advice Needed on Owl Guards and Clip on Porches on Gourds
-
Carlton
- Posts: 1959
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 6:42 pm
- Location: Florida/Deerfield Beach
- Martin Colony History: I moved to South Florida, from Delaware, in August of 2015.
I care for a 6 condo Sunset House as well as two Deluxe Gourd Racks, with 24 Chirpynest/Excluder gourds, along a canal in Pompano Beach, Florida.
At Quiet Waters Park, nearby in Deerfield Beach, I care for a Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 TVG's. I also care for a Deluxe Gourd rack with 12 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder entrances. I am substituting 6 Chirpynest boxes for 6 of the Conley II entranced gourds in 2026.
At another local park, Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, I care for a Trendsetter 12, 5 gourds rack with 60 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder Entrances and 1 Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 Troyer Vertical Gourds with Starling Stoppers over the Conley II's to keep out smaller starlings.
I am attaching a picture of a homemade owl guard that I constructed today. I was told by the PMCA that the ones they sell would most likely not fit my rack support. Are the aluminum rods okay or do they come down too far below the bottom of the entrance? I know that they are okay as far as distance apart and distance from the entrance goes. Also, will I need a similar setup for the Troyer Horzontal Gourds that I purchased? How about the clip on aluminum porches? I just do not feel like they are very secure and I am so afraid that they will slip at some point and block the entrance, fall into or out of the gourd or just discourage the martins from using the gourds. I KNOW that I will need to use my house sparrow traps in the Supergourds as house sparrows are a real problem here. If I screw or bolt on the porches then they will be in the way of the trap mechanism. If I use screws to attach the porch then what size/type screws should I use so that they will go through the plastic gourd but not stick out on the inside too much? Shall I just forget the porches and use the crescent shaped hole with no porch? Thanks in advance for your help my friends. Carlton
-
Guest
Carlton, after reviewing your homemade owl guards, I believe they are fine. As long as the measurements are similar to what I gave you on my owl guards, then I am sure they are fine. It is ok if they extend down farther than necessary below the entrance, it never hurts to have extra coverage. If you already have them cut to length, I would leave them as they are. Just make sure they don't spin on the hanger rod.
As far as installing owl guards on the Troyer Horizontal Gourds that you purchased, that is up to you. The main benefit of the horizontal gourd is the deeper cavity that is less accessible to owls who may try to reach in. If you wanted to create owl guards to the same specifications as your vertical gourds, I wouldn't see any harm in doing that. It would give the martins more protection from and owl swooping down and snatching them off the porch.
I approve of the aluminum clip on porches, however, you can not have the aluminum clip on porches installed at the same time you have a trap inside. Generally, I just take the aluminum porches off when I am trapping because sparrows don't mind if it has a porch or not. If they are going to go in a gourd, they will go in either way. Personally I like the screw on porches with the outside porch only, but I have never had a problem with my clip on porches. As far as what screws to use, I would just use some small machine screws like sold at Lowes with a washer and nut to secure them. You can use small wood screws, but you can only takes those on and off a few times before they weaken. If you are going with crescent, then you need to have porches in my opinion. If you have round holes, you can have no porches.
Carlton, I also resized your photos.
http://www.msnusers.com/PurpleMartin/ms ... Guard1.jpg
http://www.msnusers.com/PurpleMartin/ms ... Guard2.jpg
I apologize for any problems that may have been experienced when viewing my photos. I am now listing them as url addresses instead of "Img" tagging them. This way they do not automatically load and you shouldn't experience any problems. Now if you go to view them and you receive a popup, then I apologize in advance. At least now you have the choice to view or not to view them.
As far as installing owl guards on the Troyer Horizontal Gourds that you purchased, that is up to you. The main benefit of the horizontal gourd is the deeper cavity that is less accessible to owls who may try to reach in. If you wanted to create owl guards to the same specifications as your vertical gourds, I wouldn't see any harm in doing that. It would give the martins more protection from and owl swooping down and snatching them off the porch.
I approve of the aluminum clip on porches, however, you can not have the aluminum clip on porches installed at the same time you have a trap inside. Generally, I just take the aluminum porches off when I am trapping because sparrows don't mind if it has a porch or not. If they are going to go in a gourd, they will go in either way. Personally I like the screw on porches with the outside porch only, but I have never had a problem with my clip on porches. As far as what screws to use, I would just use some small machine screws like sold at Lowes with a washer and nut to secure them. You can use small wood screws, but you can only takes those on and off a few times before they weaken. If you are going with crescent, then you need to have porches in my opinion. If you have round holes, you can have no porches.
Carlton, I also resized your photos.
http://www.msnusers.com/PurpleMartin/ms ... Guard1.jpg
http://www.msnusers.com/PurpleMartin/ms ... Guard2.jpg
I apologize for any problems that may have been experienced when viewing my photos. I am now listing them as url addresses instead of "Img" tagging them. This way they do not automatically load and you shouldn't experience any problems. Now if you go to view them and you receive a popup, then I apologize in advance. At least now you have the choice to view or not to view them.
Last edited by Guest on Sat Sep 17, 2005 4:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
Carlton
- Posts: 1959
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 6:42 pm
- Location: Florida/Deerfield Beach
- Martin Colony History: I moved to South Florida, from Delaware, in August of 2015.
I care for a 6 condo Sunset House as well as two Deluxe Gourd Racks, with 24 Chirpynest/Excluder gourds, along a canal in Pompano Beach, Florida.
At Quiet Waters Park, nearby in Deerfield Beach, I care for a Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 TVG's. I also care for a Deluxe Gourd rack with 12 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder entrances. I am substituting 6 Chirpynest boxes for 6 of the Conley II entranced gourds in 2026.
At another local park, Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, I care for a Trendsetter 12, 5 gourds rack with 60 Excluder gourds with Modified Excluder Entrances and 1 Deluxe Gourd Rack with 12 Troyer Vertical Gourds with Starling Stoppers over the Conley II's to keep out smaller starlings.
Sounds like I am on the right track. I will go out and make the guards for another Supergourd now. Nice to have a garage to work in during the off season. Also, thanks for resizing the pics.
Carlton
Carlton
-
CUL Lou~Mich
Carlton. I answered your post on the other PM forum, in case you'd like to go have a look. CUL Lou