Cleaning out natural gourds at the end of the season???.....
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geneinmurphy
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2003 12:09 pm
- Location: North Carolina/Murphy
other than just physically removing the old nesting material from the natural gourds at the end of the season, what else do you guys do to make sure they really clean and all "vermin" is killed???? I'm thinking of using rubbing alcohol, but wondered what you guys did to clean/disinfect natural gourds without damaging the interior...........
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John Barrow
- Posts: 982
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 4:12 pm
- Location: Corpus Christi / Sandia , Texas
Gene, I first remove all of the old nesting material. Next I rinse the inside and outside with a garden hose, then scrub both in and out with a long handled, soft bristle, brush used to wash cars with. I use a mixture of water, dish detergent and bleach. Then I rinse out with a garden hose and hang to dry. Before putting away after drying, I dust with sevin dust using a turkey baster and puffing a small amount into the gourd. Before hanging next season I will shake the dust out and and add new nest materials. I will make any repairs or do touch up painting in the off season.
~~TEAMED WITH A MARTIN GODDESS~~
Member/Mentor-PMCA. I do regular nestchecks and participate in PROJECT MARTINWATCH!! Coordinated 3 geolocator studies-2009, 2010 & 2013. State and Fed licensed bander (retired Jan., 2020)
Member/Mentor-PMCA. I do regular nestchecks and participate in PROJECT MARTINWATCH!! Coordinated 3 geolocator studies-2009, 2010 & 2013. State and Fed licensed bander (retired Jan., 2020)
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geneinmurphy
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2003 12:09 pm
- Location: North Carolina/Murphy
John.....never thought of using a garden house and bristle brush...thanks for the idea! By the way, I went back and read that article you have in in the Update....nice writeup. Oh, there is a martin goddess near you.......her name is Louise......eheh!!!