Expert: Bluebird Bob Walshaw - 8/14/2008

Question
We have 2 predator guards on our bluebird box- the stove pipe and hardware cloth on the post and hardware cloth at the entrance and have had numerous successful clutches.  In fact, we've had a third clutch this season.  However, a black snake somehow managed to get into the box just this morning and ate all the chicks.  I shoo'd it out, but did not want to kill the snake.  There is nothing but brambles near the box, how could the snake have gotten in?  What else can we do to protect the box?  Should I have relocated the snake and how?  Will it continue to come back now that it knows a food source?
Thanks!

Answer
It is amazing how those big blaxksnakes can get around guards. A "coolie" hat type sheet metal guard at least 36" in diameter is generally quite foolproof. An absolute solution is to put a "tutu" skirt of the 1/4 or 1/2 inch garden mesh on the pole under the box. This will catch the biggest snake that we have, as the scales on a snake go only one way like the shingles on a roof, and they can't back out. You have to monitor it closely however, as you don't want the snake to hang in the sun and die, and the birds won't feed the young with the snake there. This is a solution for next spring as I believe that the nesting season os over. Send your mailing address to walshaw1@cox.net and I will send you my free 20 page Bluebird book.