Expert: Bluebird Bob Walshaw - 6/24/2011

Question
My morning started with the grim realization that a snake had emptied the nestbox that held 3 brand new bluebirds yesterday. (first 2 eggs were pecked) We have tried using the snake baffles constructed of a circle of sheet metal, but had ZERO luck getting the bluebirds to nest in the boxes with the baffles.  So, this year we scrapped the baffles, hoping that things would be better.  

Do bluebirds tend to routinely spurn boxes with baffles, or do we just have picky birds?  We live just outside Lawrence, Kansas.

Do you have other suggestions for discouraging snakes?

Thanks!

Answer
Pecked eggs are usually due to House Wrens, and in my experience and in talking with hundreds of other Bluebirders baffles do not cause Bluebird rejection, unless they are so loose that they rattle and make a noise in the wind.

Another foolproof method is to make a skirt of the 1/2 inch garden netting on the pole below the box. This will catch the biggest snake that you have as snake scales go only one way like the shingles on a roof and they can't back out. However you have to watch this closely to take the snake out as you don't want it to hang and die in the sun and the birds won't feed their young while the snake is in the net. Check it especially early AM as snakes usually hunt at night.

Please send me your mailing address for my free 20 page Bluebird book if you don't already have it - I have sent out more than 2300. Your address will be used only to mail the book. Good luck, Bluebird Bob.