Bluebirds

[NOTSMC]

are already building a nest in the box meant for squirrels in my boyfriends's back yard! I'm going to assume it's the same set we had last year. Pretty exciting stuff.

 

[SamSpade]

are already building a nest in the box meant for squirrels in my boyfriends's back yard! I'm going to assume it's the same set we had last year. Pretty exciting stuff.

Odd, because this is the opposite of behavior I am used to seeing. Squirrels using and setting up shop in a bird box.

Or something else we found a few years back - SNAKES. Snakes realizing they could just have the bird come to THEM - so they crawl into the box and wait. Creepy.

 

[Kyle]

Or something else we found a few years back - SNAKES. Snakes realizing they could just have the bird come to THEM - so they crawl into the box and wait. Creepy.

Someone posted a video on FB a few days back of a Blacksnake setting up camp in the chicken house laying box.

The damn hen sat right on top of the snake in the sawdust and laid her eggs without notice.

 

[limblips]

If you have bird nesting boxes you should put a baffle on them to prevent snakes from eating the babies. My resident black snake and I have come to an agreement. He doesn't mess with my bluebirds and I don't kill him.

 

[NOTSMC]

Odd, because this is the opposite of behavior I am used to seeing. Squirrels using and setting up shop in a bird box.

Or something else we found a few years back - SNAKES. Snakes realizing they could just have the bird come to THEM - so they crawl into the box and wait. Creepy.

Yeah last year Lee had a wren nest in a hanging basket right on his deck and a bluebird nest that had eggs in it a few feet away. He had a black snake slithering up his railing, the patio door and a few days later the bluebird box. Thankfully he managed to kill the snakes. We missed the bluebirds leaving the nest but the wren had five fledglings that dropped out and hopped away one by one.

We have a male bluebird in my neighborhood that I've been watching for a few weeks now because he is pooping all over my side view mirrors. It's hilarious, he fights with his reflection on my car, then hops over to my neighbors car and then to another car. He's been at it for two weeks now. Saw him today, pouring down rain and he's out there pooping.

 

[NOTSMC]

If you have bird nesting boxes you should put a baffle on them to prevent snakes from eating the babies. My resident black snake and I have come to an agreement. He doesn't mess with my bluebirds and I don't kill him.

What's a baffle?

 

[limblips]

What's a baffle?

For one it can be a verb, like in: "You are easy to baffle with an answer". Another is a noun meaning a cone shaped obstruction place on a bird box pole to prevent predators from getting to the box.

 

[NOTSMC]

For one it can be a verb, like in: "You are easy to baffle with an answer". Another is a noun meaning a cone shaped obstruction place on a bird box pole to prevent predators from getting to the box.

View attachment 175850

Hey I was setting it up for ya. Do they actually work for snakes?

 

[limblips]

Hey I was setting it up for ya. Do they actually work for snakes?

Yep, I have them on all my feeders. Had a run in with my resident blacksnake a few years ago. Didn't want to kill the snake but didn't want it eating my baby birds.

 

[NOTSMC]

Yep, I have them on all my feeders. Had a run in with my resident blacksnake a few years ago. Didn't want to kill the snake but didn't want it eating my baby birds.

Underneath that gruff exterior, you're just a big softie.

 

[limblips]

Underneath that gruff exterior, you're just a big softie.

Shush! I have a reputation to maintain.

 

[kwillia]

If you have bird nesting boxes you should put a baffle on them to prevent snakes from eating the babies. My resident black snake and I have come to an agreement. He doesn't mess with my bluebirds and I don't kill him.

Same. We have barbed wire above and below now.