Article brought to you by Best Garden Bird Houses
Keep your wild birds safe by keeping away predators such as squirrels, raccoons, snakes, cats, wasps, ants, yellow jackets and invasive birds. Here are some guidelines to help you do this.
Do not have perches on your bird house. A perch by the entrance hole is not needed by the wild birds but will allow other predators to gain entrance. If you buy a bird house with a perch remove it.
If your bird house is mounted on a pole use a metal baffle to prevent animals climbing up to the bird house. Some baffles can also be used on tree trunks. Do not use plastic baffles as they do not stand up to chewing.
Metal plates with a small entrance hole can be attached to a bird house to prevent squirrels, raccoons etc from enlarging the hole and getting into the bird house or grabbing baby birds.
Use a bird house with an entrance ole no larger than needed for the wild birds you want to attract. A larger hole allows starlings and sparrows entrance and they will take over the box and eject the nesting birds.
Check around the bird house for signs of ants nests and deal with them before they start to invade the bird house. Make sure you use a method that is not toxic to the wild birds.
If your bird house is to be mounted on a metal pole a large PVC pipe slipped over the pole can deter snakes, squirrels and raccoons from climbing it. If you still have problems from these invaders smear some vegetable oil on it.
If you have a cat fit it with a collar with a bell to warn the birds!
Image by joshme17
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