Here is what I know. One can cut a crescent directly into a natural gourd and with no porch martins can generally cling and enter and starlings cannot, because starlings cannot use their legs for leverage. I've made some unporched natural gourd crescents slightly oversized by 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch...

A substantial porch overhang seems to be attractive to martins, I think. I've extended out porch overhangs on Trio houses, to gain more rain protection and sometimes as a option for housing with 6 x 6 units to create more depth. Martins enjoy sitting back under the porch, and you can add a swing if ...

Anthony..that's a smaller natural gourd that was hanging with wire from the porch of the Trendsetter, not shown. A friend, not me, had decorated it with some flowers painted on, because this location is the Missouri Botanical Garden. ha.

[attachment=1]Housing modifications resized II.jpg[/attachment]Here are two photos of how I've been trying to reinforce some of my poles at public sites...I can't lower when a storm approaches. One manufactuer told me that the location on the square pole mostly likely to bend under stress is right a...

Have seen up to 24 gourds on two inch poles, but always looks like disaster waiting to happen to me...not a matter of if, but when. If you have concerns, don't over weight poles.

Dave Kathy Freeze of Licking MO just had a long article about her owl problems published in PM Update. She found nothing worked except a substantial cage around a gourd rack, closed top and bottom and held out from the gourds, I think she said 12 inches or so. Please get a copy if you have not alrea...

Long-timers (me and Emil) will recall that Ron Seekamp was a former PMCA Landlord of the Year. Good to see he is doing well.

Found pool noodles on sale today at Wal Mart for 50 cents each! These are never available in stores in Sept when I need them. I cut small sections to plug entrances for winter.

Thanks all for your insights. I have tried to blissfully disregard the heat index, and the dew point, which local meteorologists like to present. But, based on bio Joe's explanation, I should pay attention. I do think shade and venting help keep martins a little cooler. Venting probably helps most w...

Seeking opinions. Are martins affected by the "heat index" or "feels like" temp? We've just gone through a hot spell in St. Louis. To listen to TV reports, you'd think it had never been July here before. Our highest temps -- now subsided -- were 98, and a handful of remaining martin nests survived, ...

When I get them on my hands I just pour rubbing alcohol over to rise them off. You can wipe down surfaces for a quick removal that way. It's unclear to me whether they bite humans. They don't affect me much, not causing red marks like chiggars, but of course wash off.

Visited Riverlands Audubon Center in West Alton MO (north metro St. Louis) this morning to try to help get a late nest in a gourd on a shepherd's hook through the heat wave...gourd was supposed to be for tree swallows, but birds don't read. Heat should break by Sunday. I put a Styrofoam panel over t...

Ed Yes. I got frustrated trying to edit something and just deleted it. Was hitting wrong keys. I'm not my best hot days trying to save martins -- I'm serious. Anyway...I am on FB a lot. It's what you make of it. It does worry me that FB has become so darn powerful, they are essentially in control of...

delete

Glory be. this seemed to work. Set pixels at 900 and got file size down to near 250 kb. (maybe what size you set the pixels depends on size of original; I got too small at first). Anyway, photo is from this morning at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Collinsville IL., (metro St. Louis east). Stil...

Can someone tell me again how to post a photo here? Okay Grandpa, we'll try. I gave up a decade ago and was putting my photos on photo bucket, with a link. Then Photo bucket started charging for an account. Steve Kroenke doesn't have a problem...of course I think he has an IT background. Thanks in a...

Small tool on porch...could have been me. However, I do put eggshells on roofs of Trendsetters sometimes. That doesn't scare martins.

A snake might be the cause of disappearance. but also sub adult males. They will carry out very small young, and eggs, and sometimes one will harass a female so much that she cannot feed and some babies may starve. If a sub male is preventing a female from entering, you might be able to observe this...

As flying low said, neighbor disputes can linger for years and get intense. Don't remove your gourds, but 40 plus is a big colony if you have close neighbors. Consider reducing next year, and if you are inclined put some at a nearby public area that you would enjoy visiting and managing. Golf course...