Bat House Forum

[LarryH]

This morning my wife was looking out the kitchen window and asked if I had tied a rope to the bat house pole for some reason.  I went to see what she was asking about, and noticed what looked like a heavy-duty rope wrapped around the pole about 4' or 5' above the ground.  I thought perhaps a neighborhood kid had put a rope on there, so went out to investigate.  What I found was a rat snake wrapped around the pole and inching it's way up the pole.  I unwrapped the snake and took it down the road about 5 miles and turned it lose in a corn field where it can find plenty of mice to feed on.

I thought that since it is a galvanized pipe pole it was immune from snakes, but apparently that is not the case.  I put grease on the pole so no more snakes will be able to climb it for now, but I will have to put a shield of some kind on there for long-term control. Obviously, the snake knew there was a free meal at the top of that pole!

 

 

[layla]

I have snake issues myself and they can climb pretty well. You can get pole baffles from a local bird supply store such as wild birds unlimited. They have models which do not require taking down the pole such as this one: http://www.duncraft.com/Extra-Large-Baf ... 27C87.aspx

Raccoons can also climb poles and will. So do squirrels but I have no idea if they would go after bats. They will baby birds and eggs, but not often.

just make sure a baffle fits tighta and is made to protect against snakes. Some have a small gap between the pole and baffle. A snake does not need much room at all! I found that out the hard way. Flashing works also but paint it or it'll blind you in the sun. Something I also tried, and quickly figured out.

Please reconsider the grease. Birds & squirrels can not clean it off fur or feathers and it is very harmful for birds since it keeps them from flying. Most grease spoils and is toxic - nasty stuff for wildlife. I imagine if a bat got any on it, it would be the same deal.

If you are putting any king snakes in the relocation program, please send them my way!

[LarryH]

I agree with the problems of using grease, but it was an emergency move to make sure nothing got into the bat houses that shouldn't be there.  And, since it was so far below the houses, I don't think it posed a problem for the bats themselves.  I put a permanent barrier on yesterday, so they should be safe now.

I don't think we have any king snakes -- at least I've never seen one.  Our area is mostly ag land, and there are a lot of rat snakes and gopher snakes due to the large fields of corn and soybeans.  We used to see some hog nose snakes, but they seem to have disappeared.

 

 

[layla]

We have copperheads. I like snakes, but I like my dogs better and don't like copperheads. This makes me just delighted with king snakes.

Your post further encourages me to use a pole baffle for bat boxes.