[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Snake repellent warning
- To: carolinabirds <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
- Subject: Snake repellent warning
- From: Joshua Stuart Rose <jsr6@duke.edu>
- Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 15:29:28 -0500 (EST)
- In-reply-to: <012101c0a7fb$2980a320$7f950298@nursing>
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
On Thu, 8 Mar 2001, Judy Murray wrote:
>
> Mary McDaniel wrote:
>
> What do you use for snake guards for bluebird houses? We have baffles on
> metal poles for raccoon guards, but last year our "friendly" black rat snake
> went over baffle.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> To prevent snakes from coming to your bird feeder you might look at this
> website.
> http://www.animalrepellents.com/index2.html
Hi Carolinabirders,
I have seen snake repellent sold in Durham by Barnes Supply store on 9th
street. Both Judy's stuff and the one I saw share the active ingredient
Naphthalene; it's also found in mothballs. The only real difference
between the snake repellent and mothballs, as far as I can tell, is the
medium; the snake repellent comes in small hard chips, like gravel, so
it'll stay put once scattered.
Note that naphthalene can have some pretty nasty side effects if inhaled.
For documentation, see http://www.eco-usa.net/toxics/naph.html or
http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001236.htm
The point being, do NOT put this stuff **in** bird houses or feeders. You
could cause some serious health problems for the young birds, almost as
bad as being eaten by a snake. If you've got snake problems in a bird box
(the Wood Duck boxes along Knap of Reeds Creek have some severe ones),
scatter the repellent in a tight circle around the base of the tree or
post which is holding the house up. In the case of a tree, better make
sure the snake is gone first, else you'll be trapping it in the tree with
the birdhouse instead of screening it out!
As far as I can tell, naphthalene is fully biodegradable and disappears
in 2-3 months leaving no environmental residue, so it's entirely safe on
the ground (though I'd hesitate to use it near a wetland, out of concern
for amphibians and fish which are often more sensitive to chemicals than
we mammals).
Good birding,
Josh
Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)
jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/