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Nuptial-feeding downies, and Re: Snakes



Hi Carolinabirders,

I reported here a few weeks ago that I had watched a White-breasted 
Nuthatch take suet from my feeder and feed it to its apparent mate. 
Several times today I saw a male Downy Woodpecker take suet and feed it 
to a waiting female nearby. The female was only about two feet from the 
feeder, but did not visit it herself, just let the male feed her.

On Fri, 28 Apr 2000, Ernest Snavely wrote:
> 
>  Two bluebird boxes recenty checked had snakes in them. In the neighbor's
> box she looked in and saw the snake, took the box down and tried to shake
> it out.  Two barely alive chicks fell out but not the snake.  I suggested
> giving the snake a sqirt of Raid and he gave up and came out.

I have to agree with Matthew Rowe and Bill Hilton that this is uncalled 
for. Raid is very nasty stuff that I would not spray at a wild animal any 
more than I would at another person or a pet. Likewise for bug repellent 
containing DEET. It is not safe to assume that chemicals are innocuous to 
animals just because they are approved for household use. I am hoping 
that the Raid was used with this impression, rather than with the 
purposeful intent to harm the snake. Given that Ernest described the 
second snake as a "beautiful creature almost 3' long", I doubt that he 
intended to cause the first snake harm, only to remove it from the nest 
box. Keep in mind, when considering use of such chemicals, that there is 
a very good reason why the words "pesticide", "insecticide", "herbicide", 
and "fungicide" have the same ending as the words "homicide" and 
"genocide"...

There may be one possibility for harmlessly keeping snakes out of 
bird-boxes. I have seen snake repellent for sale in a local feed store. 
It seems to have a chemical composition similar to mothballs, but is in a 
granular form. Does anyone know more than I about the potential merits 
and drawbacks of this stuff? If you cannot abide snakes eating your 
nest-box residents, perhaps a circle of this repellent on the ground 
around the base of the post or tree holding the nest box might keep the 
birds safe. I would not put the repellent directly in the nest box, as 
the chemicals (I think the primary active ingredient was naphthalene?) 
might have negative effects on the health of the nesting birds. It would 
be similar to putting moth balls in your kitchen next to the food, or in 
the cradle next to a baby. Similarly, I would not scatter it on the 
ground anywhere near a wetland where the chemicals might run off into the 
water and affect fish, amphibians, or other aquatic creatures (or the 
birds that feed on them).

Anyone who is afraid of snakes, and might be inclined to surround their 
entire property with this repellent, read the box carefully. It warns 
that a circle of repellent may trap snakes within the circle just as 
efficiently as it will exclude snakes which are outside the circle. A 
double-edged sword...

Red-cockaded Woodpeckers protect their nests from snake predation by 
pecking holes that allow pine sap to leak down the tree's bark around the 
hole, discouraging snakes from climbing. A similar coating below a nest 
box, if not of pine sap then perhaps of Vaseline or some other harmless 
sticky/slippery goop, might keep snakes away and probably Fire Ants as 
well. What do folks think of this tactic? Are Vaseline and similar 
substances potentially more dangerous to wildlife than I think?

The Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta) which we found in a Wood Duck box 
by Knap of Reeds Creek a couple of weeks ago had successfully surpassed a 
baffle on the pole, so these baffles may work better on mammals than 
snakes. That nest box was empty, not even with nesting material in it 
much less any eggs or birds, so the snake was apparently using it for 
shelter rather than seeking food.

Good birding, especially to those who have spring counts tomorrow,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/