Free Pine Wood Duck Boxes

[Quack]

I deleted my first reply, but I'll try again w/o being such a prick.

At one time I was a total blow hard for predator guards. Then I got to know some people wo actively manage boxes without predator guards & have no predator problems.

Pred guards are an expensive pain in the ass but I still use them. My new attitude is "hey, if you don't have a predator problem, why waste $$ on guards when you could spend it on houses. If your houses are getting hammered, make changes. No biggy.

So Al's houses deter mammalian predators... What about crows, flickers, starlings, etc. why is that "good enough" al? Nothing's perfect, it's a free country, people can pursue happiness

[Nershi]

Fowler here are a few things to think about.

When wood duck houses were invented very few were put them on posts with predator guards yet the wood duck population came back strong.

Minnesota now has enough natural breeding habitat that one could argue whether wood duck boxes are even needed. There are plenty of wood ducks breeding in areas that do not have wood duck houses for miles. Is predation on natural cavities lower than in boxes?

There are places that people want to put up wood duck houses that you cannot place a post the required distance a from a tree or the areas are simply not practical to use posts. For example the river that our duck shack is on has woods that come up close to the river edge and the entire river is loon chit. Who knows how long of a pole would be needed to place a wood duck house in that stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if a 30 ft pole is needed. If you wanted to put it a house the required distance from a tree you would need to put the house in the middle of the river which isn't happening. Are you suggesting that you are better off not putting up a house in these areas? Like I mentioned I have had good success in my houses that are on trees and no sign of predators.

I am sure you could show me studies of the 80% predation rate but my experience hasn't matched that. Like mentioned my buddy kicks out a couple hundred wood ducks per year out of his boxes in SW MN. They do Spring counts on their ponds each year. He has had his boxes up for years and has only had a couple boxes raided. If 80% were being raided he wouldn't have that many ducklings in his pond each year. This tells me either the scientific study was flawed or the predation rate varies largely from area to area.

[h2ofwlr]

My response in red

Fowler here are a few things to think about.

When wood duck houses were invented very few were put them on posts with predator guards yet the wood duck population came back strong. Was it because of the boxes or the trees grew back over the years? Were the predator numbers lower back then because more hunters living off the land kept them in check compared to recent times?

Minnesota now has enough natural breeding habitat that one could argue whether wood duck boxes are even needed. There are plenty of wood ducks breeding in areas that do not have wood duck houses for miles. Is predation on natural cavities lower than in boxes? Ah... I mentioned both things if you even bothered to read what I wrote this AM as I agree with you..

There are places that people want to put up wood duck houses that you cannot place a post the required distance a from a tree or the areas are simply not practical to use posts. For example the river that our duck shack is on has woods that come up close to the river edge and the entire river is loon chit. Who knows how long of a pole would be needed to place a wood duck house in that stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if a 30 ft pole is needed. If you wanted to put it a house the required distance from a tree you would need to put the house in the middle of the river which isn't happening. Are you suggesting that you are better off not putting up a house in these areas? Yes. Why bother as it seems that there are enough trees, eh?

I am sure you could show me studies of the 80% predation rate but my experience hasn't matched that. Like mentioned my buddy kicks out a couple hundred wood ducks per year out of his boxes in SW MN. They do Spring counts on their ponds each year. He has had his boxes up for years and has only had a couple boxes raided. If 80% were being raided he wouldn't have that many ducklings in his pond each year. This tells me either the scientific study was flawed or the predation rate varies largely from area to area. Contradicting things do make it harder for people to come to a mutually agreeable view point. Maybe they do predator management where he is? Maybe there are so many coyotes that they are giving the racoons hell. Maybe the hunters are killing off the squirrels so very few get into the boxes. I don't know. I just know I had a major problem here in the west metro. And also for years the scientists have said 80% of the natural Wood duck nests are raided.

BTW, if one does buy in quantity you can get a better price on guards. It does help.

Also, I have said for a while now that if you have 2' of more water, it seems that the mink and racoon leave the boxes alone.for the most part. So why bother with a PG? I don't use them when 2+' of open water. But that is not so from my experience of predators leaving the boxes/nests alone if the pole is in cattails or the shoreline.

Will any of this stop me from advocating for what is "best" and do as Rob suggests, that I advocate for mediocrity? It is like a lobbyist advocating for half measures. Huh? Why even bother? I'll let Rob be the half measures advocate around here, as he seems pretty good at that..

[Nershi]

You seem pretty passionate about it Al. Good for you.

It seems I'm not the only one who disagrees with the need for predator guards. My houses will keep kicking out ducklings and I'm sure yours will too.

Let me know if you want someone to put those houses to use. I'll be down in the metro a few times in the next month.

[Trigger]

One thing no one is mentioning is what a god damn eye sore these things are. There's few things worse than seeing a nice wetland's aesthetics being flocked up by some kindergarteners arts and crafts project stuck out in the middle of it. The boxes put in trees are atleast making an attempt at being hidden. It's well worth a few ducklings getting eaten.

[lanyard]

"....half measures advocate...."... from the guy giving away 2nd hand pine boxes.

Would seem a bit like saying, " some day, when you're bad ass like me, you won't have to drive this Escort and can get a REAL box..."

[h2ofwlr]

Well the price it right, not every one is loaded like you Rob.

And speaking of boxes, I am starting to think that you have one....

[lanyard]

"Well the price it right, not every one is loaded like you Rob." ~ glad you figured out the point finally. And, not everyone has access to 30' clear posting, posts nor predator guards. I'm not AGAINST predator guards, I have one on my house.

"And speaking of boxes, I am starting to think that you have one...."

Why yes, yes I do....

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[h2ofwlr]

LMAO! ^^^^^^^^^^^^


And I still am not sure what your hang up is on 30' posts since no one uses anything that long.... A treated doubled up 10' long 2x4s does the trick for a land mount post. Do you have boxes in trees 30' up? As that is the only thing I can think of. And I have always promoted using nothing more than a step ladder to mount a box. The boxes get the same usage (per a study that I read out of KY or TN years ago) if the hole is 7' up or 14' up, so why risk a potential major injury from a fall being way up in the air? A guy out around Litchfield broke his back from a fall about 5-6 years ago maintaining a WDB way up on a tree. There is a huge G force difference and much higher risk potential for a serious injury compared if you fall from 3' VS 12' up on a ladder. So guys don't be like the "other guy" (Rob on DTV commercial).

[Hansen]

I'll take one if you have one with a predator guard and pole. If you don't have a pole I can get it from my father-in-law who was a 49er for 40 years and has a pile of road sign posts.