What animals predate nesting Tree Swallows?
Raccoons, opossums, weasels, and cats will kill and eat any adults and young they can pull out of boxes. Raccoons are especially dangerous because if they find one box and can predate it, they look for other boxes and may predate every box in a project. Most snakes can’t climb poles, but a few species can, and will enter boxes to eat eggs, young or adults trapped inside. How can you stop a predator from reaching a box? Make it as difficult and unpleasant as possible! The best method is to attach a predator guard to the pole below the box. You should use a guard on every box because raccoons and climbing snakes can get up even thin metal poles surprisingly easily. Conical and stovepipe guards are effective, but they can be expensive to make and very expensive to buy. Hardware screen guards projecting out around the entrance hole are less expensive, but they make it difficult and time-consuming for adult swallows to access nests when feeding nestlings. (Note the overlarge hole and small
