It was raccoons that got the first failed Bluebird nest, because they were good sized nestlings and one morning they were gone. So something got them overnight. I then baffled the snag using sheet metal flashing, and that DOES work for all climbing critters, but that didn't stop the House Wrens who got the final nesting. I knew it was wrens because I found an eggshell on the ground that had a tiny hole in the shell, and the Wrens were flocking around the nest hole later in the day (poor Blues). Dante, I can't speak for Lisa, but I don't "eradicate" House Wrens as they are native birds, just don't encourage them. They like brushy, shrubby areas (as do many birds, such as Cardinals and all Sparrows), and I've removed most of that. Also you can remove their sticks from a nestbox where they start to build a nest. Goldfinch, when the Blues were nesting, I did do a little House Sparrow control. I had a nest box installed on the side of the house that had a Van Ert trap in it. There are not a lot of House Sparrows here, but that did remove a couple of males that were trying to nest in the yard and may have posed a threat to the Blues.

I did read somewhere about the bottom of a purse being yucky. 'Losing' my purse in Italy one time, taught me a valuable lesson about keeping my purse on my person. My purse never sits on the floor. I use a purse hanger to hold it on the edge of the table. If the purse hanger doesn't work because of table design, I hang it on my knee or wear the strap across my chest. I don't carry fashionable purses because, 1) I can't be bothered and 2) I prefer function over fashion for the safety factors... primarily strap design so I can do the 'across-the-chest' wearing. Also, I had a hook in my old kitchen where I hung my purse as I had very little counter space for it to land on. No room to cook, much less store a purse. So I guess I only need to worry about the sponge, can opener, garbage can, ..... :-) Pepper ps. I did get my purse back. Bless the people at the restaurant. And now I need to think about where I can hang my purse in the not-yet-finished-past-schedule kitchen.

Here's a weird one. I just had my house vinyl-sided and would like to use one of these 3M Command adhesive hangers to hold up a few guide wires for my clematis to climb up! I don't want to puncture holes in my siding! But does 3M make these hooks to work outdoors? I guess there is a water-resistant one that folks like that I can try. What do you all think? Any suggestions helpful.

Nominal sizes in "quarters" is used for certain sizes of surfaced lumber. Use a standard Simpson joist hanger model number and add "R" to it for "Rough Lumber". In their catalog there is a separate table for these hangers. A 16 gauge hanger for a rough 2x8 would be U28R, and for a rough 2x10 it would be U210R. Add an "L" to the front of it if you want a heavier hanger.