I had a baby from my first batch helping to feed his siblings in the second batch, so I know that bluebird families will sometimes cooperate with feeding tasks. Sorry about the raccoon. I had a nasty House Sparrow last week doing all kinds of damage, so I feel you pain. Got him on Thursday, though. I wish you the same good luck!

If your box is set up properly on a slick metal pole with a preditor baffle you should not have problems with racoons. A nestbox on a deck is not safe.Please go to www.sialis.org to find out how to keep them safe,then check back in for assistance. Good Luck

I have seen "yutes" from the first nesting help feed babies from subsequent nestings. I have even heard about other birds (TRES) helping feed blues. Haven't witnesed that myself, so I don't know if that is true or an urban legend.

Phil

It was an ornamental bird house -I never dreamed any birds would build in it. I looked today and there are still five babies in the house. In think the birds I heard in distress came from the actual blue bird house I have on a post farther back in the yard. I have not done well with the preditor baffels - the birds would not use the houses I had them on. I saw the racoon last night eating sunflower seeds out of my feeders. He is very smart, learned that the feeder closes with his weight, so he stands up on a rail and eats without touching the actual feeder. I have a live trap and he ate all the bait without springing the door! I intend to oil the hinges today and try again. he will hopefully soon find a new home-with a little help from me.

Here is a link that might be useful: garden tips

Hey paperart, when you set the trap for the racoon, only leave one end open and then put the food in the middle (width wise) but further to the back of the shut end but not too close to the shut end. If you have the food in the middle where the bait tray is the racoons will just take the food and back out, if you shut one end and put the food all the way to that end they will open the shut end of the trap as much as they can and steal the food. They are very smart but if you put it where I stated and shut one end you should catch them. Oh and it helps to put stakes in, one on each side of the trap so when you do catch one they cannot tip it over. I learnd alot last year about trapping racoons. I also found that crackers with a little jelly spread on them was a big draw for them. We caught three and relocated them on a friends property about 40 miles from here.

What kind of baffle are you using on the birdhouse out back? I have never known of a bird to be afraid of a baffle. The stovepipe baffle mentioned on the sialis site works perfect. Also if as you stated your house is on a post, wooden I presume, you are setting those birds up to be eaten by a racoon. At the very least put it on a slick metal pole, electrical conduit works best. We have several houses that the TRES use that don't have baffles (I know they should)that are on the conduit. Even though we normally have racoons around, one has never climbed the conduit they are mounted on. We put up several houses the year before last and add baffles as the Blues move into them, we never let the Blues nestbox go without a baffle. I am including a link to the baffle and proper mounting on the pole of the nestboxes.

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: Proper nestbox setup

Thanks for the trap info. we did pretty good last year too - 5 in all but i never thought of using stakes - good idea! I'll try the crackers too that would be much cheaper than the tuna. The guard that my birds were afraid of was the kind you put over the hole so another animal can't reach in. i had a simular one to the stove pipe one on a wooden post at my other house. It was hung by chain and swung around - scared my cats off for sure and I never had racoon trouble. i guess i'll resort to the electrical post next year. Actually the house on the deck has been the safest one in the yard. I've had bluebirds build in houses very near our house quite often, we love to watch them and I can't tell you how many times I've had to put impatient babies back in a house. They would get hot and jump out a day or two before they could fly more than two feet! Any critter in the yard could have eaten tham for lunch! usually in a couple of days after the rescue, they would come out and fly away safely. This is the first year in a long time that i have had them back in my yard - I was so excited, I don't want them to get discouraged and leave. I moved away for three years and the renters I had didn't care for the yard or birds. Now I'm back and restoring both.

Here is a link that might be useful: garden tips

Well, the crackers and jelly worked last night. We got him (or her) it is huge! I don't know how my husband is going to get close enough to the cage to move it - vicious creature! It's big enough to reach out of the cage and it is not happy! snapping and growling. I hope it is not rabid! Might call animal control and let them deal with it.