So sorry to hear about the babies deedee! Btdt, with a nestbox on a post my first year with blues! As far as your baffle, what kind of baffle was it? If it was a cone shaped baffle, they do not work for racoons, they can climb right over them. Also a baffle must wobble to prevent the coon from climbing up. I think the easiest is the stovepipe baffle and I know they are effective as I have found a coon print on the bottom of one before and the babies were safe. I have the wobbling stovepipe baffles on my boxes, they are very easy to put up. I know others have success with the PVC baffles too, they are wobbling baffles also.

Sorry to hear your other Blues are gone now too. Last year I had a failed second nesting (not sure what really happened but I am blaming blowfly larva as there were alot in the nestbox) but thankfully the adults and the two remaining fledglings from the first nesting stayed around eating mealies until October. Do you feed live worms or rehyrdated ones? Only reason I ask is because I think the rehyrdated ones will keep them around during nesting season but not once the nesting season is done, I think live worms are needed for that at least until the weather starts getting cooler and the live wild bug population starts to decrease. That is when I switch to rehydrated worms, middle Sept when the diet of the Blues starts to change to berries and such.

Hope you get to see them again before Winter!

Donna

That is so sad. I'm sorry that happened to you. Not your fault at all, but you may need some tweaking to that baffle? I like to use as big of a baffle as possible. Mine are 8" stovepipe that wobble. Also, how high up is the baffle mounted? I'm just wondering if you have it lower than 4 feet you could try raising it up for next season. I had mine lower the first season I hosted Blues and nothing got past the guards, but then I read on the Sialis site that they should be mounted 4 feet up, so I raised them. I sure hope your Blues come back.

My husband is a contracter he builds houses and he made me a baffle 3yrs ago out of some siding its very thin so nothing could crawl or it would collaspe, that was why he was so surprised that a raccoon was able to climb on it...but there was fur on the rough edging of the siding. To late in the season for a new baffle this yr. but next yr. I will have a new one, he designed it off the picture of a baffle for the wood post but I'll buy one next yr for the post.....had 3 nestings this yr. first one 6 eggs destroyed by wrens, second 5 eggs 4 babies survived and fledged and the last 3 killed by raccoon. But reading on here there was a lot of bad nestings this yr. along with some good. Good luck next yr.

My husband used to be a contractor and built houses too, has had a change of jobs now though. However when I wanted a baffle up I went with what I knew worked, the wobbling stovepipe baffle. Houses should be mounted on slick metal poles like conduit, they are very easy to put up and install a baffle on. If I can do it all by myself (all 5'1" of me)anyone can do it. I have installed three houses and baffles this year by myself. Pounded the conduit in the ground with a sledge while standing on a ladder and installed the baffles myself too. Some people pound rebar in the ground and then put the conduit over that but I have found the boxes to turn if that method is used. I would suggest changing your setup to this instead of reinventing something that may fail again. Another reason to mount houses on conduit vs wooden posts is to prevent ants from climbing up into the house, they can kill babies too. Conduit can be greased under the baffle to prevent ants from being able to climb up the pole.
Good luck, hope everything goes well next year!

Donna