Other aids to deter pole climbers:

1. Install a 4 inch diameter or larger plastic tubing (pipe) over the pole from the ground to under the baffle. A 5 inch tube is better, but 4 inch is the largest I can find in the general purpose plumbing stock at regular consumer's stores. Racoons find it difficult to grip the larger pipe especially if it is smooth. By experience, I found that racoons can climb a 3 inch and smaller plastic pipe.

2. Use conventional automotive wax to wax and buff the pole up to the baffle. After some time, even a plastic pipe will get dirty and begin to pick up a nicks from claw marks. Some of its slipperness can be renewed with a good coat of wax. Re-apply as needed.

3. Coat the pole below the baffle with gooey, or slippery non-drying subsance. Old cranckcase oil or new oil works temporarily against squirrels. One time, I coated a pole with new motor oil. The next squirrel that tried it got up about 2 feet and slid back down the pole. He went away shaking his body in disgust trying to rid his fur of oil. However, this may not be the preferred naterial becasue a squirrel could be sickened from liking the oil from his fur.
An oil coat works for only a couple of days because it will run off the pole and weathering will begin to remove the oil and this oil is going into the soil.

Try applying "tree guard" from a garden center. This is a gooey benign substance normally applied to fruit tree trunks to discourage chipmunks and other creepy-crawlers from ascending the tree trunk. It should work the same on a feeder or bird house pole. If the length of treated section is long enough, it may discourge snakes.

dees_1, I surely didn't mean to hijack the other snake thread, but I appreciate so much your concern! You, too, jemdandy, thank you so much!

At this point I am only putting out nestboxes for bluebirds and chickadees and I guess the nesting season for both is over for this year, at least on my property. For years I struggled with blacksnakes and lost until I discovered the bird netting that was mentioned. I mean, I tried EVERYTHING, every old wives' tale and you know NC is full of those! In all this time I haven't had problems with any predators that I couldn't overcome except these darned snakes.

The mesh has worked quite well for catching the snakes, but it seems you have to be vigilant and get those snakes away from the nest right away because the parent birds won't feed the little ones with a huge snake thrashing and struggling right there on the post. Sure would be nice if there were something, anything, that would repel them from the vicinity!