Wow, if I could see that my heart would be happy for a while
What pipe did you use? It looks painted black?
I was thinking, could I not use PVC pipe instead of metal pipe? I know there is worries about predators climbing the poles and we are supposed to use predator guards? How did they not climb your poles?
If I mount something into the shallows of the pond (to use water as the predator guard) I'm thinking of drilling a hole in the ice and possibly putting a fence post down below the water level, then use the fence post as a guide post and drop a pvc pipe over the fence post? That way if the next goes unused or after ducklings hatch I can easily pull the pvc pipe and mounted duck house off the guide post and store it away?
I guess I could do the same with a galvanized pipe pounding it under the water line and use it as a guide post.
If I use pvc and pound that in I could use fittings to thread on a top pipe which is tall enough to mount the duck box and thread it back off when it is time to ice skate again.
If duck houses have to go back up in March when there is still ice on the pond then I'd probably have to repeat that process every year as I would never find the old pipe under the ice.
but once ice is gone, I could probably wade out and find the guide post and pull it and drive it in somewhere else through the ice the next season?
Can raccoons climb up a pvc pipe vs a galvanized one?
On that house, I used 1 1/2 inch threaded iron pipe, two 5 foot sections. I drove the bottom piece into the bottom as far as I could (about 24 inches, if I recall correctly). Then I used a coupler and threaded on the top piece. It was silver/shiny, so I did paint it black to blend in better. It's held up well for two full seasons now.
I moved a duck house that was too close to shore (in only 1-2 feet of water, and hence raided by raccoons) and used a similar setup, but used 2 inch pipe this time. As you already found out, the Duck Hut houses are designed with a mounting bracket that fits 2 inch pipe perfectly. On smaller pipe, I wrapped the pipe with a strip of old ratchet strap, to increase the diameter as needed. That worked fine.
I think PVC could work. Depends on your bottom and how hard it is to drive it in. I'd think it'd need to be at least 24 inches into the bottom (36 is better) to ensure stability. Then you could use a coupler (smooth and glue it, or threaded if there is such a thing) to join the sections. After reading your question again, I see you mentioned setting a post as a telescopic base for the PVC. This could be slick! Might even be able to use a metal fence post, which would make driving it really easy. FYI, it is REALLY EASY to damage the threads when driving a threaded pipe, so use something to protect them (small piece of board, etc, held on impact point by a helper). If they become deformed from pounding, threading on the coupler collar gets...difficult.
I think the water mount prevents 99% of predation just due to logistics. It's hard to tread water, and then (being soaking wet) grip a pipe (of any kind, PVC or metal) and skinny up it. Not saying a resourceful coon couldn't do it, but they'd more likely write it off as a waste of energy. Plus, I think having the house over water makes it difficult to localize the smell of the nest, which may conceal it from prospective invaders before they even try the pipe and water gauntlet. My experience has been 2 feet of water is too shallow, 4-6 feet seems to be safe. And of course, a predator guard never hurts, as insurance.
