Glad you are enjoying the box cam Bryan! I spend way too much time "checking in" on the nest. Sure beats watching the news though.
I personally don't think the direction the box opening faces is critical. Mine are all set to face my house, for selfish reasons. I would probably avoid facing it in a direction where your worst storms come from, unless the box is shielded by it's location. The camera box actually faces northwest, which is a bad idea for my area. BUT, it's shielded by it's corner location in my pond.
I would recommend a predator guard for any shore boxes, regardless of pole size. They're pretty easy to make, or can be purchased. The company that makes the house with the camera sells predator guards too.
I have 3 plastic houses and 3 wooden houses up. All get used. My cedar house is weathering best, of the wood ones. Rest are pine scrap. Plastic ones seem to be unphased by the weather, so far.
I've enjoyed this camera box so much, I think I'll try to add more houses next year. They'll have to be Wi-Fi, but those cameras are available, with a solar pack. If I put a Wi-Fi range extender antenna on the roof of my house, I think it's possible.
