Suggestions for keeping birds away from fruit plants?
Would like to be able to redneck this out instead of putting out more cash. Have plenty of scrap stuff to improvise with...
(yes I have a potato gun but it wouldn't really be practical to be standing out there, waiting for a bird to show up)
(and no, killing them is not really an option either)
>>1017068
enclose your plants in a wire cage
>>1017068
The bird cannons just work on a timer, that I'm told.
IF you could build a setup that could detect nearby birds, then you could have some fun with this task...
1. instead of a cannon, just play a predatory bird call over some loudspeakers hidden in the trees.
2. figure out some way to make objects that LOOK kind of like roosing larger birds, flutter their wings or whatever...
If you could build an automomous quadcopter setup here, that would be a pretty good bet as well.
It wouldn't have to do anything other than buzz around for a couple minutes at a time, but you'd need some way to get it to land in the same place, and automatically charge....
That's a long shot tho.
I have a degree in computer programming and know a fairbit about electronics, and just making a reliable bird-presence-detector would be a task to brag about.
>>1017087
>when it's lurking aboot
so you're from canada, ey?
>>1017259
These birds presumably make "chirp chirp" and "tweet tweet" noises, right? Put microphones in a few of the trees and have them detect sounds in that frequency range and at a certain volume.
smth like this?: https://aztextpress.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/john-and-his-nets-two.gif
hanging old broken CDs against starlings on grandpa`s grapevine was quite useful too.
how many trees do You have?
>>1017068
>Suggestions for keeping birds away from fruit plants?
For thousands of years people have employed these super advanced green energy mechanisms called "scarecrows"
However that technology seems to having been lost....
>>1017300
Scarecrows and wood carvings of predatory birds. But the tech being the carvings has improved, they can be found in the mystical Wal of mart in the shape of owls that Bob their heads in a breeze. All a wizard needs to do is move them around every once in awhile.
>>1017068
took me five seconds on duckduckgo
https://www.reference.com/home-garden/homemade-bird-repellent-spray-87710fb2121790f2
>scarecrows
>fake birds that move a little
>netting over all the plants
I would assume that all of these cheaper and simpler things have been tried by people who raise these kinds of (grove) crops for a living, and that they don't work as well as the cannons do.
>repellent spray
That's a no-go since it would leave a pepper flavor on the fruits
"Yea but you could wash them?"
No, you can't. Pepper flavor is an oil and you'd need to use soap to get rid of it, and then they'd taste like soap. This isn't going to work.
A real, actual cat is a predator that they won't get used to being around.
Also I've seen times in the mornings when hawks fly over my yard at maybe 200-foot altitude, ALL the little songbirds in the surrounding trees start squawking and going batshit crazy.
>>1017276
>These birds presumably make "chirp chirp" and "tweet tweet" noises, right? Put microphones in a few of the trees and have them detect sounds in that frequency range and at a certain volume.
That would probably be the easiest and cheapest way to try first. Anything that works visually would get complicated fast.
A lot of what you can do depends on how big an area you need to protect.
There are dog-sprinklers sold that will automatically spray dogs that come onto your lawn to take a shit.
That wouldn't work as it is, but an automated water-sprayer would. And a bit of extra water isn't going to hurt the crops either.
>>1017392
So couldn't a non-pepper spray be just fine? Even plain white vinegar repels most animals.
>>1017259
trying to go for something simple
I saw something before about bottles sitting upside down on sticks, to move and rattle with the wind....I'm thinking about something similar, but maybe make a mini turbine type thing with washers/nuts hanging to provide movement and noise
>>1017271
not really, I just like to represent the homies of the north
>>1017289
>hanging old broken CDs against starlings on grandpa`s grapevine was quite useful too.
>how many trees do You have?
thought about that; got plenty of trees, but I thought I might have trashed extra cds a long time ago
>>1017300
>>1017318
I'll watch for that sort of thing at garage sales
>>1017377
not a bad idea, but the problem would be not also covering the fruit with it
>>1017392
there actually are some large birds that live somewhere nearby, they're pretty easy to spot simply because of their size
however I have no idea what would attract them, besides nice nesting areas (which they probably already found)
>>1017392
Nettingis like 99% effective.
Its just not used in large scales because of the time required to take off/put back on during harvesting.
If you only have a dozen or so trees, its your best choice.
>>1017068
How many plants/trees do you have? How large are the trees? How much land do they cover? If small scale then netting is the answer short term, long term build a fruit cage, quite easy and inexpensive if you keep an eye out for unwanted materials on your travels. Are you loosing a lot of fruit to birds?
>>1017483
multiple kinds of berry bushes in a couple places within a relatively close area, topping out about head height
>netting is the answer short term, long term build a fruit cage
looking to be the most realistic option, yeah
the birds will be eating and damaging the berries before they're even ripe....it sucks to go to pick for the day and see a whole bunch of half pecked/shredded fruit
>>1017259
They use kites shaped like predator birds and bird cannons where I live.
The use nets around here.
>>1017068
Wire tie some rubber snakes to your plants. It keeps the squirrels away from my peaches. Since I'm from the hills of North Carolina, by definition that's redneck.
>>1017524
also not bad
but luckily the last couple years, there has been a plethora of garter snakes
>>1017068
Pic related + rat poison. Used it all the time back in the day.
Too bad they made rat poison illegal in Norway.
>>1017859
make your own rat poison
>set up a post away from the trees
>hang bird feeder
>camp nearby with home-made flamethrower at the ready
>crucify the burnt corpses as a warning for other birds
>>1017925
Do i look like a fookin chemist to you? No but seriosly how do i make that, if there is a legit way to make it im very interested.
>>1017975
This
Displaying the dead is suprisingly effective, maybe have some airfreshener on standby if the smell gets bad enough
>>1017434
>there actually are some large birds that live somewhere nearby, they're pretty easy to spot simply because of their size
you don't need the predator birds, you would only need a good recording of their calls. And you (*I*) wouldn't want it playing all the time. Thus the reasoning about the automatic bird detector.
For just a few small trees, netting would probably be the easiest way.
Dig a small pond and stick a fake gator in it.
>>1017994
just get a bunch of gnarly chemicals and mix them with birdseed. or drive to sweden, im pretty sure rat poison is legal there
>>1017068
Google 'bird scarers'.
Things that reflect light and flutter around in the wind seem to work well. There are reflective Mylar things they sell that you can hag up near the trees. But given a neary endless supply of old Compuserve CDs, I wouldn't spend the money.
>>1019105
why is it not animal cruelty to kill a rat
>>1019986
CS cds? like what?
>>1021054
>CS cds? like what?
Like AOL cds but for CompuServe.
>>1017068
adding to what has been posted already: we had seagulls nesting above our balcony last summer and our landlord advised us to hang windchimes made out of shiny metal to fend them off as he was banned from moving the nests.
worked so far this year and no other birds have come to feed on the berries we planted on the balcony, the sound/movement/flashing combination seems to be pretty good at keeping them away even for a short snack
One year I hung red christmas bulbs on the tomato cages in my garden. I put them up at the beginning of the season so the birds would get used to the red spheres not being edible and I don't think I lost a single tomato. If you did try it tho it's already to late.
>>1017994
They used to use arsenic, which is available in a bunch of household products, but it's highly toxic to anything. You could use warfarin, which is essentially a hemotoxin/high-grade blood thinner.
>>1017068
You don't need to kill them all. Just a few then string up the corpses. Works wonders.
>>1021670
this.
Even that gift wrap plastic that is shiny will do, set it up on the top of the tree and let the wind crumple it, it will make noise and birds hate things that make noise and reflect light.
For extra effect, add fringes to it so that even small wind will move it a lot.
The downside is that if there isn't sunlight, the sound itself doesn't scare birds as much, but it still works a little. Also it's very cheap, so worth a shot.
>>1022267
This kind of wrapping.
Silver color works well, darker colors will be noticed less.
>>1017087
Soooo..cat works then?get a couple more?problem is not solved?what do you think will happen when you stop shooting off retarded canon?
>>1017859
Rat poison is also people poison.
>>1022311
If someone is dumb enough to eat a ball of oats and fat hanging from a tree then they might deserve what they get.
>>1017068
this happened near me the other day
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/cherry-noise-gun-starts-wildland-fire-near-tieton/article_b90d1984-4636-11e6-b2ad-df4dfd7e1581.html
http://www.bird-x.com/irri-tape-products-52.php?page_id=61
