https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4sNiaN_9vQ
Thoughts? Seems like a over complicated solution…
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I am hoping my out door cats help keep the birds a little more scared around my yard next year. I also am keeping my daughters dog for the foreseeable future. She caught a possum the other night and dispatched it. Apparently she also had a confrontation with a skunk the same night.
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Hope they work better than my 3 barn cats do on birds. Here on the agricultural outskirts of Phoenix we have a relative of the crow called a grackle. Super smart, they watch and understand patterns. Like when we are typically gone, when the cats are asleep. Our barn cats catch and eat at least one bird a day, but its never the birds that cause damage. Doves for the most part are what they catch but doves dont go after our fruit.
They are useful for mice and rat control. Im sure they keep the grackles more nervous than they might otherwise be. The downside of cats is that they LOVE to use my young trees as a giant scratching post. Ive lost a few to the resultant infections from the open wounds. Had to resort to putting tree guards on all the trunks.
The grackle
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If I had enough land I’d buy one in a minute. But then I love fast cars too. The noise would drive my neighbors and the local wildlife nuts. Perfect!
And could get expensive. A hawk can trash one of those.
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I paid almost $200 for a gallon of spray last harvest season that was supposed to keep birds off the fruit. It worked by making the birds sick when they took a bite out of an apple.
According to the web site, literature and sales person I talked with there was absolutely no danger to people.
This is supposed to teach the birds that when they eat the apples, they throw up, and eventually they are supposed to move on.
So I anticipated this taking a week or so after the initial spraying for me to notice less bird activity on the fruit. Nope.
Another application, still no difference that I could tell.
Called the rep who had me change the ratio after verifying the water PH which was correct, and maybe that made a difference but I was not sure. Might have been wishful thinking.
Derek,
I guess that was assuming that the SAME birds were always the ones hanging around.
You could sustain plenty of damage from all the birds’ “first taste” of the repellent.
Physical barriers starting with #7 shot shells.
Mike
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Mike
We tried shooting the birds one year. Robbins were the problem which is a protected bird. We had the required permit. I can not remember how many we were allowed to shoot, but it did not solve the problem bird problem. They just moved to the opposite end of the field. When we moved to the opposite end they returned to the near side. We put up a net the following year with was effective against the birds, but a real pain to put up and take down an the end of the year.
The Drone looks like a lot of fun, even if it does not solve the bird problem. What does one cost?
These things are now available at all price points and technical capabilities.
Mike
Mike
I see lots of cheap drones but I would need something that will automatically take off, fly an assigned flight pattern, return to base and repeat the process on a schedule multiple times per day. Making predator bird noise would be a bonus. The price for the Bird X drone is not on their web site, but I bet its expensive!
I am sure that there are programable drones but I think this stuff is still in its infancy.
Don’t know your layout but row netting is probably the most practical choice for now.
I have read about all types of gizmos to keep the birds off from foil, noisemakers, balloons, sculpure replicas, inflatable air-dancers etc.
Netting is 24/7.
Mike
Mike
Had a little more than an acre under net many years ago when I was much younger. It was a real pain to roll out and then take down after harvest. We get a lot of ice storms, so its not possible to leave the net up even with UV treated material.
I have a dancing air man that works pretty well, combined with streamers and reflective tape but I still have some bird pressure. I’m going to see if I can locate a drone that could be programmed to automatically fly a defined route that would fit my budget.
Good luck.
Keep us posted.
I have shotgun and some vacation time coming up… could use some practice.
Maybe 
Mike
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Homemade solution to scare birds. A cardboard silhouette of a hawk on top of a tall cane. And it works too…
Here it is on top of my MoscatelBranco fig tree. It moves slightly with the wind and imitates a hawk hovering over a prey.
I haven’t lost a fig yet and the peach, pear and apple trees nearby are also untouched.
Last year i made one, even more crude, but it “flew” with the wind. No birds approach the area and unlike previous years i had a great crop of figs.
Meanwhile, my Preto de Torres Novas fig tree, 500 yards away, is a bird’s heaven. They eat all the figs. I have to make another one and place it there.
For the not so handy, there are professional solutions. They are even used in public buildings to scare pigeons and other birds. No bird will risk facing a hawk.
Here’s one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoIIHrWnEFo&feature=youtu.be
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