Is there any way to keep birds from pulling the fruit off of the trees before it even gets a chance to ripen? I don't want to poison them, I just want them to go away.... Thanks in advance!

-- Kristin in LA (positivekharma@aol.com), April 11, 2001

Answers

The only thing I've heard works is netting. Several places you can get it and it is sold specifically for that purpose.

-- Deborah (bearwaoman@Yahoo.com), April 11, 2001.

I use netting for my cherries and my strawberries. It is the only thing that works at our farm. It only takes a few minutes to put it on, just draped over the tree or berry patch and I just lift it up to pick the fruit. Craig

-- craig swasnon (craig@rswcorp.com), April 11, 2001.

We had the same problem with our cherry trees. We had hardly even tasted a fully ripe cherry, because the birds would swoop in just before they got ripe and strip the trees. The trees are too big for netting, or we would have used that. Last year I ordered a thing from Real Goods called a Bye Bye Birdie. It's full of magnets and supposedly screws up a bird's navigation, and they avoid the area. Well, it's awful pricey, $79.99 plus s/h, so waited 'til the very last minute to order it, so that if it didn't work I could return it. Well, they were out of stock and it came a little later than I needed it (you're supposed to hang it 2 weeks before you need it so the birds know it's there and avoid the area) But, It worked!! We still lost some cherries, but we also picked tons of them. I just got a different catalog that has them for 12.95 or 2 for 20.00, or thereabouts.(can't find it right now). Let me know if you're interested, and I will post here when I find the catalog. I am going to order probably 4 more at that price, although I wouldn't pay as much as I did for the first one again. If I remember right, the 79 dollar one was supposed to be good for 70 feet in all directions from it, and it seems like the cheaper ones were for 50 feet. Hope this helps. Kathie

-- Kathie in Western Washington (twinrosefarm@worldnet.att.net), April 11, 2001.

I wonder if hanging these in a barn would keep the birds out. Can't close up the barn since sheep must get in to drink and the sparrows are building a nest on every beam.

-- Betsy K (betsyk@pathwaynet.com), April 11, 2001.

Okay, I found it! These are a different brand, they call them Birdie Barriers, not Bye-Bye Birdies. And they are even cheaper than I thought, 2/$l9.99, or 4/35.99. However, they say they are for a 20 foot radius, not the 70 my original one has. I should think they would work even better in the barn, although you wouldn't have the benefit of the reflective sides in the sunlight. Anyway, the catalog is: "Whatever Works" 1-800-947-8374 WWW.WHATEVERWORKS.COM Birdie-Barriers#1726 Hope you have as good as luck with them as I did!! Kathie

-- Kathie in Western Washington (twinrosefarm@worldnet.att.net), April 11, 2001.

My wife and I are bird lovers and often feed a 50 lb. bag of sunflower seed per week. Then when the cherrys get ripe we see the downside of attracting birds to the property. We have used a large inflatable snake with reasonable success. We place it in the tree, moving it at least once per day, and the birds "put on the brakes" when they get a glimpse of it. We only have one tree to deal with - an orchard would be another matter.

The lady with sparrows in her barn - we had house sparrows in every nook and cranny when we moved here. After attracting lots of finches, we now have NO house sparrows. I've been told that finches will kill house sparrows - anyhow - they're gone.

I saw a clip on a TV gardening show saying to drill a hole near the edge of a CD disk, tie a string on it and hang it where the birds are a bother. A slight breeze will spin it and the sun will reflect brightly in all directions. I'm using one now to discourage a phoebe from nesting under our carport. Works great. I plan to try them in the cherry tree too. Finally, a good use for all those AOL disks that we receive in the mail. Also - Walmart has a rack of free AOL disks. I get a handful each time I visit the store. I bet some heavy metal music disks would work even better!

The TV clip also recommended the tape from a cassette tape will reflect light and scare birds from your fruit. Haven't tried that. Sounds messy.

-- Paul (hoyt@egyptian.net), April 12, 2001.

Ihave had good success with foil balls on fishing line, then hang it on the tree. Or cans, hung on a string, close enough that they will clatter a bit. The cds, idea works too, I never thought about grabbing aol cds from walmart! I will have to do that. My brother made me a wind chime out of old harddrives. It is real pretty and sounds great too!! I think I will move it out to the orchard area. The crows are wiping out the sand plums and they are barely blooming. Good luck!! Cindy

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), April 17, 2001.

Oh, I've gotta ask! How do you attract finches? What specific steps to take? I don't mind the sparrows in the barn, but the other people do and I don't really want to see the sparrows harmed, just relocated! (even tho I know what pesky little alien interlopers they are)

Any input on how well those magnet things work on keeping pigeons out too? They roost down at one end of the arena and fly up unexpectedly at times when someone rides down there, and the barn manager is afraid that some kid is going to get hurt when they take a face-plant off a horse.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), April 17, 2001.

Julie, I don't think that is true about finches and sparrows. What kind of finches are we talking about here??? We have purple finches and goldfinches, big bunches of them, and the sparrows feed right next to them. We feed thistle and black sunflower seed.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 17, 2001.

Spray your fruit with garlic spray when they start to rippen. The birds will go elsewhere.

-- M D (obviousman2002@yahoo.com), April 18, 2001.

Julie, we feed black oil sunflower seed and we have several types of finches, along with all the other species that are attracted to the feeders. We have not had house sparrows since we started feeding seriously. The only sparrows around here are an occasional white throated sparrow and last winter a Harris' sparrow. We used to battle the house sparrows all summer - they built nests all through every building on the farm.

I know a guy who has a sparrow trap. He checked it one morning and found that it contained one live finch and several dead sparrows. He concluded that the finch killed the sparrows. . . I really don't know enough about bird habits to make a knowledgeable statement - I just know that we used to be overrun with sparrows and now there are none.

I will state that we are now overrun with moles that feed on the wasted sunflower seeds under the bird feeders. Everything in life is a tradeoff. . .

-- Paul (hoyt@egyptian.net), April 18, 2001.

Cherries are the target of robins finches and other featherzoids here in the Puget Sound area. We have about ten bing and three Rainier trees.I hope next year to install a bird target acquiring, EMP emitting stun phaser-like "defensive" weapon that will just 'wing' the flying fruit farts when they approach my beloved cherries!...Seriously, last year we picked a bumper crop of non-pecked cherries. This year, so far, the cherry raptors are giving no quarter/scorched earth/wholesale destruction of our crop. Last year...strung red, white, and blue 4th of July flags over trees. They are like the ugly flags you see surrounding used car lots or tire sales locations...BUT they really worked! This year...no flags, no cherries, fat birds. What a difference! Hope my ramblings help....Chip of Lazy K Stables - Gig Harbor, WA

-- chip kelly (i-chip@webtv.net), July 09, 2001.