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Thread: Bird scares/ repellant.

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    Default Bird scares/ repellant.

    Does anyone know of any way to keep birds away that WORKS?
    Sick to Effing death of birds round here. They are nothing but pains in the arse and I am over them.

    Maybe I have made a mistake in putting out bird baths and feeders feeling sorry for them with nothing to eat or drink but that's over. They have pissed me right off and I have removed them all. They can all fend for themselves far as I'm concerned.

    Just went out and saw the Fking Cockatoos have ripped the shit out of my sunflowers yet again. Did the same thing last year. The parrots have been in to my tomatoes ripping them apart and wasting Kg of fruit and I have never yet got a single Plum, pear, apricot or apple off my trees that bear heaps of fruit but is always laid waste to before it gets near grown or ripe. Apart from that, doesen't matter where I park a car they cover it in shit same as I never have clean solar panels. I have already given up on the panels on the shed near the tree. The disgusting mess they make of those is ridiculous. They panels are well clear of the tree but I can only guess the things shit as they take off and bog bomb the panels as they go.

    It would be a major exercise to cover all my fruit trees with nets and when I have tried doing that with individual trees, the bastards still get in. I can't go covering my sunflowers along the length of the garden and it would look ridiculous if I did. Bird netting in the lengths I'd need it even for the are I'm growing my tomatoes wouldn't be that cheap either.

    Yes, it may seem funny i'm pissed off with wildlife but I am.
    I put a lot of work, effort and time into the garden and it's a struggle to grow anything more than a weed atm but to bring things along and then have them wiped out when your hard work is about to pay off is depressing and pisses me right off which is the complete opposite of the therapy I do it for in the first place.

    I have tried things like CD in the trees, I have put up kites with pictures of hawks on them which worked a couple of days then back to ripping the shit out of everything, I have tried providing alternative sources of food and water around the place and I have put up poles with things hanging off them .
    I haven't tried Dressing a scarecrow because I doubt it would work. I have 3 cats and they are all too old/ lazy/ well fed to be bothered with them. The dog is good at chasing birds but is inside most of the time and doesen't see them either. Maybe I need a Stuffed toy cat or dog stuck on a pole or something? Seems anything you put up they get used to in a few days and Ignore. They are persistent cunning bastards as well. once they find you have something they just keep coming back all the time.

    The main offenders seem to be Cuckatoos and king parrots along with some smaller ones. The Noisy and Indian Minors have seemed to stick to the bird baths and feeders I have put out. Seen the parrots there as well but no more. Maybe I can look up some sort of Shotgun style sling shot or Pneumatic gun?

    They tend to hit things late afternoon/ early evening and around dawn. I was thinking of maybe some 12V fans on timers with something in the blades to make a noise or use a wiper motor to make a waving motion with something. Will be a pain in the arse to do but unless someone has some other solution they can suggest they know works...

    Automatic activation of a .410 Shotgun IS a worthy suggestion IF you can give details of the triggering Mechanism.
    Tried to do the right thing and look after them but I'm just getting shit on for my efforts. Maybe I just need a BIG fan above things with 6Ft blades like a wind turdbine and if they happen to get in the way of the blades spinning on the 3HP motor at 1800 RPM, Oh well!
    Horizontal coverage may provide more coverage and better pest control as well.

    Suggestions greatly appreciated.



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    An answer you(and everybody else) probably don't want to hear: get a couple of outdoor cats.

    Since animal activists have successfully declared EVERY cat that goes out doors as feral (which is utter BS) we have to keep our cat indoors 24/7 and since then we have been plagued with birds and rats. Our cats rarely actually caught birds there were just a good deterrent.

    Rats now need to be treated with poison, which probably still manage to nibble with their poisoned snouts on our fruit and veg before they die and rot somewhere with disgusting smell.

    Birds?
    I have tried everything including building my own variable high pitch powerful square wave and pulse generators using PA quality horn tweeters that shut up dogs 100's of meters away but a fruit bat 3m up a tree just stares at me with some evil grin.

    The best I ever managed was to throw my slipper at a King Parrot with Al Bundy style accuracy and it did stay away almost a week.

    Our current solution is to plaster all our crops with this:


    They are always 4x10m so if you order 4x100m you get 10 but for $5.39 each instead of $13.89.
    They are very thin but astonishingly tough, bees get through but butterflies not, so no caterpillars either.
    Stops Bush turkeys too if you construct it right. Critters get underneath if it is not perfectly matched to the ground. We have tangled/trapped a couple mynas in the net.

    So thanks to the nets I now have hands full of blueberries every morning for brekkie and cherry tomatoes without end. Going to try the sweet orange snacking tomatoes hopefully soon.
    Before the King parrot would just pull off every single tomato while it is still green and throw it on the ground as it obviously doesn't like them green but continues to pull them all off.
    They must be the dumbest birds. I think all birds are dumb.

    I also hate that the birds eat our garden spiders who successfully catch a lot of flies and mozzies in their nets until the birds eat the spiders.
    The birds don't bother with insects, they just destroy our hard earned crops or dig up the seedlings to take the worms that make our soil fertile.
    And if there might be anything fertile in bird excrement it never ends up in the garden but always all over the car, pool sitting area or on places where it is hard to reach and clean.

    Bloody animal activists have taken away the natural enemies for population management.
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

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    how close are your neighbors.
    IF far away get a lpg gas gun.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Uncle Fester View Post
    An answer you(and everybody else) probably don't want to hear: get a couple of outdoor cats.
    Well I didn't expect to get any sympathy or understanding on this one but obviously I'm not the only one pissed off with bloody Birds.

    Don't mind hearing about cats in the least. I love them. I have 3 cats that are mainly outdoors. Only bring them in for the hot or the cold. Got them some nice electric pet blankets for winter which I just put in cardboard boxes and they barely move out the things and prefer to stay in them than come inside.
    Like I said, too old/ lazy/ well fed to be bothered with birds.

    We just lost one of our cats a few weeks back. She was the best mouser you ever came across. For about a year she pretty much lived in the garage and hardly came down for a feed. Seemed she preferred the fresh meat she caught herself and left the remnants on the back verandah or howled at the door till we came saw what she had. Then she would roll over and over and love up to us when we congratulated her. There was always a Rat problem there. It was my inlaws house before we bought it and there had been rats non stop for 40 years because of the vacant and large, over grown blocks surrounding it that were only developed not long before we moved out.

    Thanks for at least letting me know I'm not the only one driven insane with bloody birds.
    My sunflowers looked beautiful in the garden last year and as a friend said , really are happy flowers. I'm into flowers about as much as I am playing stupid video games ( IE, NOT at all!) but, the sunflowers were nice to look out the window and see and the things were taller than me. Just as they got to their peak, they were all destroyed by the marauding and screeching Cockatoos within a week despite my best and constant efforts to defend them. The bastards of things would literally sit up in the big tree out the front watching me. One who seems a ring leader is obviously and escaped pet and sits there saying " Hello" repeatedly. He's back around this year.

    I have put birds in the same category as trees now. Fine in the bush but you don't want the things anywhere near Civilisation.

    I was thinking of some sound maker but I think it would have to be some sort of a bang like the mention of the LPG gun. Unfortunately neighbours are within 25M eiter side so would probably drive them nuts as well as us. Maybe there is some animal sound I could put on a little sond recorder and hook it to a little amp board and play that? Maybe a cat hissing or meowing or an eagle screeching might work? Used to have eagles screeching at the old place in the middle of the night for Neighbour revenge. worked well.

    I did think it was rats getting my lower fruit till the neighbour said he saw the birds in there. They are cleaning up my green tomatoes just as much if not more than the ripening ones. I have been picking them as soon as they get colour but they still get whatever they can and are obviously perching on the top of the plants and snapping them off.

    Nothing but bloody damage, destruction and mess.

    The bird netting seems a real good price.Thanks for the heads up. That would allow me to do the tomatoes at least. I built a frame out of scaffold with timber and solar panel rails to tie string on for supporting the plants which has worked well . Spose I may as well make the most of it and use it for supporting the net as well.

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    I had some success with a 100w amp and some of that bomp boomp music on a big bass speaker that seemed to keep them away from the feed stocks especially magpies they cant stand the bass

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    Quote Originally Posted by hinekadon View Post
    especially magpies they cant stand the bass
    Unfortunately, Neither can I .
    The daughters doof doof music I think makes putting up with the birds the less likely thing to drive me to a complete mental breakdown.

    I thought of something that may work for a day or longer if I am a little on the ball.....

    I found a box of the dogs old soft toys she likes to play tug a war with. Most of them are in various animal shapes and most had prominent eyes. I sat come around the sunflowers and on top of the framework where the tomatoes are. If I move and change them round, Might keep the feathered fiends thinking.

    Cockatoos were up in the tree when I was out watering before. I heard them coming from a long way and saw them at high altitude when the quickly dropped and descended into the big tree out the front. we were out doing things till late but I'll bet they will be back around dawn.

    I did see something that Might help... and old ceiling fan. If I invert that on a pole and set the thing going at full tilt, Might eradicate a few of the problems.
    I wonder if I could get a stuffed toy Cockatoo and put it on the ground as if it were dead if that might deter the things?
    Last edited by george65; 01-01-20 at 08:37 PM.

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    i dont know if it would work at your place , but an old neighbour made up this little pyramid shaped thing out of different mirrors which turned slowly ( might have been solar powered ). I guess the kaliedoscope of reflections may keep them confused and out of your yard. I saw a similar thing at the Bundy Rum distillery some time back.

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    I tie together 6 old CDs end to end and hang the from a branch,with sunlight and a breeze they create a kaliedascope of light also .

    Dash.

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    Just let the cats out.......
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    I have zero sympathy. With only X amount of arable land in this country, the worst species on the planet (the human race) has claimed all of it for itself yet seem surprised when inhabitants other than humans feel a need to eat or drink to survive.
    I would suggest a fully enclosed bubble, that way nothing can get in. Better to be safe than sorry.

    Or move to the city, you cant lose. Melbourne and Sydney have such big populations now its unlikely they have anywhere a bird or animal could eat or drink.

    Just a heads up, I will nuke/remove/delete any discussions that involves cruelty to animals. Better it be said now than later.

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    Netting seems to be the only solution that only partially works for fruit trees, but when you have hundreds of trees it gets expensive

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    Quote Originally Posted by admin View Post

    With only X amount of arable land in this country, the worst species on the planet (the human race) has claimed all of it for itself yet seem surprised when inhabitants other than humans feel a need to eat or drink to survive.
    As I said, I DID have sympathy and put out several bird baths which I top up every day and I was putting out bird food for them.
    Pretty Fking sure that tomatoes and sunflowers are not native plants to Australia nor the natural Diet of these birds. If these animals are looking for something to eat, they have no business raiding these introduce foods when I have put out native seeds for them anyway.


    I would suggest a fully enclosed bubble, that way nothing can get in. Better to be safe than sorry.
    You're right. I think A greenhouse is exactly what I need and then they will be forced to find natural food sources rather than raiding what I grow.

    Or move to the city, you cant lose. Melbourne and Sydney have such big populations now its unlikely they have anywhere a bird or animal could eat or drink.
    Unfortunately you are wrong. The council my wife works for in the middle of Sydney has a HUGE bird problem. They are feeding off what the humans provide and being all the do gooders protect them, they are getting out of control.

    Just a heads up, I will nuke/remove/delete any discussions that involves cruelty to animals. Better it be said now than later.
    As you should. No one has even hinted at any sort of cruelty that I can see so your warning is out of place.
    Just the same, culling is not cruelty not that anyone has suggested that either. all anyone has discussed that I can see is scaring the things off


    I was awake this morning at dawn and sat out the back having a cuppa watching my tomatoes and the sun come up. Didn't see anything around today. I did hang a couple of oil flattened veg oil drums on some string yesterday which seemed to be never still even though everything else was and put some of the dogs toys up the top.
    Maybe it worked for now.

    I think something on a timer that moves is a good bet. Maybe some sort of cutout bird that moves it's wings via a car wiper motor might help? Mounting the ceiling fan upside down on a tall pole with some streamers and weights off the end of the blades to provide coverage over the garden might work too.

    Been watching the Pigeons and the starlings on the back lawn. They seem to only ever go for the seeds in the grass and the old bread we put out for them and don't touch anything else like the Parrots and Cockatoos.
    Seems the introduced pest species are far less of a problem than the native birds.

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    Quote Originally Posted by george65 View Post

    Been watching the Pigeons and the starlings on the back lawn. They seem to only ever go for the seeds in the grass and the old bread we put out for them and don't touch anything else like the Parrots and Cockatoos.
    Seems the introduced pest species are far less of a problem than the native birds.
    Theirs talk of culling the rats here in Mandurah due to the fact they breed like rabbits and cause $$$$ damage to buildings, not to mention the pigeon shite literally covering the walkways

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    I went back to my fathers home country town with him last year. We were walking along the footpath and he walked out onto the edge of the road. I asked where he was going and he pointed ahead. I said why are you on the road? He pointed to the shit covered footpath.
    He said I wouldn't walk under that tree since I was a boy.

    When we got to the rellos place he mentioned me asking why he was walking on the road near the fire station. The relos all laughed. Apparently the tree had been pidgeon infested for over 50 years and the shit outfall was local legend. My father said remember the old Fire Chief? More laughter. Apparently tired of having everything including himself shit on, he got the boys to hose out the tree one day and blow all the pigeons and most off the leaves clean off it.

    Apparently there was an uproar about all these pigeons lying all over the road and the footpath and he was not a popular person with some people in the community while others though he did a great thing. Dad who was about 17 at the time is now 81 and remembers it very well as do all his older siblings. Tree is still and always has been pigeon infested and the foot path permanently caked in their shit. Apparently it gets very slippery when it's been raining.

    Pigeons DID like my tall TV antenna and use to sit on that and cover the roof and my solar panels under it in crap. It blew down last year in a big windstorm. Having cable TV, we weren't even using the thing. I patched the hole it left in the roof where it hit ( fell the right way and missed my panels considerately) and haven't worried about it since.
    The roof and my panels there have been much cleaner since.

    Other birds get in the tree beside the shed and leave a rotten mess on the side of the shed, the roof and all over the ground. I'd like to give that tree a slight trim down to about 18" but the mrs likes it so I have to put up with the filth....and the big patch of bare dirt where the grass won't grow underneath no matter what I do.

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    Hi george, same problem here.
    What worked for me best is water sprinkle which activates like an automatic shotgun with noise. It is solar battery powered and detects movement up to 10 metres away as well as it has infrared temperature detector.
    It is good for smaller suburban backyards. Can be expencive for farms. But if you build your own defence system it might work fine for larger areas.
    I picked my up from Bunnings. It's a lot of fun to see how birds are trying to fly around my place. They learnt their lesson pretty fast. I just turn it on once a week now to keep the birds memories alive.

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    Is this it?


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    Quote Originally Posted by george65 View Post
    Is this it?

    Yes, it is precisely what I got from Bunnings for aroud $75
    They also have more expencive stuff.
    Word of warning though - wind causes false shots

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    Quote Originally Posted by george65 View Post
    No one has even hinted at any sort of cruelty that I can see so your warning is out of place.
    My warning is firmly in place and more than justified. As administrator and owner, I can put whatever warning I want anywhere I want, add really annoying new rules, only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 and 2 on $5.00 a month shared hosting so I don't have to pay for an expensive VPN etc. Its the joy you get from not having to pander to particular groups and share holders or anyone really.......

    Now having said all that, given I have been here about 20 years longer than you, I have seen every similar topic go the way of animal cruelty suggestions. So, before that happens, I try to take proactive action with a clear warning so people know exactly what will happen if they want to wander down that path. I think that's pretty much a common sense approach. Then when they ignore the warning, I hang them from the nearest tree (not to scare birds, I am not literally speaking)

    And yes, I include culling as animal cruelty. When they allow culling for humans, I will be more than happy to change my stance. After all, if there is one single species on this planet that needs culling, its humans.

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    so it looks like netting for you is going to be the only solution.

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