Fooling the Birds?

[so lucky]

OK, I just saw this suggestion on Pinterest for keeping the birds out of your strawberries. It suggested painting some little strawberry shaped rocks to look like strawberries, and placing them around the strawberry patch early in the season. Supposedly, by the time the berries get ripe, the birds will have decided the berries are inedible, and not bother them. Do you think this would drive the birds away, or would they come every day and check till the real ones get ripe? (The suggestion dealt more with the decorative aspect of the strawberries than with the gardening delimma part, so it may have been a useless off the cuff suggestion.)

 

[RidgebackRanch]

It may sound a little hokey but it just might work. Considering you may lose most of those precious berries I say give it a try!

 

[Jared77]

Do you think this would drive the birds away, or would they come every day and check till the real ones get ripe?

I think this would be the case. Too many birds I think come through a single area to train all of them not to come into your yard. Rabbits and deer it may work on, but I don't think you'd make a dent in the birds. Besides if they saw the painted rocks it may encourage them to come earlier and check back till the fruit is ripe.

What about a predator decoy to keep the birds away? A hawk decoy may do the trick. If they see that thing they may decide its not worth risking being a meal over. Hard to say though. Only downside is you have to move it regularly (like 1x a day or every other day) otherwise critters realize its just a decoration.

 

[Nyboy]

Get a couple of cats

 

[so lucky]

Get a couple of cats

Uhh...we just captured 4 dumped-off kittens and took them to the humane society not too long ago. Guess we should have kept one.

 

[Smart Red]

I have had good luck keeping the birds out of my cherry trees with the help of a friendly scarecrow. I do move him about the orchard about twice a day, but that's because I'm home and can.

I have had NO - ZERO - ZILCH luck with fooling the nasty horde of migrating cedar waxwings who lay siege to and pillage my three large sweet cherry trees any year the frost doesn't do them in first. I also have a product - kaolin clay (can't remember the name) - that can be sprayed on any fruit or leaves. Sprayed on the fruit turns it a whitish that the birds don't think of as food. Spraying it on the leaves makes it inedible to pests such as Japanese beetles.

I have tried 30 ft water-shooting cannons.
I have tried noisy music.
I have tried gigantic helium Mickey and Minney mouse balloons bouncing at treetop level.
I have tried pushing my cat up into the cherry tree.

Nothing has worked. At best I get a few cherries off the lowest branches that I can reach to cover in netting or plastic.

I haven't tried the scarecrow around my strawberries because I haven't had a problem with them. . . so far.

Love, Smart Red

 

[vfem]

Get a couple of cats

Uhh...we just captured 4 dumped-off kittens and took them to the humane society not too long ago. Guess we should have kept one.

Yeah, keeping cats around has controlled the rabbits, voles, moles and birds that tear up our garden. Of course they then turn around and use your garden as a litter box! lol