Unwanted Critters in the Veggie Garden

[Backyard Buddies]

Great ideas - Movable owls (plastic, not the real ones - don't think that'd work), netting, tight fencing, and appropriate flowers - think we can do any and all of these things. Though, at 10,000 sf, I'm pretty sure we can't fully cover it with netting. Maybe just in the areas that birds would target? Would that work or would they fly under? What about netting plus the owls plus some shiny things?

ams3651: I wonder if those high frequency sound things would work to scare off your bunnies. I'd be majorly if a bunny stole my Brussels sprouts!

But, so those high frequency sound emitters also bother the neighbor's dogs and, even more importantly, the bees we need to frequent our garden?

 

[Backyard Buddies]

I saw the parrots with my own eyes... and heard them, too!
I asked another person who was there, "WHAT on earth is that racket?!?!" Next thing I know... two green squackers flying by.

And, believe it or not, they were actually pretty quiet today! You only got to see a couple of them. Just imagine when they roll through and there're a dozen of them!!! I wonder if your hubby scared them away with his tractor!

 

[digitS']

I found ZERO downside with having the owls. There were 3 and the picture is of the babies. They were already flying when I discovered them. At that time, they looked like flying couch pillows .
Kind of weird that the 1st evidence of their presence that I noticed were the remains of a seagull . Pigeons were a common meal, apparently. But, there were lots of "pellets" with little mice skeletons.

Momma did all the hunting, I'm pretty sure. Nothing much happened during the daytime. I've even seen the owls just sit and watch the quail traveling around on the nearby lawn. They apparently eat most everything that moves but it needs to move at the right moment. We have lots of people in this part of the world that report losing their cats to owls. Too bad, and a little surprising given how much a cat weighs and its own available weaponry.

These birds are fairly fearless. I've seen Momma at sunrise dealing with magpies. The magpies were at serious risk trying to harass Momma. She fairly shortly moved into the nearby evergreen trees where she spent the day. Momma was more-or-less out of sight but I'm sure that most of the critters in the area were well aware that she was in there. Venturing in to torment her would probably have been fatal. I think the effectiveness of owl decoys is partly that they could be relatively difficult for the prey species to see. They would naturally be out of the direct sunlight, anyway. Getting a direct, clear view of an owl must be a heart-stopping experience.

Hawk decoys would probably be more realistically out in the open during daylight hours but that would attract crows. Still, I've seen a living hawk that was being harassed by crows end up with crow dinner . . . made a heck of a mess of black feathers and bones in the yard.

Steve