On 5/28/2015 9:12 AM, Dan Espen wrote:
Gus Overton writes:

Hello,

Anyone have ideas on how to keep birds off a deck? I had the deck
recently stained and repaired and almost every day there are 2-3 bird
poop on the top railings. Mourning doves seem to be the worst about
doing this... And the other day, I noticed one of the top top posts
was gnawed a bit. Which the squirrel has done in the past. Anyone
else have these problems, and what do you do? I wash off the bird
poop since that can't be good for the wood, and is unsightly.

Yep, the birds, especially the doves, love my railings.
In my case, they are sitting on rather narrow pool fencing,
they like to face inward, and the poop misses anything
I care about.

In the winter I usually see large "dove meetings" in
the early AM as the sun comes up and I really enjoy them.

I agree with Brooklyn, cats would work.

In your case, something obstructing the railing or a slightly
higher piece of rail beyond the existing railing might work.
Don't know if you can do that attractively.


Try birdlime. While the purpose is to trap birds, a dead trapped bird
might discourage others from landing. The stickiness should also
discourage squirrels.

Since birdlime is illegal in some jurisdictions, birds might be
discouraged by hanging unwanted compact discs and DVD discs on kite
twine. Just drill a small hole -- about the diameter of a pencil lead
-- very near the edge and hang with about a foot of twine. These will
need to be moved about once a month so that birds do not become
accustomed to the flashing sunlight. I use this method to keep birds
away from my fruit trees and grape vines. For squirrels, I use a cage
trap baited with peanut butter, chopped pecans, and raisins.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary