In article ,
"Mike Stevenson" wrote:

My roommate seems rather concerned with the possibility of birds destroying
my developing crop of tomatoes. Only the cherries have started to ripen at
this time but he keeps warning me that birds will peck the fruit to steal
the juices within.

First off, is this a REAL possiblity/problem or just some old wives tale
he's blown out of proportion.

Second if it IS a real issue what can I do to combat this? He suggests
placing shiny pie-pans around the garden on sticks to scare the birds off. I
vaguely remember someone mentioning having a birdbath near (but not in) your
garden can help with this, as it provides an alternative and easier to
obtain source of water.

I am amusedly concerned. Is this something I really need to worry over, or
just another of his "bird brained" ideas?


We have some tomato plants on our deck as well as around 50 planted out.
On the edge of a deep woods, we have gazillions of birds that frequent
our place including wild turkeys. I have two watering stations for the
birds (front and rear) and have never once had them bother any of the
tomatoes. And there is one turkey that comes on the deck several times
each day to harvest fallen seed from one of the feeders. Turtles will
sometimes go after low ones. They leave a three-pointed mark on the
tomato so you can tell. But the worst pests that just in fact ruined
some of my deck tomatoes are the damn squirrels which I plink at every
opportunity to keep them in control. They chew whole clusters right off
the branches and bite into the fruit willy-nilly. They don't care if
the fruit is ripe or not; they just ruin it. There are three or four
hanging around here and I will get them all in the morning with a little
patience and my trusty 39A.

Phae