In article ,
John Savage wrote:

"Mike Stevenson" writes:
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.

I can't grow tomatoes because the birds hollow them out before the
fruit even colours. It probably depends on your location (i.e., the
species of birds you have) whether it will be a problem for you.
Here (Australia) the bandit is a currawong--a bird very similar to
a crow, and just as crafty, inquisitive, and clever. They also pick
off strawberries. One year a lot of cherry tomato plants came up in
an abandoned bed (after the plumbers had worked nearby to unblock a
main sewer!) and I was amazed to find those plants bore heavily yet
were ignored by these birds. Whether this can be generalised or not
to later years was not determined. The cherry tomatoes ripened on the
'vine' and were delicious.

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

I would be wasting my time stringing up CDs or anything like that.
These particular birds are not bird-brains! They are as intelligent as
any dog.


We have been using the Contech Scarecrows in our gardens for the last
year since we have an abundance of critters here in Missouri Z5b. Deer
are by far the worst and can mow down an entire bed in one night. If
you are unfamiliar, they have an infrared sensor topped by a very noisy
sprinkler head that goes off when something warm approaches and can be
adjusted for sensitivity. You attach them to a hose and try not to
forget to shut them off before you stroll into the garden. We have 5 or
6 of them now and reasonably full gardens. I'd recommend starting with
just one to see how it works. No doubt it varies with the creature.
Ours keeps away birds, deer, rabbits, squirrels, racoons, opposums,
dogs, cats, skunks, and kyotes. The wild turkeys are scared of them too
but I don't mind them in the garden at all since they eat so many slugs.
They use a nine volt battery and ours lasted all summer last year. But
you have to get clever with arranging the hoses so they are not so
obtrusive. They can be daisy-chained and have quite a long range plus a
two year warranty. The company is pretty nice on the phone when you
have problem.

http://www.scatmat.com/Products/Scarecrow/

The prices vary widely so I recommend Froogleing to get a good price.
Ours averaged about $55 ea and the last ones I got were from Roxbury
farms here in the US. I am not generally into high-tech and HATE
spending money (lol) but if not for this device, we could not keep a
garden at all.