On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 23:20:57 GMT, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

The message
from martin contains these words:

In an experiment I conducted at the weekend it took birds about 30
minutes to get used to flashing Compuserve CDs. Tits got used to them
in a few minutes. Pigeons ignored them completely.
Does this prove that birds can tell AOL from Compuserve?

The birds (mostly house sparrows) were tearing my sunflower heads apart,
and as I was growing them to provide food and exercise for my cockatiel
I took a dim view.

Our sparrows all disappeared some years ago, a few have returned.


I planted a thin six-foot cane in the middle of them and lashed on a
plastic food bag at one point so that any wind would open it up and move
it about.

Until recently we had one of the last Marks and Spencers plastic
carrier bags used by M&S Amsterdam flapping in the top of a small
tree. We are not sure how it got there, but we were very impressed
with it's strength. It had zero effect on birds. Maybe Dutch birds
are smarter than yer average British native bird.


Kept the little hooters off for the rest of the season.

I feel a double entendre coming on...
--
Martin