GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

18-07-2004, 02:02 AM

writes:
They don't eat them. They ruin them. They taste them. They peck them.
They mutilate them... but they don't eat them.

If they ate the berries they would get full and have to stop.

As I now take all the the pecked berries and lay them next to the
birdbath -- where they are ignored -- I would like to know if there
are any other good ideas on how to discourage them?

This seems to mostly be robins eating the blackberries. I think some
people use netting but it seems that that would be a mess to handle.
How about something that would vigorously wave a flag and chime every
few minutes? I may have to build something.

I've heard of folks using very real-looking plastic owls with good
success, so good their bird feeders weren't being visited.

Are you in town? If not, perhaps you could use something similar to the
gun-popper used for starlings in orchards, annoying but effective.

Question: Do the birds have a good water supply? If not, put out water
for them, preferably in a semi-protected location (bushes, trees, etc.,
nearby). It may be they are just thirsty which would explain the pecks
and not eating them. Perhaps your bird bath is too exposed for them for
some reason . . .have they been using it? If they've been using the bird
bath, then that's not their problem. It's too bad that there are not cats
in your area that love to frequent the blackberry area, hungry and
aggressive cats.

I can totally sympathize. With our unusually cold weather, my apricot
tree had a bumper crop, even with a fourth of the tree lost with the
weight of the ice. Note I said "had." Squirrels, though I'm convinced it
is a single squirrel, are systematically destroying the apricots. He
doesn't eat them, just takes out a bite and tosses them to the ground. In
fact, he will break off a small branch and drop it, hit my granddaughters
on the head one day when they were eating lunch at their picnic table!
The other squirrels go into the live animal trap and get a new home, with
water, food and shelter, but this ---- one never comes to the ground. He
will actually start scolding me when I go outside which is one reason I'm
sure it's only the one. You'd think he would have figured out after the
first few dozen that these are *not* walnuts! It was bad enough with the
green apricots, but now, with them starting to ripen (top of the tree
first, of course), there is going to be a real hornet/wasp problem.
Already, there are hundreds of ants congregating under the tree. I'm
about to expand the chicken pen to under the tree for the next month or
so. This entire thing is so disgusting since I'd have been able to give
literally boxes of apricots away. It's not likely we'll get any at all at
this rate. It's to the point we are talking past hundreds of 'cots on the
ground. Grrrrrr.

If I lived outside the city limits, one well-placed bullet would solve the
problem, or more likely some bird shot and a hammer for when it fell. It
doesn't sneak around at all, but actually seems to enjoy annoying us. The
only thing that scoots it for a short time is a good strong shot from the
garden hose, but he's soon back.

Glenna
who sure considered the bird shot
over 4th of July weekend!