Bird Control in Garden

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#2468721 23-Apr-2020 15:41

We've got that problem alongside our entrance path. It is the blackbirds. It is a damn nuisance so thanks @eracode for that tip.

NB added plus +1!!!

richms

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#2468741 23-Apr-2020 15:51

My cats are scared of birds because they are useless. Get a leaf blower and clear the paths that way if its annoying you. Otherwise I hope the mesh solves it.

Richard rich.ms

neb

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#2468743 23-Apr-2020 15:55

Rickles:
Leave the happy little creatures alone, let them thank you for the pleasant environment, and enjoy watching them 🙂

That's from someone who hasn't experienced the incredible amount of damage birds can do to mulch. In the garden below the house they moved several cubic metres of mulch all the way down the bank, tearing out most of the seedlings planted there in the process. The "several cubic metres" isn't an exaggeration, I wheelbarrowed it in the first time and then moved it all back up again when they're stripped it.

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#2468747 23-Apr-2020 15:59

MikeAqua:
You can't win with birds (unless you install netting, which is ugly).

Only if you install it in the air rather than on the ground. If you get black netting and put it over the ground covering all of the mulch, they leave it alone and it's invisible against the mulch, particularly if you scatter some dried leaves or similar over it to mask out the regular pattern of mesh.

Note that important keyword, you need to cover all of the mulch, and make sure any seams are covered with overlapping mesh. Anything, even the tiniest gap a few cm wide will be torn open and mulch and plants dug out and scattered around. I get the 2m wide black rolls of mesh and weed-mat pins and pin everything down, you need a pin every 30cm or so or they'll get past it.

NumPy

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#2468750 23-Apr-2020 16:06

neb:
Rickles:

Leave the happy little creatures alone, let them thank you for the pleasant environment, and enjoy watching them 🙂

That's from someone who hasn't experienced the incredible amount of damage birds can do to mulch. In the garden below the house they moved several cubic metres of mulch all the way down the bank, tearing out most of the seedlings planted there in the process. The "several cubic metres" isn't an exaggeration, I wheelbarrowed it in the first time and then moved it all back up again when they're stripped it.

WOW. Are you sure thats the birds? Sounds like big birds to me if they can move cubic meters! Or maybe the Moa is not extinct after all?

neb

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#2468752 23-Apr-2020 16:12

NumPy:
WOW. Are you sure thats the birds? Sounds like big birds to me if they can move cubic meters! Or maybe the Moa is not extinct after all?

Yup, sat there watching them. Enough birds and a couple of months and they'll move an enormous amount of material. I have before-and-after photos somewhere, I'll see if I can dig them up.

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neb

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#2468762 23-Apr-2020 16:29

Can't find the photos of the bank, but here's two other ones:

All of the piled-up mulch in the top photo ended up on the lawn below, the flat area was completely cleared. The second photo shows what was a small truckload of mulch dumped in a single tall pile, imagine a cone-shaped pile roughly 1.5m high where the cat is. What's left is a maybe 10-15cm stump from that, you can see the edges where they haven't torn the remaining small amount apart yet. A week or two later it had been completely torn apart.

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#2468837 23-Apr-2020 18:36

Are you sure you don't have Emus?

And I think I can see why the cat doesn't chase the birds 😁

neb

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#2468839 23-Apr-2020 18:55

Rickles:
And I think I can see why the cat doesn't chase the birds 😁

She's way too stoopid for that. You can see her looking at them thinking "I'm sure I'm supposed to do something with those only I don't know what". This is the bird that comes in to steal food out of her bowl:

Lands outside, walks across the kitchen, eats the cat's food, and walks out again.

dafman

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#2468840 23-Apr-2020 18:56

Send them my way. We feed our birds daily with seed plus regular worms from the worm farm for our blackbirds. Yeah they move a bit of dirt occasionally, we just move it back, no biggie. A sterile garden or one teeming with life?

neb

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#2468843 23-Apr-2020 18:57

dafman:
Send them my way. We feed our birds daily with seed plus regular worms from the worm farm for our blackbirds. Yeah they move a bit of dirt occasionally, we just move it back, no biggie. A sterile garden or one teeming with life?

I feed them as well, there's a feeder outside on the deck. I don't mind them, I just wish they did less damage.

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#2468845 23-Apr-2020 18:59

neb:

This is the bird that comes in to steal food out of her bowl: Lands outside, walks across the kitchen, eats the cat's food, and walks out again.

Share, not steal (-;

Technofreak

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#2468888 23-Apr-2020 21:20

dafman:

neb:

This is the bird that comes in to steal food out of her bowl: Lands outside, walks across the kitchen, eats the cat's food, and walks out again.

Share, not steal (-;

When I take something from you that's sharing but when you take something from me that's stealing. Isn't that how it works? 😇

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Yoban

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#2471002 25-Apr-2020 13:48

What about the fake owl with bobble head https://www.bunnings.co.nz/whites-pest-control-bobble-head-owl_p3041142

neb

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#2471007 25-Apr-2020 13:53

Yoban: What about the fake owl with bobble head https://www.bunnings.co.nz/whites-pest-control-bobble-head-owl_p3041142

None of those things actually work. Flash tape is useless, fake predators - actual bird predators, not owls - are useless, air cannon as used by commercial growers are somewhat useful but you're not going to make any friends with one, you really need barriers to deal with the problem.

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