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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kevin Shea who wrote (26450)	5/25/2000 11:48:00 PM
From: fishweed	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57584

OT: Kevin Shea.......bird problems?.......remedies? Well Kevin, no guarantees, but here's how some bird problems are dealt with in this part of the country, British Columbia and Washington State. Be forewarned: This is meant to be humorous, in case the humor doesn't show through and each episode is true 1. passive method This method evolved from the old fashioned scarecrow. The "scarecrow" of choice today is a decoy of a predator bird to keep so-called prey birds away. It seems to be effective and is used locally by gardeners and farmers alike. People with small vegetable gardens, usually mount one or more on posts, or any highly visible location, for all birds to see. Fruit and berry farmers may have a dozen or more mounted in strategic locations throughout the orchard or the field. Our local school board mounted decoys on the walls of the school buildings to keep pigeons from roosting under the roof mansards. The decoy of choice for this is the Barn Owl, quite intimidating in appearance, standing nearly 2 feet tall. 2. active method This method is an extension of the scarecrow method but you use "them" as the scarecrow and it seems to work best with Ravens, Crows and Magpies. Maybe it's because all three are carnivorous scavengers and shy away from the site of their own kind, decaying flesh. Some time back our local golf club had a problem with Ravens picking up and flying off with golfballs from the driving range. At the time there were a lot of hunter type club members and they chose to shoot a few Ravens, then hang the carcasses at strategic locations on the driving range........according to the Pro in the pro-shop this was very effective and they continued to use this method for a number of years........ eventually, expanding club membership found it embarrassing and distasteful, especially during tournaments, and they discontinued the practice. 3. aggressive method This method is a logical extension of the "them" method only it involves all of "them" A neighbor of mine has a beautiful German Shepherd which is not aggressive but will defend its territory vigorously if need be. It seems European Starlings, got into the habit of eating the dogs food out of his bowl. At first this didn't present much of a problem, whenever the dog caught them in the act he seemed to enjoy chasing them away. In fact he got so efficient at it the birds couldn't get to the bowl at all. The neighbor was quite proud of the dog for licking the problem on his own........until one day........while the dog was heartily enjoying a meal out of this "disputed" bowl.......the Starlings started dive bombing the dog whenever he began to eat. This kept up for days. They would only do it while he was distracted by his daily meal out of this "disputed" bowl. Finally the neighbor, and the dog, couldn't take it any longer........the neighbor sat there with his pellet gun for a day and did in every Starling that came within range. 4. extreme method This method is an act of desperation and stands entirely on its own. Another neighbor of mine has a meticulously kept yard complete with large swimming pool. Approximately 100 feet from the pool he had 4 beautiful, mature, blue spruce. These trees shaded the pool nicely from the late afternoon sun yet were far enough away not to pollute the pool with shedding needles. Well birds will be birds and before you know it Starlings decided to nest in these trees. He even enjoyed this act of nature until he began noticing bird droppings in the pool. It turned out these birds have certain standards of hygiene they must maintain. When the chicks are hatched and still in the nest, the adult keeps the nest clear of all droppings, they would simply fly them over and drop them in the pool. He began dealing with the problem by using the pellet gun approach. It was hit and miss for a couple of summer seasons. He then resorted to climbing the trees and destroying what nests he could locate. This too worked fine until he nearly crippled himself when he fell out of one of the trees. Then, enraged, the final act of desperation set in........He brought out the chainsaw........yes, all 4 beautiful.......mature........blue spruce succumbed, and he claims he hasn't had his "bird" problem since. Now Kevin, I can't supply a gun or a chainsaw, but if you have problems getting a barn owl decoy let me know and I'll see what I can do. fishweed