One of the best bird repellers I have used is bird tape. Not the usual
flash tape, but a plastic tape that, when stretched out over the area,
vibrates and produces a sound too low for human ears, but effective
against birds. I watched a flock of starlings several hundred feet up
just split and go around the area where I had the tape stretched. I
believe Ed Hume sells the stuff nowdays, but I'm not sure who else.
-Lon Rombough
http://www.hevanet.com/lonrom
Ted Patterson wrote:
I am asking this question for an urban commercial farmer who is growing
raspberries and blackberries on several reclaimed lots covering about
three-quarters of an acre in the inner city.
This year the birds are causing too much damage to his fall raspberries.
Before this, he has been willing to share, but now the birds are camping
out and getting greedy.
Can anyone offer their experience and best recommendation on reducing the
bird damage? Nets, shiny tape, etc.? What's most cost effective for this
size?
His rows of berries are in a standard setup, with the canes growing up
wires stretched between posts at the end of each row.
Thanks. --Ted Patterson
The only really effective answer I know for small plots is netting; in
larger areas there is enough to satisfy the local bird population and leave
some for (human) eating. This is quite expensive for a large area but in
the UK old fishing netting can be bought for 35p/square yard which lasts
longer (~10 years) than plastic and is quite a lot cheaper.
A quick calculation shows that even this would work out at 1,200pounds
sterling! (then there's the cost of the frame!)
How much is the crop worth?
I am asking this question for an urban commercial farmer who is growing
raspberries and blackberries on several reclaimed lots covering about
three-quarters of an acre in the inner city.
This year the birds are causing too much damage to his fall raspberries.
Before this, he has been willing to share, but now the birds are camping
out and getting greedy.
Can anyone offer their experience and best recommendation on reducing the
bird damage? Nets, shiny tape, etc.? What's most cost effective for this
size?
His rows of berries are in a standard setup, with the canes growing up
wires stretched between posts at the end of each row.
Thanks. --Ted Patterson
Ted Patterson wrote:
> I am asking this question for an urban commercial farmer who is growing
> raspberries and blackberries on several reclaimed lots covering about
> three-quarters of an acre in the inner city. This year the birds are > causing too much damage to his fall raspberries.
Hi Ted,
Our experience of growing raspberries extends over some 30-35 years, but
only a small patch (two 25-foot rows) in our garden.
For a surprisingly long time, the birds ignored, - or did not "find" -
our raspberries, and losses were small and tolerable. Then the birds
(blackbirds and thrushes) "discovered" them, and losses rose alarmingly,
and continued to do so year after year until we were getting less than a
quarter of the crop.
We tried all the simple bird-scarer devices we could think of, or hear
about, including the shiny and humming tapes, but none of these we found
worked for more than a few days - then the birds learned that they did
no harm and ignored them, hoeing into the gorgeous feast on offer!
Finally, we "bit the bullet" and netted our two rows, initially with
very simple supports and the nets just draped over, but these were not
high enough, it meant stooping under the net to harvest, and also the
canes would grow up and through the nets, becoming tangled and then
damaged when the nets were removed after harvest.
Just a couple of years back, we went to the trouble (and expense) of
building a more substantial frame structure - still quite light, but
much higher - and bought more (nylon, or similar) bird netting to spread
over this. This seems to have been the complete cure and we are back to
getting good crops and few if any damaged canes.
I appreciate that this is likely to be an expensive solution for a
commercial grower, but I think it is the only one which is long-term
successful. Cherry orchardists in this country have to build enormous
cages of netting to enclose their entire orchard, I think raspberries
are a similar proposition (at least you don't have to make the cage so
huge as for cherry trees!!).
Tony
--
Tony & Moira Ryan
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
"Old" is 10 years older than I am.
Humming tape (old video tape) has been known to work for me, also hawk
silhouettes if there is anything to suspend them on above the crop and
scarecrows can help too, though they need to be moved around occasionally
or the birds will get used to them
kathryn
