Hey guys. We have a privacy bush on the side of our place. It's got about 30 years of growth on it so it's pretty big. Birds are nesting there, which is not a problem. Except recently the damn things have decided to use our cars for target practice (3-4 times a day). Aside from buying a cat, are there any good way to deter the birds? Something that isn't lethal? (Besides, the city doesn't like folks who discharge firearms of any sort in the city.
How to combat birds?
May 09, 2004
18 Replies
Check out some garden catalogs like Burpee's
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or a couple of local garden centers. There are all sorts of toys designed to frighten away birds, like fake snakes, spinning doo-dads, etc. They sort of work, until the birds get used to them. Or, put more wax on the cars.
You can BORROW a cat.
Someday, it'll all be over....
Get a BB gun. What the city doesn't know won't hurt it.
But, what will eat the deadly arachni-cardinal?
Garage.
I have never had my car bombed when it was in my garage.
I've done battle with mockingbirds that dive-bomb anyone who enters their territory, which happens to coincide with my backyard. I put up a realistic-looking plastic owl in one of the trees. Mockers fear owls. End of mockingbird problems. Changing the location of the owl occasionally keeps the mockers at bay.
I have a Cardinal family bombarding my windows. I called the Audobon Society and they tell me that when the Cardinals are nesting, they see reflections of themselves in the window and thinking it's an interloper, they attack it. I wound up putting a drop cloth on the outside of my bedroom window so that we could get some sleep and not hear the constant bombardment. Now they attack the other windows. All I can hope for is that the 'father' gets a new job elsewhere and they have to relocate.
Yeah, the spiders are not quite as bad as they used to be .. So .. the birds can go damn it.
Remove wife's car from garage. If it reappears in the garage, remove wife.
If you really like her, buy her a BB gun and let her earn her own keep, keeping the birds away from her car.
Shiny ribbons work VERY well. I used to have a problem with pigeons roosting/nesting in the eaves of the roof. We have plenty of neighborhood cats--and I have two of my own, but the cats couldn't quite get to the nests. The pigeons used everything as target practice--I would come home afterwork and the front porch would be covered with pigeon poop. Anyway, I told my dad about it, and he said to use those shiny ribbons (I think they may be cellophane?). They are metallic-looking, color on one side and silver on the other. For some reason, the birds are scared of those things. My dad used them on the garden patch up in Oregon, and apparently it works really well. I tied a bunch of strips together, up in the eaves and I haven't had any roosting birds for 5 years.
Like Streamers?
They're Mylar ribbons--kind of reflective, shiny, metallic looking. I tried to find some images on the web, but am not too successful. Here's one site, but they come in all sorts of colors:
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Florists usually have rolls of various colors, and will sell you some, or give you some if you buy yourself some flowers.
Tennis racket. Much more effective than a golf club.
(Don't ask me how I know about the golf club.)
Best regards, "Patch"
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