# HELP!!! The Birds are ATTACKING my garden and killing my plants



## Messianic4 (Jan 18, 2007)

Ok people...friends...fellow gardeners...I need your help...EXPERTISE....PULEEEZZZEEEE. At first I thought it was my neighbors acting in revenge because we had to call the police on them for their constant noisy behavior...Well since then the ones that were causing most of the trouble have been kicked out.... :baby04: 

My son has seen the birds attacking our plants..so it has been confirmed...terrible nasty..hateful..mean horrible birds.... :flame: 

I have NEVER had this problem before. How can my plants grow if the birds are going to keep snipping them off before they get a chance. We have spent so much money on the garden this year...the greenhouse...the time...I want to cry... :Bawling: 

I have already had one squash plant totaled...and one pepper plant snipped...but seems to be comming back...  ..and a tomato plant snipped...and now is dying...thankfully I have over 110 of them...

But today another one of my squash plants was attacked. 

We have the netting stretched over the peppers and tomatoes....but it is impossible to net my whole garden..would cost a fortune....and I have put out the shiny pie plates tied to string on posts...and those ugly spinning flowers....WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO KEEP THOS HATEFUL BIRDS OUT!!!

Blessings to all and Happy Gardening...but please... :help: 

Helana


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## njmama (Jan 4, 2006)

I use cut up tin pie plates from string so they dangle. I have heard people use old cd's also.

On a old thread WIHH recommended old plastic grocery store bags. That is what I will try next time.


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## Messianic4 (Jan 18, 2007)

njmama....I already have the pie plates out there...they are not cut in half....but they make noise...shiny flashy...and all...I have not thought of the CD's...but if the pie plates arn't working...why would they be afraid of the cd's...hmmmmm?

Unless they don't like music..LOL...Sorry trying not to cry here...I am going to try grocery bags too and see if that works...

Something has too...We don't get alot of wind.

Ugh...We need this garden...more now then ever...my hubby's plant is laying peeps off...he is ok for now....but.....you know how that goes...sigh

Blessings to all
Helana


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

Out here in the vineyards they use flashing tape to keep the birds away from the ripening grapes. I think you could duplicate it by getting one of those silver or colored mylar party doorway drapes, the ones you get at the party store. Cut it up and hang the mylar strings from posts where they'll flash in the sunlight as they blow in the breeze. Here they use red/silver ones.


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## Zebraman (Aug 11, 2006)

Hey Messianic4;I use Row-Cover to protect seedlings until they are big enough to not be a target.And RC is really inexpensive.-


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## Messianic4 (Jan 18, 2007)

LezlieinCA

I think I may try that. I guess I will have to try and get to the party supply store in my neighboring town...it is 35 miles away. Maybe hubby can pick some up after work.

Either that or my son can pitch a tent in the back yard with a pellet gun... :frypan:


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## themamahen (Jun 26, 2005)

my thoughts exactly (BB gun) its almost time here to plant my corn and several crows have made their home in my yard due to the chickens and the feed exc. brazen too swooping down when i throw treats for my chickens BB gun eliminate the problem ASAP glglglglgl


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## MsPacMan (Dec 30, 2004)

Get yourself a plastic owl or two and place them around the garden, but make sure that you move them everyday so that the birds don't wise up to the fact that the owls are plastic.


Also, an inflatable garden snake -- the kind that is designed to scare away birds -- is a good idea.


You can get some helium balloons and put them around the garden.


Try putting out a wind chime.


Get a string of those pennant flags, like the car lots use, and string them above the area you want to protect.


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## thechickenladyx (Jul 5, 2006)

have you thought about a dog? preferably a bird hating dog. a noisy, obnoxious dog. 

if you can't do that, rig up a mechanical dog. that barks when the motion detector is triggered. 

move the bird food, far away. 

jesse


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## rzrubek (May 13, 2004)

This took care of my bird problem:


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## Messianic4 (Jan 18, 2007)

thechickenladyx said:


> have you thought about a dog? preferably a bird hating dog. a noisy, obnoxious dog.
> 
> if you can't do that, rig up a mechanical dog. that barks when the motion detector is triggered.
> 
> ...



Dog is a great idea..but we can't have one right now. With my hubby working and me being sick and going in for major surgery in July...we just don't have the time..and also..with all the medical bills and gass prices..cost of food going up..wer can't afford a dog. Vet bills, shots, food etc. I am not working right now. My business is none exsistent this year.

Hmmm my 17 year old talks alot...and is very attitudinal..maybe I can send her outside to spend time ...she can make enough noise...to keep them away..or argue with them if they don't listen...LOL


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## Messianic4 (Jan 18, 2007)

rzrubek

PRETTY....I want one...POUT..But I spent all my Budget building a greenhouse this year. I wish I had the funds to get one of them. Sure is pretty. I just wish my greenhouse was big enough to grow all the plants in. Then this would not be a problem.


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## Messianic4 (Jan 18, 2007)

Ok...Now we have put up CD's on string attached to poles...and put plastic bags on poles...and I also made cages out of the leftover fencing I had...I put them around the Accorn Squash, Butternut Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Pickles. I also have bird netting up over my tomatoes and peppers. I planted extra squash plants for the ones that got destroyed...this year we will have an over abundance like last year...(Hopefully). I am going to put up that flashy mylar party tape stuff this week too. My neighbors are going to think my garden is a trash pit or I have lost it...oh well. At least in a short time from now we will be eating fresh veggies...God willing...:clap:


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## heritagefarmer (Apr 30, 2006)

All you need is a few canes and an old VHS or audio tape.
Unravel it and tie around the stakes in a criss cross pattern over the plants.

You can put it low over them while they are small, and slide up the canes to protect when they are taller if they still need it.

There's miles and miles of nice, shiny, crackly tape on those things!


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

Strawberry eating mockingbird got under the bird netting today. I caught it and held onto it and let it scream in terror awhile, then let it escape. Hopefully that will convince the bird to stay out of the berry patch.


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## LagoVistaFarm (Mar 2, 2006)

Depending on how much you like/dislike your neighbors, you can try the manly approach. Propane Cannon!

http://www.suttonag.com/Zon.html


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## Messianic4 (Jan 18, 2007)

LAGOVISTAFARM

HAHAHAHAHA....The Cannon Idea is funny.....:rotfl:


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

I usually plant several times more plants than I'll actually need. the way I look at it is that it's just a fact of life that not all of them are going to make it. There are going to be losses: weather, birds, insects, accidents, children,...so I plant more to allow for that. If I wind up with extra, great. 

Or, you could put up bird feeders and suet cakes in a location somewhat away from your garden. 

The snakes- cheap rubber toy snakes from the dollar store might work and you could scatter more of them around. Cats (real ones) work. 

Personally, I like birds. For especially vulnerable crops such as strawberries and onion sets that have just been planted, I use scraps of row cover fabric. 

I know that garden magazines portray every single plant as perfect and intact, but I don't think that's realistic. They don't all live, and expecting them to will only make you disappointed and frustrated. Another thing I do is to go back after a few weeks and plant succession crops in the empty gaps. For example, I planted onion sets, but when I watered them today, I noticed that a few didn't come up or maybe we missed a spot when planting. I took a few beet seeds that were leftover and stuck one seed in each place where an onion should have been. It won't hurt anything for the beets to be there, and I'll have them slightly later than the other beets. Also, if something gets the beets in the other bed, maybe these will be spared.


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

I think I want a zon cannon with a timer on it to turn on at about midnight and run every 20 minutes until 6 am. Aimed at the house of one of my neighbors. For nights when I'm not home. Hidden somewhere.


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