| Do you have problems with birds? | |
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mutant Calm and Collected
Number of posts : 286 Location : Greece Registration date : 2010-01-10
| Subject: Do you have problems with birds? Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:16 pm | |
| This is the third time those fucking birds damage my plants. This time several tips have been beaked nastily, astro fruits full of seed were spilled around messily and mammleuthii graft was very nastily beaked. funk they don't even eat them. I suspect the bright colours attracted them, people in the neibourhood say this is the first year we got them... Even my two Echinocereus rigidissimus ssp. rubispinus got beaked, one at the tip. I was sad at first, when I saw the damage this morning, but now I am angry and polemic. I am in terminator-mode for good. Some blood must be spilled now I think this is the bird [I still have some small bird as possible candidate - there's a possibility two species might have done damage] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Magpie alright... lets hear some ideas mine are: shooting them with an airgun temporarily protecting them with a grid or something A hear a scarecrow + a carcass works good [but I have to kill one first] a trap [easy, no need to play commando with airguns or whatever, I don't even have an airgun] longterm putting then in a greenhouse, man I have to do this during the summer I don't like hunters, but it's times like this when a hunters experience is useful. Like a hunter friend of mine which I called for help said "what did you think, man created guns with a purpose" lol. Hunters are always good to defend their practices. Now I have to convince him to lend me his airgun. Let me know what you think. Green/non-violent methods are also OK, but I don't think I will follow them anyway. | |
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Navajoa Moderator
Number of posts : 599 Location : Australia Registration date : 2009-09-15
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TasV
Number of posts : 145 Location : NW Tasmania Registration date : 2010-03-12
| Subject: Re: Do you have problems with birds? Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:28 pm | |
| Orchard netting works well too... | |
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cactuscook Moderator
Number of posts : 737 Location : Adelaide Registration date : 2010-04-29
| Subject: Re: Do you have problems with birds? Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:15 pm | |
| That sucks i had the same thing a bird got into a hothouse to keep warm then decided to peck all the nice stuff of about a thousand plants i had three trays of nice stuff. Epithalantha, lithops, frailea, and astro asterias I was not happy fixed that problem then got f*******g mice like now this was really pi**ing me off so then i opened everything up to my dog she took care of business four dead half eaten rats though she must have chased them over some haworthias i had on the ground about twenty got thrown out not happy closed off haworthias from the dog and so far no more rats. With birds cds work really good or a shotgun. Now my only pest problem is bloody root mealy it is to the point ive isolated effected area and am repotting everything infected as i dont want to drench anything this time of year i take plants out of pots and clean leave to dry for two weeks then repot inti dry soil wont water until weather warms up again. Pest will always be part of a collection god damn it be good if everything was trouble free. With having a large collection you are always monitoring things as they can easily get out of hand. | |
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Navajoa Moderator
Number of posts : 599 Location : Australia Registration date : 2009-09-15
| Subject: Re: Do you have problems with birds? Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:23 pm | |
| Ugliest looking cat I've ever seen ! Don't think she'll be much help with the root mealy either...except maybe the unpotting bit ! | |
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Lachy Moderator
Number of posts : 733 Location : Langwarrin Registration date : 2008-04-05
| Subject: Re: Do you have problems with birds? Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:01 pm | |
| I would suggest getting a cat... but I just got one myself about a fortnight ago and the little bloke has already discovered my pebble-mulched garden beds are like really big, landscaped litter trays! | |
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cactuscook Moderator
Number of posts : 737 Location : Adelaide Registration date : 2010-04-29
| Subject: Re: Do you have problems with birds? Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:39 pm | |
| Its funny i have plants everywere you can see and my dog has never destroyed anything other than my haworthias which wre in her way of catching mice i dont like cats they kill to much native species and you cant keep them in your own backyard if you could i wouldnt have a problem with them. But in saying that i would rather a cat then plants that have been eaten. I had a bird bath in my front garden but all the birds were trashing my garden so i put jellybeans sedum- in the bird bath and rubber snakes around garden no more probs with them. I will put pics under my garden by cactuscook | |
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mutant Calm and Collected
Number of posts : 286 Location : Greece Registration date : 2010-01-10
| Subject: Re: Do you have problems with birds? Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:53 pm | |
| Yeah, it seems these type of problems go with the hobby Reflections and bright colours attract this particular bird, which is also the only non-mammal that recognises its reflection on a mirror. Very smart fucker, opportunist, eats everything, from little birds, slugs, seeds, fruits [some of the attacked cacti had fruits] to carcasses. I have decided to experiment and observe, and maybe learn a thing or two about those birds, before I take one or two of them away, so I might try the CD thing and how they react. Maybe they will distract them from the cacti? A cat, on the roof... I'm a pretty sure a cat will also do damage and also it's not so practical to keep a cat. In that house. Eventually I have to scare them away the hard way if they don't leave by their own, which I doubt. Yeah netting is ok but temporary | |
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mutant Calm and Collected
Number of posts : 286 Location : Greece Registration date : 2010-01-10
| Subject: Re: Do you have problems with birds? Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:39 am | |
| Keeping the vulnerable ones under net
didn't shoot even once [almost shot the wrong bird once]
other tricks like mouse traps & poisoned meat failed but maybe got the message across
I think they sensed my intentions, they don't come very close now and I think they left a nearby tree. but their numbers in the neighbourhood is alarming
I have to build/get a greenhouse on my outside plot
on the positive side, the severely beaked M.leuthii has pupped a lot, so I guess one can also see the bright side of such accidents... I will be doing some leuthii grafts in the future | |
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Hellonasty Admin
Number of posts : 1824 Location : NSW Registration date : 2008-04-04
| Subject: Re: Do you have problems with birds? Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:06 am | |
| I have trouble with crows !Huge black crows they only come once or twice in a season but they do some serious damage. Last season one ate the entire tip off a large Tricho (Bridgesii psych00 is anyone was wondering hehehe). The spines don't seem to be a problem because they have a long beak. If they start coming more often I will have to sort something out. I recently got a dog so I hope this helps he does enough to my plants let alone the crows. | |
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| Do you have problems with birds? | |
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