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The Corroboree
Marklar

birds ruining my collection, please help!

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hi all

so ive come back from 6 months away and moved back in with my dad, so i went to my old rental and dug all my cacti up. I put the smaller ones at my dads place so i can help them when they need it, but i put all the big oness out at my mums place(an hour away) because i thought i could just leave them. I went back up last week and they all have been attacked by what i first thought was slugs but then saw little bits of cacti sprinkled all around where they had been ruined, so now i think it is birds. They have been eaten all on the tips and even some arms are nearly eaten through! It took ages replanting them(and got full of spines) and had to borrow a ute. so if anyone has any tricks to keep them away it would be awesome if i dont have to re-replant them back down my way)

thanks

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Netting/fencing/shade cloth is probably your best option. I haven't found any other workable solutions to my peacock problem... so I just use wire washing baskets to protect any baby plants they take a liking to (little bastards love young sapling leaves in particular).

I was thinking about triggering sprinklers with a motion detector to get rid of the peacocks, but flying birds aren't so easily bothered!

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Could you build a shade-house around them, that would keep the little tyrants out.

R u sure it wasnt mum with her snips lol?

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Ive seen an awsome set up to keep those scavanger ibis away, It was a large fake hawk, looked like paper mache or something with kite material for wings, it was positioned so that it cast a large shadow over the wall where all the ibis roosted and shat, once up I never saw them return. very effective.

Heres one i found online.. http://birdsoff.com.au/scare-hawk-decoy-free-shipping/

Edited by mr b.caapi
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Iv see plastic owls for sale at clints warehouse in the garden section. im sure it wouldnt hurt to try

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cheers guys! Ill try a scare-bird first but if they keep coming ill have to dig them up again because i kknow mum wont want shade cloths ran across her backyard! Unless she IS the bird and thats why shes been acting strange lately.....

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Are you positive on birds? Your description makes me think rats, mice or other rodents. Birds take huge chunks not little nibbles.

Edited by Hellonasty

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I'm sure you could adapt this trick to plants;

If you have problems with birds taking fish out of ponds you can just make a grid of fishing line above the pond. Maybe 30cm squares or so. You just put tent pegs around the pond and string fishing line between them and pull it taught. When the bird swoops down to grab a fish the vibration on the fishing line from their wings flapping seems to be enough to deter them.

Actually, maybe that wouldn't work because they just graze on plants without really swooping in, but it's a nice non-intrusive bird deterrent. Food for thought, either way....

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winchestershotgun.jpg?w=265&h=148

with blanks of coarse

Edited by bigred82
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