How to protect a strawberry garden from birds?

With the onset of the berry season, fertile hectares are exposed to the invasion of feathered "guests". To protect strawberries from birds, landowners use various methods. Annual gardening practice helps determine the best ways to save crops.

Winged pests

During the ripening period of berries, one can observe how individual representatives and numerous flocks of voracious birds peck ripe fruits from the garden bed. In the absence of timely protection measures, feathered raiders are able to devastate entire plantations in a few hours.

Juicy berries are attractive to many species of birds, and strawberries are not their only object of attention. Fruits of cherries, sweet cherries, raspberries, currants and other garden plants are under threat.

The main pests of berry crops:

• sparrows;
• starlings;
• tits;
• pigeons;
• crows;
• magpies;
• rooks.

Basic methods of protection

Today, many ways are known to protect the crop from winged visitors.

Popular methods of protection include the following measures:

• installation of a shelter in the form of a grid;
• placement of shiny objects on the site;
• the use of sound devices;
• making a scarecrow;
• the use of electronic deterrent devices;
• planting plants to distract birds;
• search for alternative techniques with their subsequent application.

Mesh protection

Simple, reliable and proven method. The mesh is a metal or plastic fixture with small square or diamond-shaped meshes. Such a device serves as an excellent barrier for annoying birds, without blocking access to sunlight, moisture and beneficial insects. The mesh shelter does not interfere with foliar feeding, which creates additional convenience when using it.

To install a protective structure, it is necessary to drive in stakes along the perimeter of the bed so that they rise about 35 cm above the bushes. After that, the mesh should be pulled tightly.

Another option is a greenhouse-type structure for which metal arcs are used as a frame. With this design, you just need to lift the net to pick berries.

Using shiny objects

To scare away birds, you can use materials that shine and shimmer in the sun. Suitable for this purpose:

• unnecessary CDs;
• old magnetic tape of audio and video cassettes;
• Christmas decorations;
• plastic bags;
• foil, etc.

Hang these simple tools over the strawberry rows. The combination of such effects as light reflection, rustling sounds and movement from the wind blowing will discourage birds from pecking from the garden for a long time.

Sound scarers

You can make them yourself. This will require metal objects, such as cans for drinks or canned food. Using them as parts, you need to make a device that, under the influence of the wind, will make loud sounds. Since birds have perfect hearing, the metallic cacophony will prevent them from approaching the protected area.

Another option is to use ready-made sounding objects such as tubular bells. Although their melodies are quiet and euphonic, birds will prefer quieter objects.

This is not the best method of protection, and it is not suitable for everyone, as it has three significant drawbacks:

• The deterrent effect is observed only at the beginning of use, since over time the birds develop an addiction to the characteristic sounds.
• The method works only when there is wind.
• An unpleasant sound background is created for the landlord and his neighbors.

Traditional scarecrow

An old effective method will help protect strawberries from birds - using a stuffed animal. It's pretty simple to make it:

1. Take two boards of different lengths and fasten together in the form of a cross.
2. Fill a small bag to capacity. You can take dry grass or newspapers as a filler.
3. Place the stuffed bag (head) on the top of the long board (body).
4. Dress the scarecrow in regular clothes.

The finished scarecrow is installed in a prominent place on the land and for some time serves as a frightening object for stray guests. However, gradually the birds get used to the motionless figure and it loses its functional significance.

To remedy the situation, you can decorate the scarecrow with the shiny, noisy, and moving objects described above.

Recently, summer cottages are increasingly guarded by stuffed birds of prey, for example, an owl, equipped with an audio device with a recording of the cry of a live bird. Such a scarecrow can be purchased at a specialty store or online.

Application of electronic devices

This modern but proven method involves the use of electronic devices that reproduce various sound signals.

There are several options for using this method:

• The use of audio carriers with recorded voices of birds of prey (owls, hawks, peregrine falcons). Not only birds, but also rodents react to these sounds. The downside is that loud voices of predators can cause resentment from neighbors.
• Installation of thunder guns - sound devices that reproduce signals: imitation of shots, claps, sirens. Such devices can be equipped with lighting fixtures for additional visual effects. The use of these devices also has limitations for obvious reasons.
• The use of ultrasonic scarers. The devices emit sounds that are not perceived by people, but negatively affect the birds. If it is impossible to use loud sound devices, this option turns out to be the most acceptable, especially for densely populated areas.

Growing distracting crops

The challenge is to create bait for the birds in the form of plantings of other crops, thereby distracting their attention from the strawberry beds. For this purpose, fruit trees are planted:

• cherry;
• sweet cherry;
• Rowan;
• sea ​​buckthorn.

This method is far from ideal, since you have to save one crop by destroying another. In addition, it is not always effective, as birds may prefer forbidden fruits.

Alternative methods

If the above methods do not work for some reason, you can try other proven methods:

• Creation of an artificial mini-source on the site. Winged creatures with perfect hearing will begin to flock to the splash of water, and soon the surrounding area will become for them associated with a watering hole, and not with eating. To pick berries, they will most likely move to an adjacent area. However, there is no 100% guarantee that, after quenching their thirst, birds will not find strawberry beds.
• Use of onions. The required number of heads should be cut into pieces and evenly spread over the beds. Sometimes the onion smell acts on birds no worse than modern repellents.
• Attracting a cat to protect the site is the simplest and most natural method. The four-legged guardian of order will certainly not like the migrant guests, and they will try to leave the protected facility as soon as possible.
• Destruction of birds by shooting, using traps and pesticides. These radical methods can only be used in exceptional cases with an anomalous invasion of birds.

Defending strawberry beds from birds, one should not forget that birds help to exterminate harmful insects. This gives reason to think about how to change tactics and establish contact with the winged "orderlies". The best way is to set up feeders and provide a daily bird ration. This will take the first step towards achieving the goal.