Because of an extremely small yard, some of my vines are of necessity under
a very large pine tree (the tree is too large for me to remove). The
trouble is, birds apparently like to nest in the pine tree and their
droppings come down on my vines. As you can imagine, that's not conducive
to a pleasant grape harvest. Any (serious) suggestions on how to keep them
away?

Thanks!
Gary

Gary wrote in message
. com...
Because of an extremely small yard, some of my vines are of necessity
under
a very large pine tree (the tree is too large for me to remove). The
trouble is, birds apparently like to nest in the pine tree and their
droppings come down on my vines. As you can imagine, that's not conducive
to a pleasant grape harvest. Any (serious) suggestions on how to keep
them
away?

Ah yes, Chateau le Merde '04!!!
Hanging aluminum pie pans on strings so they blow about is one method;
also, buy a large rubber snake or two, or an inflatable owl. Move the snake
and owl occasionally as the birds get used to them. Good luck!


Thanks!
Gary

Gary

The simplest and only way to protect your grapes 99% from birds is by using
bird netting.
All other methods are only partially successful and you would need to
incorporate several together and change them regularly.

Joe

"Gary" wrote in message
. com...
Because of an extremely small yard, some of my vines are of necessity
under
a very large pine tree (the tree is too large for me to remove). The
trouble is, birds apparently like to nest in the pine tree and their
droppings come down on my vines. As you can imagine, that's not conducive
to a pleasant grape harvest. Any (serious) suggestions on how to keep
them
away?

Thanks!
Gary

Joe is talking about bird poop on his grapes. Joe...the best thing is to
have the tree cut down and this will give the grapes more sun. But, I
understand if you don't want to go to the expense of that or if you like the
tree. I live in the middle of 4 acres of trees. For years Grackles nested
in these trees...hundreds of them. We used to go out right at twilight,
about the time the birds roosted for the night, and hit a tree trunk with a
2x4 board...make a real loud sound. This would scare the h. out of the
birds and cause mass confusion. They would all fly away. Try this
repeatably and see if you can encourage the birds to find another home.

Also, if you can get a few crows to visit they will rid your yard of any
other bird species. But they like grapes and you will need the bird
netting. Being a farmer is tough isn't it.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
...
Gary

The simplest and only way to protect your grapes 99% from birds is by
using
bird netting.

Thanks everyone for your replies, both serious and not! I probably have a
smaller vineyard than ANY OF YOU - (6 Chambourcin vines, 10 Norton/Cynthiana
vines, and one Catawba vine). My lifetime goal is to grow enough grapes to
make one 5 gallon batch of wine! (Of course, the likelihood of this
happening is about the same as me winning the Lottery).

Gary



"William Frazier" wrote in message
...
Joe is talking about bird poop on his grapes. Joe...the best thing is to
have the tree cut down and this will give the grapes more sun. But, I
understand if you don't want to go to the expense of that or if you like
the
tree. I live in the middle of 4 acres of trees. For years Grackles
nested
in these trees...hundreds of them. We used to go out right at twilight,
about the time the birds roosted for the night, and hit a tree trunk with
a
2x4 board...make a real loud sound. This would scare the h. out of the
birds and cause mass confusion. They would all fly away. Try this
repeatably and see if you can encourage the birds to find another home.

Also, if you can get a few crows to visit they will rid your yard of any
other bird species. But they like grapes and you will need the bird
netting. Being a farmer is tough isn't it.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
...
Gary

The simplest and only way to protect your grapes 99% from birds is by
using
bird netting.

It depends on the type of bird. I've had good luck with a nice pellet
rifle and some patience. The grackles around here are pretty feisty
though. On the advice of the humane society I started capturing the
grackles' young and putting them in the freezer. Apparently it is a
humane way to kill them and the parents will never come back.

Andrew

Gary wrote:

Because of an extremely small yard, some of my vines are of necessity under
a very large pine tree (the tree is too large for me to remove). The
trouble is, birds apparently like to nest in the pine tree and their
droppings come down on my vines. As you can imagine, that's not conducive
to a pleasant grape harvest. Any (serious) suggestions on how to keep them
away?

Thanks!
Gary

chuckle chuckle... re the Merde...

a few year back my Dad bought me a 6 in high plastic owl with a motion
sensor in it. when anything moves.... "WHO WHOOO" came bird
season the next fall.. I set the owl on top of one of the posts.. and
went off to the gazebo for dinner.. we came back an hour later only to
find the owl on the ground... I set it back on the post.. out of the
trees comes woody woodpecker. the large paliated red headed one we
have... he dive bombed the owl off the post and attacked it on the
ground... whooo whooo whooo whooo.... until I rescued the owl.....
True story... since then we net the vines with black netting. some
here use white and some black... I dont know why the difference.. I
find this works for most preditors ..racoons and most birds..
(although the robins still like to get caught under it) This year we
had loits of wasps.. they got a lot of grapes as they get through the
net..

cheers
Marv .
on sunny Salt Spring Island BC



On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 01:22:43 -0400, "Bob" wrote:


Gary wrote in message
.com...
Because of an extremely small yard, some of my vines are of necessity
under
a very large pine tree (the tree is too large for me to remove). The
trouble is, birds apparently like to nest in the pine tree and their
droppings come down on my vines. As you can imagine, that's not conducive
to a pleasant grape harvest. Any (serious) suggestions on how to keep
them
away?

Ah yes, Chateau le Merde '04!!!
Hanging aluminum pie pans on strings so they blow about is one method;
also, buy a large rubber snake or two, or an inflatable owl. Move the snake
and owl occasionally as the birds get used to them. Good luck!


Thanks!
Gary

chuckle chuckle... re the Merde...

a few year back my Dad bought me a 6 in high plastic owl with a motion
sensor in it. when anything moves.... "WHO WHOOO" came bird
season the next fall.. I set the owl on top of one of the posts.. and
went off to the gazebo for dinner.. we came back an hour later only to
find the owl on the ground... I set it back on the post.. out of the
trees comes woody woodpecker. the large paliated red headed one we
have... he dive bombed the owl off the post and attacked it on the
ground... whooo whooo whooo whooo.... until I rescued the owl.....
True story... since then we net the vines with black netting. some
here use white and some black... I dont know why the difference.. I
find this works for most preditors ..racoons and most birds..
(although the robins still like to get caught under it) This year we
had loits of wasps.. they got a lot of grapes as they get through the
net..

cheers
Marv .
on sunny Salt Spring Island BC



On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 01:22:43 -0400, "Bob" wrote:


Gary wrote in message
.com...
Because of an extremely small yard, some of my vines are of necessity
under
a very large pine tree (the tree is too large for me to remove). The
trouble is, birds apparently like to nest in the pine tree and their
droppings come down on my vines. As you can imagine, that's not conducive
to a pleasant grape harvest. Any (serious) suggestions on how to keep
them
away?

Ah yes, Chateau le Merde '04!!!
Hanging aluminum pie pans on strings so they blow about is one method;
also, buy a large rubber snake or two, or an inflatable owl. Move the snake
and owl occasionally as the birds get used to them. Good luck!


Thanks!
Gary