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HOUSE & DOCK
Bye Bye Birdie
by Lori Wolak
Birds are driving me batty. Why is it that
with the whole lake and all the open fields and quiet woods surrounding it,
that birds come onto my dock and my boat and leave behind their mess? I
mean, come on now, use a tree once in awhile! I have seen nearby dock roofs
which have been completely covered in heron poo and feathers. I love to
watch herons and gulls, but hate to see what they can do to the boat as they
fly overhead.
One bird kept coming back and rebuilding its
nest in the gear box for the boat lift. Centrally located, right over the
boat. Not only did it leave a mess on the boat cover, but when we would run
the lift, the nest materials would get pulled out and dumped right into the
open bow of the boat. My husband had to close up the small openings in the gear box cover
with duct tape to eliminate this determined nest building (duct tape use
number 102).
I have tried a lot of methods of keeping birds away from the dock and the boat. First was the owl. The owl might be keeping some timid birds away, but I still had problems. Then I tried stringing up some blank CDs around the dock. They are shiny and move easily in the wind, so they are supposed to startle birds and keep them away. I don't want to do anything to harm the birds, I just want them to find another place to use as a restroom! The CD's did not seem to help at all.
In my quest for new ideas about how to control birds, I have come across a couple of new ideas. I was impressed to see that two sixth grade girls had found this topic as interesting as I do, and had done a study of the effectiveness of several types of bird deterrents. You can see their results at Kusch, M. 2000. Birds, Boats, and Science Fairs. Birdscope, Volume 14, Number 1: 14. They based their study on actually watching the number of birds which landed on boats with either a gull sweep or a decoy owl or no deterrent. They concluded that the gull sweep is very effective, as not a single bird landed on the boat equipped with one. The owl did cause fewer birds to land than no deterrent at all, but was nowhere near as effective as the gull sweep.
The gull sweep product is like a small horizontal windmill. A very small breeze makes it spin, and the motion prevents birds from landing. It covers a 6 foot span, so you need to make sure it can be mounted where its' movement won't be obstructed. You can find sites online to order one. The gull sweep is an easy humane way to keep birds from landing on your boat or dock.
There is a similar product called a bird spider which seems to be effective as well. It has about a dozen stainless steel "arms" mounted to a small base. The arms move with a slight breeze. This movement deters birds from landing and causing damage. This deterrant is also humane, as it will not harm the birds. It is available in 4' and 8' diameters, so if the gull sweep is too big or small for you, you might want to consider this product.
These are the most effective products I have
been able to find so far. Please let me know if you have found any others!
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