Bird Deterrent products

[Dave Shore]

The season has started again, being bombed relentlessly by those nasty birds, seems I am spending more time cleaning up before I can take a sail than I do sailing. Fed up. I have tried snakes, owls and even cds hanging from string all to no aval. They seem to like to sit on the boom and make a mess everywhere, although I have never seen a bird on the boat, sneaky s.o.b.'s. I was thinking of trying the Gull sweep or the Repel a bird system mounted on my boom. Has anyone had any experience with either product? At this point I am ready to try anything. By the way , I am on a mooring with many other boats around, most of the others are getting hit too, but I feel I am being singled out by these nasty critters. Any and all help would be appreciated.

 

[Tony]

Flags

I am on a mooring also , and I was getting hit all the time . Now for the past 2 seasons I put flags up one of my halards , everybody calls them used car flags but they work . I tie them to the stantions , make sure they go across your speaders . Good luck !

 

[Gregg]

Sure fire cure......

I had the same problem with the cormorants last year. Tried the cd's, flags, string, etc. Hopefully you already have bird spikes on the spreaders and mast head. If not, get them.I found that spiking the spreaders and mast head wasn't enough - the boat was a disaster from the mast back. So I went out and bought spikes for the boom and cockpit arch, and presto - no more poop! The 10 minutes I spend on each end of the trip removing or re-lashing the spike strips sure beats an hour and a half of scrubbing before sailing. Try it - it works!

 

[fred miller]

BAD BIRDIE

DAVE;I have had the same problem. Nothing seemed to work, even setting up a menagerie of fake animals on the deck and in the rigging owls, snalkes, eyes , you name it, using chemical repellents etc. Finally I was forced to invent my own device which I am trying to patent called "BAD BIRDIE" We're in testing now and so far it seems to work. I'll keep everyone posted as we progress. In the interim you may want to try using the marbles in a metal can suspended from your flag halyard. The idea is that the rattling noise keeps the birds from hanging around. I don't know if it works, but I read about it in a magazine article.Fred MillerS/V M Squared