Bird scarers

[robind]

Other than high voltage through the metal bits has anybody got any designs for a successful bird scarer that will keep starlings en masse (off a sail boat)

 

[jon]

Thin plastic garden netting, birds hate it !

 

[robind]

Thanks for the suggestion Jon but the problem is they settle en masse in the head trees of a 40 foot plus yacht and thus mesh is not too practical at moment! Thanks again for your suggestion!

 

[Csail]

A speaker playing distress calls

 

[bendyone]

Old cds on a rope works for me. The more the better

 

[whisper]

They are horrible to live near though. You can be sitting outside and you get indiscriminate flashing - no not that sort - that is really annoying and makes some people feel ill. I know of 2 people that have to go indoors or face the other way in these circumstances.

 

[Stemar]

The definitive answer is to make it so the little buggers can't land.

Seagulls like to perch on my boom and mess up my deck and sprayhood. I prevent it by running a bit of bungee a few inches above the boom. The same would work for starlings on spreaders, though access to do it may be a problem. The bungee deteriorates in sunlight, so I'd use some fine polyester line on the spreaders; it'd last longer.

You can get pigeon preventer "spikes" to fit to flat surfaces, like the masthead, but I'm not sure if they'd be necessary for starlings as they're sociable birds (hence the flocks). Worth doing for seagulls, though

 

[masterofnone]

Pop down to your local farm supplies place, they sell them. The neighbours might not be overly happy if you set it on quick fire and you'll have to change the gas bottle every once in a while. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[whisper]

Does anyone know if it is illegal to shoot gulls?

 

[thalassa]

Shooting seagulls? Famously, a GP actually did this in Dartmouth this year. The bird had attacked his wife and her lunch. He was fined 400 GBP.

 

[whisper]

That's amazing, gulls are more of a pest than pigeons and one can "happily" knock them off quite lawfully. Suppose it wouldn't go down too well on Dartmouth Embankment though.

 

[phanakapan]

A contributor to one the the sailing mags I read this week (can't remember which one) suggested a toy rubber snake hoisted aloft...

 

[Lakesailor]

That's my next thing then. I have a toy rubber snake on my main hatch and it doesn't entirely do the business.

 

[Gunfleet]

Perhaps it scared the gull s**tless

 

[Goldie]

We have one that sits on the hatch garage, but with its head attached to the boom cover by fishing line and raised about 6 inches. The boom moves as the boat rolls slightly and the snakes head sways in unison. Scared the bejasus out of one of our friends the other day, to soon to tell if it will do the same to the local seabirds!

 

[essexboy]

I had a "Gull scarer" from here http://www.outboardservices.co.uk/
Looked silly but it worked.

 

[brianrunyard]

Obviously scared the [--word removed--] out of them!!

 

[Lakesailor]

Good one.

 

[Lakesailor]

(Now, is this a Full Lakesailoring or not? Although I have responded to the second poster, I am not the originator of the post, although am the orignator of the post that occasioned the "joke". I am not sure if the Rules (paragrah 5) cover this situation)

 

[BrendanS]

no lakesailor situation at all. The definition is quite clear
a) Lakesailoring is specific set of rules that surround the asking and (especially) the answering of questions posed on the forums.

You didn't ask a question, you didn't get answers. You posted a picture and got two similar jokes.

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