cliveshelton
Well-Known Member
I find that toy rubber snakes work quite well. Not sure why though. Most domestic birds won't have seen them before. Must be an evolved fear. I use 3. Foredeck, sail cover and sprayhood.
Do owls work?
- Thread starter PaulJ
- Start date
Bru
Well-Known Member
Until recently Bru - the Marina was a mud berth.:ambivalence: thankfully the dredger has done it's work
Colin K
Well-Known Member
Hello,
Been watching this one with interest as I have been plagued by pigeons and gulls last winter up until last weekend when I covered the whole flybridge with a tarp.
I am moored in the centre of Ipswich. Out of interest my plastic snake took a walk from a wind safe perch so I hope it was tasty.
I was told about nine months ago that there were Peregrine Hawkes nesting in the area of the wine rack on the quayside but took it with a pinch of salt. Then two weeks ago I was walking along the grubby bill boarded bit from town towards the boat and happened to look over the low boarding between the path and water, there was two decapitated pigeons and one seagul all within a cpl of meters of one another. So perhaps they are at work and lets hope word gets around.
I have ordered a plastic one and will keep you informed..
Cheers, Col.
Been watching this one with interest as I have been plagued by pigeons and gulls last winter up until last weekend when I covered the whole flybridge with a tarp.
I am moored in the centre of Ipswich. Out of interest my plastic snake took a walk from a wind safe perch so I hope it was tasty.
I was told about nine months ago that there were Peregrine Hawkes nesting in the area of the wine rack on the quayside but took it with a pinch of salt. Then two weeks ago I was walking along the grubby bill boarded bit from town towards the boat and happened to look over the low boarding between the path and water, there was two decapitated pigeons and one seagul all within a cpl of meters of one another. So perhaps they are at work and lets hope word gets around.
I have ordered a plastic one and will keep you informed..
Cheers, Col.
surekandoo
Well-Known Member
Anyone tried a stuffed moggie? ☺
LittleSister
Well-Known Member
For goodness sake please don't use those stretched cords that hum and buzz in the wind. I've no idea whether they work, but they are a pain in the ears for everyone on boats nearby.
Some years ago I had a lovely peaceful mooring in Devon until one of my neighbouring boats fitted one of them, and I've been similarly plagued a couple of times since.
Some years ago I had a lovely peaceful mooring in Devon until one of my neighbouring boats fitted one of them, and I've been similarly plagued a couple of times since.
Boz
Well-Known Member
It did occur to me that wires or fishing line along the spreaders might turn the mast into a giant organ pipe, clearly that is the case....
LittleSister
Well-Known Member
No, I think wires and fishing line are OK, it's just a special type of stretchy line (I think it has a flat rather than round section: i.e. a tape, though I haven't seen it that close up) deliberately designed to make a noise in the lightest of winds. The work of the devil!
C08
Well-Known Member
A couple of boats near me have owls and are covered in crap, similarly one with a magpie and a kite hawk. I get nothing and I think my wind generator rotating and swiveling puts birds off.
PaulJ
Well-Known Member
Re: Do owls work? - Update
The twirly things that I showed in an earlier posting arrived quickly and have been in place, dangling from the boom, for a couple of weeks now and....... So far, so good! There is not a single deposit on the Poop Deck!!!
Paul
The twirly things that I showed in an earlier posting arrived quickly and have been in place, dangling from the boom, for a couple of weeks now and....... So far, so good! There is not a single deposit on the Poop Deck!!!
Paul
dombuckley
Well-Known Member
Re: Do owls work? - Update
Errrrrm. That'll be "No", then.
Errrrrm. That'll be "No", then.
wilkinsonsails
Well-Known Member
Re: Do owls work? - Update
I've been asked to investigate a nasty buzzing noise on a yacht ,it was the hum line .Scissors worked well ��
I've been asked to investigate a nasty buzzing noise on a yacht ,it was the hum line .Scissors worked well ��
Habebty
Well-Known Member
Re: Do owls work? - Update
There's a Barn Owl working bloody hard at home flying across the back garden with an unfortunate rodent in its claws every so often
There's a Barn Owl working bloody hard at home flying across the back garden with an unfortunate rodent in its claws every so often
Spi D
...
+1
Good friend uses one, just left on top of the canopy when not onboard. Even tied to the boat by a string in case one of the bigger gulls try to take it.
frauboot
Member
I am watching a kite in the shape of a hawk about to lift its prey from the ground swooping and diving over a fish restaurant at Swaneke on the East Coast of Bornholm, The first time I glimpsed it I actually thought it was a real hawk momentarily,
The Seagulls on the roof of the fish restaurant completely ignore it even though it is only 10 metres away,
You would think if anything worked it would be a diving hawk even if it isn't real.
The Seagulls on the roof of the fish restaurant completely ignore it even though it is only 10 metres away,
You would think if anything worked it would be a diving hawk even if it isn't real.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
I was flying a kite from a beach at the weekend; it has a fairly realistic representation of a stooping hawk on it. The local seagulls were flying round it as if curious - but definitely NOT scared off by it!
pyrojames
Well-Known Member
I have had an owl living in the inverted tender on the boat on and off over the last couple of years. The only things I get on board are owl pellets (fur and bones) and the occaisional bird head. I can only think that it considers the inverted tender as its own small private barn...
Colin K
Well-Known Member
There is a motor yacht in one of the Ipswich marinas who has recently fitted these and what a blooming noise! There was a reasonable wind yesterday and I would say you could hear it 250m away I feel sorry for the poor devils who are on the pontoons nearby.
I wonder if they degrade and snap due to UV radiation?
Colin K
Well-Known Member
Hello,
Well I tried them all (I think). Owls, Hawks, Snakes,CD's, Kites, none worked more than a week or so. Sonic box worked ok but they eventually found a corner away from the line of sight that they work, Fire lighters inside small conainers strangely worked too but only for a week until the parafin? evaporated not sure if its the smell or them thinking I was going to burn them to death ��
Finally four weeks ago I bought off ebay some anti pigeon netting and set it up. Works great,cheap,looks ok its black and has a 2" mesh. It currently takes me 15 mins to fit and 5 mins to take off but now I know it works I think I will cut it to fit exactly and set up logically so I hope to bet that down to a cpl of minutes. They cannot physically get in now but I think that they also do not like the stuff and stay clear I think they are bright enough to realise that its a tangle hazard.
We take our dog a Nova scotia Duck tolling retriever (Toller) on board a lot now and he came within inches of catching one last week which he found great fun and sits on the bow scanning the horizon for them. SWMBO has refused to let me leave him on board which I think a shame! Self feeder I am sure it could have worked!!
Happy Saturday, Colin.
Well I tried them all (I think). Owls, Hawks, Snakes,CD's, Kites, none worked more than a week or so. Sonic box worked ok but they eventually found a corner away from the line of sight that they work, Fire lighters inside small conainers strangely worked too but only for a week until the parafin? evaporated not sure if its the smell or them thinking I was going to burn them to death ��
Finally four weeks ago I bought off ebay some anti pigeon netting and set it up. Works great,cheap,looks ok its black and has a 2" mesh. It currently takes me 15 mins to fit and 5 mins to take off but now I know it works I think I will cut it to fit exactly and set up logically so I hope to bet that down to a cpl of minutes. They cannot physically get in now but I think that they also do not like the stuff and stay clear I think they are bright enough to realise that its a tangle hazard.
We take our dog a Nova scotia Duck tolling retriever (Toller) on board a lot now and he came within inches of catching one last week which he found great fun and sits on the bow scanning the horizon for them. SWMBO has refused to let me leave him on board which I think a shame! Self feeder I am sure it could have worked!!
Happy Saturday, Colin.
Leighb
Well-Known Member
A friend of ours used to fit garden netting over the boat to try and keep them off and it mostly succeeded, but they used to perch on the crosstrees and bomb from there!
However one day he got on board to find a very irate Herring Gull that had somehow penetrated his defences, in gratitude for being released it bit him quite sharply on the hand needing stitching.
Wrecked his plans for a sail that day.
However one day he got on board to find a very irate Herring Gull that had somehow penetrated his defences, in gratitude for being released it bit him quite sharply on the hand needing stitching.
Wrecked his plans for a sail that day.
Colin K
Well-Known Member
A friend of ours used to fit garden netting over the boat to try and keep them off and it mostly succeeded, but they used to perch on the crosstrees and bomb from there!
However one day he got on board to find a very irate Herring Gull that had somehow penetrated his defences, in gratitude for being released it bit him quite sharply on the hand needing stitching.
Hello,
Yes I looked at garden netting but the stuff I saw had a bigger mesh size possibly 3". The netting that I got off ebay is 2" and a bit more of the job supposed to be UV protected too. You might get a sparrow sized bird through it but not a gull/pigeon and so far happy days.
Cheers, Col.